Reveal Ceremony: Keeping Newburgh History Alive

By Jennifer L. Warren

NEWBURGH – Mary McTamaney retold the scene with passion, sympathy and a sense of utter awe.

“Right here, right now: We are standing and sitting upon stories of our past,” the City of Newburgh Historian, McTamaney, told a roomful of intent listeners. “We are sitting directly above Robert Lewis’ jail cell.”

That cell was the very spot where Lewis was abruptly, unexpectedly and brutally uprooted by a group of men on Sunday, June 21, 1863. He was then forcefully taken to a nearby spot and killed. Accused of, but not convicted, of raping a white woman, Lewis was denied his basic civil rights.

“Robert Mulliner was unjustly lynched without due process under the law; this was during the Civil War when racial tensions were high, a time when Newburgh wasn’t even chartered yet,” explained City of Newburgh Mayor, Torrance Harvey, inside of 123 Grand Street in the City of Newburgh, at a special Plaque Reveal Ceremony in Mr. Mulliner’s memory and honor last Tuesday, exactly 159 years after the incident. “He was taken from his jail cell and lynched on a Sunday of all days; I can’t even begin to imagine what that was like to go through.” Harvey added, “We are here today to memorialize this man’s life.”

That tribute, which included a declaration of June 21 as Robert Mulliner Day in the City, was highlighted by a symbolically colored, blue and yellow historical marker, containing Mulliner’s name as well as words, on his brutal, unjust lynching. Permanently set to reside outside of the Grand Street address, site of the original jailhouse, the Marker is further intended to serve as a keen reminder of our past and imperative need to never forget.

“If we fail to learn our history, we are doomed to repeat our pasts,” said Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson. “This is why we are here today.”

Also speaking at the Ceremony, prior to the unveiling was Reverend J. Edward Lewis, who led an uplifting spiritual hymn. He further reminded attendees of the rarity of lynchings occurring in the North, intensifying the need to remember-and never forget- the Mulliner incident even more pressing.

“We are here to remember and not dismember history,” said Lewis about the afternoon’s purpose.

“We have to continue telling these stories,” said Lewis. “We need to still do the work that needs to be done.”

Highland Falls- Newburgh NAACP Chapter President, Ray Harvey, carried a message containing a similar theme.

Harvey reminded those attendees how history is “our passport to the future.” The Newburgh Free Academy History Teacher further reminded the audience of its- and everyone’s- responsibility to never forget the “atrocities of this nation.”

For yet another speaker, Yasmine Bovachri, a Community Relations Representative for Senator James Skoufis, Harvey’s message- along with the importance of the Mulliner Historical Marker- was both personal and universal.

“People often asked me why I chose American Studies as a major in college, said Bovachri.

“It’s events like this why my major mattered.” She added, “After this (unveiling) is over today, please share this story with your family; it’s how history is remembered.”