Village resident and Founding member of Greensboro Four Sit-ins honored with street dedication and school renaming in tribute of his sacrifice.
Tuesday, February 27, 2018 marked a very special occasion in the Village of Hempstead and especially for one of our true heroes. As part of the Village of Hempstead’s 375th Anniversary celebration, Mayor Don Ryan was joined by Village Trustees and other distinguished dignitaries and guests for an Honorary Street naming ceremony of Angevine Avenue to General Joseph A. McNeil Avenue (corner of Angevine Avenue and Greenwich Street). Immediately following the honorary street naming ceremony, Hempstead Union Free School District held a building dedication at Franklin Street School located at 335 South Franklin Street in honor of General McNeil. The new Joseph A. McNeil Elementary School now proudly bares the national hero's name.
Retired Major General Joseph A. McNeil is a Decorated United States Air Force Veteran, Hempstead Village resident and National Hero. McNeil founded “The Greensboro Four,” responsible for a series of nonviolent, sit-in protests in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960, which led to the Woolworth Department Store chain removing its policy of racial segregation and catapulting the Civil Rights Movement in the south into the national spotlight. We will be paying tribute to General McNeil for his role in changing the course of American history and for impacting the lives of African Americans for generations.
We are privileged to have a man of his caliber as part of the fiber of our village and are humbled to be part of recognizing his accomplishments.