When Marion Anderson received an email from a friend shortly after her recent election to the Rye City Council, the message was simple: “She would be proud.”
The note referred to Anderson’s late mother, Evelyn, who came to Rye in the 1940s with only a second grade education and worked as a cleaner and caterer. Anderson, 69, said her mother’s memory has guided her throughout her life — especially in this historic moment as the first Black person ever elected to the Rye City Council.
The victory “just meant the world to me,” Anderson said. “I remember her voting in 1965 when I was very young, when she was finally able to vote, and how important it was for her to take her children with her. She just showed me what a powerful thing the American process is.”
Anderson traces her roots in civic engagement back to her mother, who kept her politically aware from a young age.
She recalled as a teen campaigning with Evelyn for Robert F. Kennedy in New York City and said she is grateful that her mom instilled in her the value of political engagement.
The Democrat won a council seat on the same ticket as James Ward, Amy Kesavan, and Mayor-elect Josh Nathan.
“I hope we have a Black mayor sometime. I hope we have a Japanese mayor,” she said about politics in Rye. “I just hope that we’re able to recognize people of diverse backgrounds and welcome them and see their point of view, because that’s our melting pot.”
While she acknowledged that being a Black person in Rye can feel isolating, Anderson also expressed deep gratitude for the community that helped shape her. She said she received a great education that allowed her to go to college, and she gives back to Rye because the community gave so much to her.
The path to politics was not one Anderson always expected to take. She told The Record she had been asked to run for elected office multiple times but always hesitated so she could focus on her “busy professional life.”
She runs a nonprofit in White Plains called Heartsong, which provides creative arts therapies for people with disabilities.
Anderson said her decision to finally throw her hat in the ring this year was influenced by the current political climate, and by her belief that local engagement is as vital as national participation.
While she’s proud to have broken a barrier with her win, Anderson emphasized that she does not see her election as defined solely by race.
“I consider myself a smart local person who wants to do well by the community,” she said. “But also, being able to break that glass ceiling and be a representative for everyone, because we’re in this fight to recognize diversity, equity, inclusion, it is a big deal for the Rye community to do this at this particular point in history.”
A lifelong resident, Anderson has seen firsthand how Rye has changed since her childhood.
Photo Alison Rodilosso
Growing up, she said, the city felt more middle class and affordable. Her father, a carpenter and trained architect who was barred from the field, bought property in the Glen Oaks section for $500 in the late 1940s and built their family home himself.
She said the lack of affordability in Rye is exclusionary.
Additionally, Anderson noted that the city’s once-diverse mix of immigrant and Black families has dwindled. She explained that there was a Black student union at Rye High School when she was a student there in the 1970s, and more families of color.
Less than 2 percent of Rye’s population is African American, according to the latest census figures.
She campaigned in part on making Rye more affordable for younger families and seniors hoping to age in place, and believes that solutions to that growing issue will require long-term, community-wide planning.
“I don’t have the answers,” she said. “But I do think we should be exploring these things, and it needs to be done with a broad range of the community sitting down at the table.
“The more ideas, the more people, the more fruit we’re going to yield,” she said.
Looking ahead, Anderson said her goal is to encourage more empathy and inclusion, and to continue strengthening the community.
“The next few years are going to be challenging, but our job is to sit down at the table and hash out what the best way forward can be,” she said. “It’s not going to be perfect for anybody, but we’re going to need to make compromises, and I think the community has that capability.”
