Whether you hit the trail in the car, on a bicycle, on foot, or virtually, we are establishing an evolving a set of trails that introduce us to the local people and places on our country’s long road to a constitutional promise of racial equality, and the ongoing efforts to realize that promise.
“The things that we can see and touch awaken the imagination,” Louis Mumford told Dutchess County Historical Society members in 1926, referring to the power of local history. “The facts of local history become part of a person’s own life to an extent which is [otherwise] rare…“
In that spirit, we invite you hit the trail! As always, please email me with comments and ideas. ~ Â Bill Jeffway
The idea of an educational trail system was among the many creative ideas of Lorraine Marie Pettie Roberts (1931-2015) We wish to recognize her foresight and hope to begin to live up to her idea. Roberts was Chairperson of the Occupational Education Department at Poughkeepsie High School. A graduate of Hampton Institute and Columbia University and is listed in Outstanding Educators in America and Who’s Who in Black America. She was President of DCHS. She founded and led the Black History Project Committee which grew out of DCHS into a strong and effective independent organization under her leadership.
