With the luck of perfect autumnal weather, more than 100 people gathered recently at the Rye Train Station for a ceremony to rename Station Plaza as Orial and Paul Redd Way after local civil rights leaders. As New Haven trains roared past, Rev. Lane Cobb of the 4th Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Westchester began by saying, “Streets are more than pathways to our destination. Streets are where we tell our stories.”
And the story of M. Paul and Orial Redd was commemorated at the spot of the struggle and triumph, across from Rye Colony apartments. There the Redd family, long-time Rye residents, tried to rent an apartment.
They were turned away, but when local friends of the family Dorothy Sterling and Lotte Kunstler learned this, they went to the Rye Colony apartments and found that an apartment was indeed available. This led to Kunstler’s brother William Kunstler to file his first civil rights lawsuit. He went on to fame as a civil rights lawyer, and this suit led to the passage of an anti-discrimination housing law in 1962. But not before Rye resident Dorothy Sterling found a cross burning on her lawn.
As master of ceremonies, local lawyer Mayo Bartlett credited Rye for looking into its past and celebrating its civil rights triumph by renaming the station plaza.
Council member and mayoral candidate Josh Nathan agreed, saying that in a time of “so much division, a community can embrace its history, even the parts we don’t want to have to look at.”
The crowd sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known as the Black National Anthem, and Poet Laureate NAACP ACT-SO Gold Medalist Kaitlyn Leslie, a student at Denzel Washington School of the Arts, read her own poetry.
The effort to honor the Redds began after Orial Redd died at age 100 on June 11, 2024. Ingraham Taylor, whose family has been in Rye for more than 60 years, conferred with Marion Anderson, whose family has been in Rye even longer. The two wondered what could be done to honor the legacy of the Redds. That led to 20 community leaders coming together as The Redd Project, which in turn enlisted the help of local officials. Several credit Brian Shea, interim Rye city manager, as instrumental in helping the way to the renaming.
Photos by Gregory Adams
“This has been a real love project,” said Danielle Tagger-Epstein, head of the Rye City Democratic Party. “We couldn’t have done it without Brian.”
Ken Jenkins, Westchester County Executive, told the crowd, “I would not be standing here without Paul Redd. We want to hear the sound of Paul’s voice echoing in our ears.” Speaking of the events that led to the renaming, he said, “If you don’t feel the difficult parts, you cannot tell about the joy.”
U.S. Rep. George Latimer of Rye said, “Let’s make sure no one forgets their name. M. Paul Redd and Orial Redd made a tremendous contribution to the community and county and now their names can be forever remembered.” He added, “Life is a big train ride. How do you codify your time on the train?”
M. Paul Redd, Jr., the 63-year old son of the Redds, lives in Rhode Island but looked at the new sign and recounted how he used to walk by the very spot on Peck Avenue and Rye Train Station every day. “As a child, I was not that aware of all my parents did. It was other people who taught me what my parents did,” he said. The Redds’ niece Ethlouise Banks was in attendance as well.
Other speakers included L. Joy Williams, president of the NAACP New York State Regional Conference, who recounted visiting Washington to see minutes and petitions related to the Redds in the Library of Congress. “Telling the story is important to inspire current and future leadership,” she said. New York State Rep. Steve Otis said, “As a couple, the Redds had a moral presence. How they lived their lives is worthy of being memoralized.”
Rye Mayor Josh Cohn added, “This is not a gift. It is a gift to us from the Redds.”
A second street sign naming the Rye train station plaza for the Redds is to be placed at the entrance to the train station on Purchase Street along with a “Walk Rye History” sign saying in part, “The Redds leave a strong legacy in Rye and beyond.” It points out that Paul Redd helped found the Black Democrats of Westchester and that the Redds acquired “The Westchester County Press” in 1986 and “remained the publishers of the county’s only newspaper dedicated to Black voices for 23 years.” Orial Redd was deputy Westchester County executive, the first black woman to fill that role, and also served as Westchester County ambassador to Japan in 1985. Both were leaders in the local chapter of the NAACP.
