Malverne street named for Ku Klux Klan leader Paul Linder officially changed to Acorn Way
MALVERNE, N.Y. -- It was a stain on Long Island history - Ku Klux Klan marches, rallies and recruiting.
When students in Malverne discovered that a street in their community was named after a Ku Klux Klan leader, they set about to make change.
CBS2 has followed their progress, and we were there when the century-old name was shed.
Acorn Way has replaced Lindner Place, which was named after Paul Lindner. Lindner was a banker who sold his farmland to develop the Village of Malverne more than a century ago and, it turns out, was a grand cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan.
"We thank you wholeheartedly, guys. And I'm going to stop because this is emotional for me," said Doris Hicks Newkirk of the Lakeview Chapter of the NAACP.
The thanks go to a group of Malverne students who spent more than two years researching Lindner's unabashed role in burning crosses, recruiting, and leading Klan marches.
"The true meaning of justice is righting the wrongs that came before you," said Malverne High School sophomore Olivia Brown.
Brown was among those who discovered that the street that runs past the Malverne Library and Downing Primary - formerly known as Lindner Elementary and was one of the first schools integrated in New York to accept Black students - was named after Lindner, with the sordid KKK past.
"Seeing the community come out to rename the street, it's a very proud moment," said 11-year-old Ethan Jolly.
There was pushback and bumps in the road. Students took their case to Village Hall and school forums.
"The blood, sweat and tears, all the trips to Town Hall, digging through the books," said Malverne High School senior Sabrina Ramharakh.
Calling it their passion for civic engagement, students who graduated and those present Thursday identify their work on the name change as a monumental moment in their lives.
"This whole initiative showed me I do want to step up and be a leader," said Malverne High School senior Jamila Smith.
Confronting history, and acknowledging the past.
"I look forward to hanging the Lindner Place sign in our library to remind our students of a time when little acorns became mighty oaks," said Malverne Schools Superintendent Dr. Lorna Lewis.
For Malverne, this has been the zenith.
Village officials ordered seven new Acorn Way street signs. The 10 houses located there changed their addresses, and the U.S. Postal Service updated routes and maps.
Malverne board members unanimously voted to change the name last April.
