Dames are really not a good fit

To the editor:

(re: “CB8: Are Vannie Museum stewards the right fit?” Feb. 1)

For the 28 years that I have lived in the neighborhood of Van Cortlandt Park, I have seen important positive changes in the park — including the improvements to the Putnam Trail to make it more accessible, the educational markers that address the legacy of slavery associated with the owners of the land, the outreach and programming developed by the park’s partner organization the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance, and recently, the work on the daylighting of Tibbetts Brook.

In contrast, the house museum has been a relatively quiet feature of the park.

I was surprised to learn that the museum house is not operated by the city’s parks department, nor by the Alliance. When I looked into the organization that does run the house museum — The New York Chapter of the National Society of Colonial Dames — I was, quite frankly, shocked to learn that a society founded on exclusive membership (as you describe, members can only be women who can prove that they are  “lineal bloodline descendants from an ancestor of worthy life who, residing in an American colony, rendered efficient service to our country during the Colonial period“) has been the steward of such an important asset of the park.

Our borough is made up men, women and non-binary people, and native people and immigrants from all periods of our history. This diversity brings its own challenges — our country has gone through many reckonings with the hard truths of racism, most recently with the local and national response to the killing of George Floyd.

From its website, it is difficult to ascertain if the Dames organization has gone through a similar reckoning.

During the recent Community Board 8 parks committee meeting, the Dames were asked questions along similar lines, and it was clear that they remain committed to their exclusive membership requirements.

Further, in terms of their programming in our diverse borough of the Bronx, at this time they apparently have no existing specific plans for broad outreach in the Bronx.

While they were open to developing such a plan, I was amazed that given all that our country has gone through, that they had not already created such a plan including appropriate funding for it.

I believe we can do better. There are other New York organizations that are more democratic and inclusive, that recognize the strength of diversity of membership, and that have a track record of outreach, communication, and — importantly — shared leadership.

The Society of Colonial Dames is not a good fit. I urge the Historic House Trust and the city’s parks department to work with Community Board 8 and the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance to find an organization that more appropriately fits the borough of the Bronx.

Jane Bedell