Hamptons Civil Rights Back Story Tour Reveals Hidden History

In a region often associated with celebrity sightings and beachfront mansions, a digital experience is shedding light on the lesser-known but vital civil rights history of the Hamptons.

The Hamptons Civil Rights Back Story Cell Phone Tour, available through the TravelStorys app, offers visitors and locals alike an immersive journey through the Black experience and struggle for civil rights in this storied New York locale.

Launched last year, the tour was developed through a collaboration between historian Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, executive director and chief curator of the Eastville Community Historical Society, and folklorist Nancy Solomon, then-executive director of Long Island Traditions. Despite initial fanfare and events, the tour’s significance was somewhat overshadowed — whether by the 2024 presidential election or the typical summer activities that dominate Hamptons news cycles.

“It’s more important now than ever because those hard-fought gains that were made with the civil rights movement are being turned right around in our faces,” said Grier-Key, discussing the tour’s relevance in today’s social climate.

“This is part of everybody’s communities,” Solomon added. “It’s about really breaking down the barriers that separate people’s knowledge of where they live, and it’s history. There have always been people of color in every community on Long Island. We can learn from them so we can appreciate each other’s struggles. It’s not just a civil rights issue — it’s about understanding people of different backgrounds.”

What makes this tour unique is its focus on authentic voices. Rather than simply presenting historical facts, the app features recordings of local residents sharing their personal experiences and memories.

“There’s something about hearing voices that really calls your attention, because now you’re purposefully paying attention to what’s being said,” Grier-Key said. “That was definitely an amazing part of the project — to be able to hear many of the voices of the people that were here and participated and get to hear their stories in their own words.”

The tour takes visitors to several significant sites, including the Southampton African American Museum, Eastville Community Historical Society, George Fowler House, and the Pyrrhus Concer historic marker. At each stop, users can listen to narration from Grier-Key and guests, view historical images, and learn about the area’s rich but often overlooked Black heritage.

One particularly poignant section explores the SANS Historical District, a rare Black beachfront community founded post-World War II in the Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest & Ninevah Subdivisions (SANS) communities. The tour also features artist Michael A. Butler, whose family began visiting Sag Harbor in the early 1900s.

Butler’s perspective offers insight into the Hamptons’ significance for Black Americans: 
“Black people came in because there were very, very few options to which they had access. This was our dot on the map, the Sag Harbor dot where we could feel safe and secure with likeminded people around us. There was prejudice in the village, there was prejudice in other parts of Long Island, but … these traditions continue, you know, it’s just generation upon generation.”

The tour doesn’t shy away from difficult aspects of the region’s past, addressing histories of enslavement, racial discrimination, and ongoing civil rights struggles. Users can learn about Pyrrhus Concer, a Black whaler from Southampton who gained his freedom from slavery, and explore Freetown, which highlights the history of slavery and racial segregation of Black and Indigenous peoples of the South Fork.

The Freetown section includes insights from former Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc, who shares his journey of understanding racial justice and his official efforts to preserve historical sites that recognize the Black heritage in East Hampton.

While the Hamptons may be viewed as “a playground for the rich and famous,” the tour highlights the people who helped to build and continue to live on the South Fork, overcoming discrimination and prejudice to call this place home.

Grier-Key, who also serves on the board of the Museum Association of New York and the Preservation League of New York State, said the importance of capturing stories from those who lived through historical events is profound. 

“This history lies within people themselves, the people who actually participate in it,” she said. “The story is not in the built environment or the landscape. It’s actually the histories held with those individual persons who actually partook in those activities for the civil rights movement.”

The app, free to download on any smartphone, makes this important history accessible to everyone. In addition to audio narration, it features maps to guide users to each destination and photo carousels of related historical images and present-day markers.

This innovative approach to historical preservation and education offers an opportunity to learn about lesser-known history that continues to have a lasting impact today. The Hamptons Civil Rights Back Story Cell Phone Tour was funded in part by the National Park Service and New York State Council on the Arts.

For those interested in exploring beyond the East End, a separate tour focuses on important civil rights movement sites in Nassau County, curated by Denise Sheppard of the Oyster Bay Historical Society.