Patricia A. Turner is a folklorist who documents and analyzes the stories that define the African American experience.

She finds and illuminates the stories in hand-made quilts and mass-produced dolls, and unearths the narratives that undergird anti-black rumors and legends. 

Now, Turner is at work on the neglected stories of the early twentieth century black men and women who came to call eastern Long Island, New York home. Her own parents were in the cohort that found their way from Southampton County, Virginia—the stomping grounds of the notorious Nat Turner—to the farming communities in the Hamptons. 

In neighboring Sag Harbor, the warm waters of Long Island Sound lured an aspirational network of middle-class African Americans to build and enjoy second homes within walking distance of a private beach.

All of their stories speak to an abiding commitment to individual and collective black mobility.  Turner intends to make sure they are told. 

Photo: Kevin Smith