Aquinas Students Honored with Major NYC Award

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ART Praises Group for Educational Use of New York City Archives

The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (ART), founded in 1979, is a not-for-profit organization representing a diverse group of more than 400 archivists, librarians, and records managers in the New York metropolitan area.

The organization is one of the largest of its kind in the United States, with members representing more than 160 repositories.

On October 13, 2011, at Columbia University, the students of Aquinas Honor Society, at the Immaculate Conception School in Jamaica, were the very first recipients of ART's Award for Educational Use of Archives.

The students were recognized for their dedicated efforts to create enduring and informative learning experiences for diverse communities.

The group was also honored for their critically-acclaimed publications Images of America: Jamaica Estates, published in 2010, Images of America: Jamaica, which was published in 2011. The books were published by Arcadia Publishing.

In an unrelated story, three of the Aquinas students, in conjunction with the Friends of Maple Grove, took part in Maple Grove Cemetery's annual Spirits Alive performance on October 15. The students helped highlight the recent discovery of the Shiloh Church African-American Burial Ground at the renowned cemetery.

The historic church, which was started in 1822, was the first African-American church founded in New York City by Rev. Samuel Cornish and part of the Underground Railroad. The church served as a focal point for many important events of American history -- including the Anti-Slavery Movement and the Civil War period.

Frederick Douglass spoke from the pulpit of the church on numerous occasions, as well as many other famous people from the period.

In the photo below, dressed in period costumes, are Gabrielle Hollant, portraying a member of the church describing its rich history, Tobi Ayeni as Rev. Samuel Cornish, and Aniyah Smith as another member of the parish.

Photos courtesy of Carl Ballenas.