On Tuesday, September 10, at 7:00 pm, the New Rochelle City Council will hold a public hearing on the renaming of Sheraton/Radisson Plaza to “Hannahs Way.” The proposed name refers to two women named Hannah Pugsley who lived in New Rochelle in the late 1700s.  The older Hannah Pugsley, a Quaker, enslaved the younger Hannah Pugsley for over 30 years.

The descendants of the enslaved Hannah Pugsley became one of New Rochelle’s most prominent Black families.  In their honor, the largely Black neighborhood that was destroyed by the construction of I-95 has long been known informally as “Pugsley Hollow.” Why has New Rochelle decided to omit the name “Pugsley,” so important to the history of Black New Rochelle, from the new street name? 

Before the abolition of slavery in New York State in 1827, the only listed records of most African Americans in the property rolls were by first name and age.   By only listing Hannah Pugsley’s first name, New Rochelle is seeking to regurgitate this dehumanizing practice.  

Women, and particularly Black women, are effortlessly removed from the collective memory of  communities.  Their contributions are minimized and their names forgotten.  If the full and complex history of the United States is to be honestly addressed,  the deliberate erasure of New Rochelle’s Black ancestors must stop. 

Before the City Council votes to erase Hannah Puglsey once again, here is the herstory:

When she was born in 1766, Hannah Pugsley was given the same name as the 10-year-old daughter of her Quaker enslaver.   In 1799, Quaker Hannah Pugsley granted freedom to her namesake, enslaved Hannah Pugsley. This was unusual in many respects: it was recorded outside of a deathbed will, it was unconditional, and it occurred when both women were relatively young.  Hannah Pugsley lived a remarkable, independent and long life, leaving legacies of property ownership and descendants for the Black Pugsleys of New Rochelle.  In the 1840 census,  Hannah Pugsley was the first and only Black woman listed as a head of household.

Hannah Puglsey’s family started the first Colored church and school in Westchester, served in the Civil War, World War I and World War II, and owned homes in the area between Boston Post Road (now known as Huguenot Street) and the railroad tracks.  Their influence in the African American community was such that the area where the Radisson Hotel, now Hotel NoMa, is located was known as Pugsley Hollow.  

Pugsley Hollow is to the left of the train tracks

Before research by Anne Zahner was presented as part of a New RoAR learning module in 2021, few people knew why the Bracey Apartment Complex is nicknamed “the Hollow.” For a more detailed understanding of how Zahner uncovered the story of the Pugsleys, watch her presentation on YouTube.

Many saw the proposal to rename the land that had been the heart of over 100 years of Black homeownership before it was bulldozed as part of the racially motivated urban removal as a way to bring to light the remarkable history of Black Hannah Pugsley and her descendants.   To many residents, it is shocking that the proposal put forth by the Commissioner of Development to rename Sheraton/Radisson Plaza is just “Hannahs Way.”   

Destruction of Pugsley Hollow

On July 9th, the New Rochelle Commissioner of Development told the City Council (video begins at 1:37) that the proposal to rename the area “Hannahs Way” was intended to “honor” both Hannahs based on his limited understanding of the history of the two Hannah Pugsleys. 

Radisson Plaza is located between Cedar and River Street

The story of how Quaker Hannah Pugsley, who, when the NYS laws permitted gradual emancipation in 1799, freed her enslaved namesake, is worth knowing.  This act highlights the hypocrisy of her contemporaries who are revered for having fought for their “freedom” but continued to use slave labor as the basis of their wealth.  

The story of how the younger Hannah Pugsley and her family survived the brutal and dehumanizing institution of slavery and became New Rochelle civic leaders, homeowners, patriots who served the U.S. at times of war, and continued to live in New Rochelle until the mid 1900’s, deserves to be known and honored.

Here are some questions for the New Rochelle City Council to consider:

• Is the 100+ year history of the Black Pugsley family only worthy of note as it relates to their white enslaver?  
• The City of New Rochelle has several streets giving the full name of men (Albert Leonard Road, Albert Leonard Place, Glover Johnson Place, John Alden Road, Norman Rockwell Boulevard).  However, outside of the streets created inside Heritage Homes there are no official streets that give the full name of any women in New Rochelle. What bias is reflected in this fact and why is it being perpetuated? 

The full and complex history of the United States must not be whitewashed. Instead, those who were constitutionally deemed to be unworthy of note must be elevated.  If not now, when?