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Community Corner

Mass at St. Ann's Celebrates Black History Month

After more than 100 years, parish dedicates headstone to Nannie Dillard.

in Sayville welcomed community members, parishioners and non-parishioners alike as they celebrated Black History Month with a dedication of a headstone for Nannie Dillard at the 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday.

The memory of Nannie Dillard was the focal point of Sunday’s service. Nannie died at the age of 23 in 1898. Already a widow, she had left her only child in Virginia to come to Sayville to work as a maid for Mrs. A.D. Foster. She was here for only four months when she became ill with pleurisy, pneumonia and heart failure and passed away after two weeks.

What makes Nannie’s story so unique is what happened next. Her obituary reads, “The service was particularly impressive, owing to the unusual circumstances surrounding her death. She was alone in the North, without relatives, without any friends, save those that she had earned by faithful service and owing to her gentle disposition since she came here, a stranger four months ago. And yet all that may be done for the dead was done for her, with as much tender respect as if she had been one of us.”

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Nannie’s funeral expenses were paid by the guests of the Delavan Hotel where she worked. Mr. John Prescott, rector of St. Ann’s, opened the church and preached the sermon.

The obituary read, “He preached a sermon which endeared him to the hearts of the colored people… Many people, not only of her own race, were present at the church and the grave. Flowers covered her coffin and her favorite hymns were sung by her fellow servants. For she was a woman sweet in gratitude and as such, and for many other good qualities, will be long remembered by those who knew her.”

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More than 100 years later, those words still ring true as Nannie was remembered by the community at Sunday’s mass. 

“We are here today to complete something that was started over 100 years ago,” said Reverend Farrell Graves in his sermon.  “Back then, Sayville was a resort town and Nannie came here for temporary, seasonal employment. The community treated her well but the economic system was unjust. It took its toll on human beings. The conditions that forced Nannie to leave her child and move are unjust. She was lucky enough to find herself in a community such as Sayville. But the circumstances surrounding Nannie are very similar to those of the migrant workers today, moving North as the seasons change. Few receive the kind love and attention Nannie did. Her sweet, gentle disposition drew the community together, just as it is doing today. This beautiful story from the past gives us an opportunity to do better today and exceed just following the rules.  So that in 100 years from now, people will have the same feeling about us as we do about Nannie.”

Following the Mass, there was a prayer of dedication and reception in the parish hall. The Town of Islip proclaimed Feb. 4 as Nannie Dillard Day. “As a headstone was not provided at the time, through the work of St. Ann’s Historical Society, we dedicate a stone donated by Alan Fricke Memorials. As in 1898, when the whole community gathered, we do likewise in 2011,” Reverend Graves said.

Connie Currie of the St. Ann’s Historical Society was instrumental in putting the event together. Islip Town Historian Robert Finnagan was on hand for the service.

“It was a beautiful event, a wonderful celebration of Islip history,” he said. “The Town of Islip will be celebrating the 150 year anniversary of the Civil War and we also will be recognizing the diverse society we lived in back then."

Local historian Gene Horton added, “It was a wonderful way to celebrate Black History Month and to gather the community together.”

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