Another effort for change in Lockport

Benjamin Joe, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·3 min read

Mar. 3—LOCKPORT — Aaron Moselle was a prominent businessman in Lockport in the 1870s. Through his work in supplying bricks for a school being built across from his business, he was able to make a deal with Lockport schools to take in his own children, as well as Black children around the city to learn beside their white counterparts almost 80 years before integration was federal law.

That deserves something, said Paula Travis, president of the Lockport PTA. About 415 people so far, Black and white, have agreed.

The petition to change the name of North Park Junior High School to Aaron Moselle Junior High School is circulating on change.org.

Travis said that while this is not the first time the idea has been broached, she believes that the City of Lockport is in a state of flux, where its residents are not only more comfortable with a name change — they are actively working toward making a difference for all people.

"I think it was lack of information and I think it was lack of community support," Travis said, citing the 2014 decision to leave North Park's monicker the same. "They didn't have a petition and it was an old board."

This time, armed with a petition, and information — showing what bricks Moselle donated to which schools and streets — Travis said she's optimistic about the outcome.

"Once I submit the request, a committee will be formed and a discussion will actually be had," she said. "It won't just be a vote within the board without actually involving the community."

Travis said the results of the petition are being sent to Superintendent Michelle Bradley and BOE President Karen Young, and the feedback from them has been promising.

" (Bradley and Young) reached out to me and said, 'Listen, send us a letter of intent, we'll form a committee,' " Travis said.

Desegregation of a school system is not an easy thing to do, but Travis said it was also not an easy thing for a descendent of slaves to be a business owner, even in the northern states.

"To have the foresight to say, 'Let's make a deal with the city, so that my kids can get an education where they're not sent across town to another school where they're getting half of an education,' ... To have that foresight back then, it speaks volumes of his education and his passion for learning," she said. "He started the movement."

To be clear, Travis said that the change in the name of the junior high school is not just a win for minorities, it's a triumph for all Lockportians.

"This man wanted to do right by all kids, he wanted all of them to have an education," she said. "I think it will make it so they have to talk about Black history in North Park even before they even get to the high school. It will give our children a better understanding of what it means to do something for your community. I think it gives a better understanding of all the sacrifices this man went through, so his kids could have a better education."

The petition can be found at https://www.change.org/p/lockport-city-school-district-give-aaron-mosell-his-credit-and-name-north-park-the-aaron-mosell-junior-high-s.