There's still time to view a slice of city and local history from the radical 1960s at the Albany Public Library.
"The Brothers: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in Albany" exhibit is on public display through the end of May at the Arbor Hill/West Hill branch.
The Brothers, a civil rights group founded in 1966 and active in the city for several years, was made up of African American men from Albany's South End and Arbor Hill neighborhoods who fought for change and combated racism. Referred to as "secret group" by the now-defunct Knickerbocker News, the first action that brought them notoriety was their attempt in November 1966 to expose the alleged vote-buying practice of the Albany Democratic political machine. They eventually fielded Black candidates for mayor, alderman and county legislator.
University at Albany collections director Brian Keough investigated and chronicled the rise of the Brothers. According to UAlbany archives, then-Mayor Erastus Corning kept secret police surveillance files on the group, whose founding members included Leon Van Dyke, Gordon Van Ness, Clarence Williams, Sam McDowell and James Pryor.
"You have, you know, a group of working class men from predominantly Black communities here in Albany, coupled with some students who were active in the civil rights movement of that period, really put the fear into, you know, Erastus Corning, the Democratic political machine, and it just seems really interesting that a small group could put such fear into one of the most powerful political machines that existed in the United States," said Keough.
The Brothers published "The Albany Liberator," a community newspaper that flourished between 1967 and 1971.
The archives show The Brothers "pressured landlords to clean up their buildings, offered free classes in Black history, ran voter registration drives and a breakfast program for poor children. They led rent strikes and protested against discrimination and alleged police brutality."
"The Brothers had power, they had the community behind them," Keough said. "And the police chief actually met with the group a couple of times. Because, you know, in that period, during the summers of the mid 60s, a lot of cities experienced racial rebellion, and protests and violence in the streets. You know, one of the biggest race rebellions in this country happened in Rochester, New York in July 1964. And that was fresh on the minds of the leaders of Albany. And you know, while they initially feared The Brothers, I think they came to respect them."
Van Dyke returned to Albany in 2020 after spending several years in the Philippines, telling WAMC he had a more positive view of Capital Region race relations than he had years ago.
"There's changes and those changes are obvious to me," said Van Dyke. "You almost would never see Black working, you know, as sales people what have you. And now I see it all over the place. You know I smile to myself when I'm eating when I'm at the Olive Garden, you know, and you see the host is Black, you see the waiter’s Black, and before when would you see a Black person in these stores, they were they were mopping the floors. So that's a big change that I see. So the diversity is becoming obvious."
The Brothers exhibit is on display 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays.
