STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — On Sunday, the Rossville AME Zion Church celebrated its 57th annual Family and Friends Day.
On a pleasant, yet unseasonably cool first Sunday in June, more than 100 people gathered to celebrate at the historic house of worship.
“This day means continuity for a rich history,” said Rev. Charles Washington, pastor for the church. “There are people who travel from all over, from Maryland, from Brooklyn, New Jersey who once lived here and come back yearly to honor the memories of those who have gone on before us. Today is rich in history and rich in love.”
The church, founded in May 1849 by Virginia-born African Methodist Episcopal Zion minister William H. Pitt, is part of Staten Island’s Sandy Ground, which is the nation’s oldest free Black settlement still inhabited by descendants of the original settlers…