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The Islip Town Branch of the NAACP (ITBNAACP) formally began as the Bay Shore, NY Branch NAACP in 1958 when a group, mainly members of First Baptist Church of Bay Shore, met to discuss the possibility of forming a local branch to address the civil rights of "negroes" in the Town of Islip. Among the founding members were Mrs. Eliza Hamilton, Mrs. Mamie Holmes, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Beaman, Mr. and Mrs. Cleveland Johnson Sr., Mrs. Ollie Williams, Mrs. Inez Neal and Mr. and Mrs. Preston Holliman. That year, Mr. W. Burghardt Turner, who was the Long Island Regional Director and had been hired as the first black teacher in the Bay Shore School District after pressure by community activists, Mary and Sidney Thompson and Dr. Eugene Reed, the NAACP NYS Coordinator, guided our efforts to establish our local branch. Mrs. Mamie Holmes became the first secretary/treasurer. Our first president was elected in early 1959 when Mr. John Dunston, who worked for a contracting company and was a member of the Eastern Long Island Branch, moved his family to Bay Shore. He served from 1959 to 1964 with Mrs. Dorothy Cream serving as his secretary. The Bay Shore Branch finally received its charter in 1962. From 1964-1966, Mr. Edgar Phipps served as president of the branch, followed by Mr. Charles Gray who became the branch's longest serving president (1966 to 1986). Ms. Daphine Holmes Somerville was elected secretary of the branch in 1965 and served until 1990 (25 years) during the tenure of three branch presidents. Ms. Katherleen MacDougal Nelson served as our fourth president and later as the Long Island Regional Director. Yvonne Patterson-Quirk served as president throughout the late 1990's and early 2000's with her focus on youth fueling the work of the Islip Town Youth Council.
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Reverend Roderick Pearson was elected president of the Islip Town Branch NAACP in November 2006, and under his leadership, the Islip Town Branch received the 2007 National Thalhaimer Award. Rev. Roderick Pearson and vice-president Alicia Figueras led the branch in meritorious civil rights efforts, garnering awards in 2008 for Islip's newsletter publication and membership increase. He retired as president in 2014 and remains active in the branch today. Marvin Smith, who served as vice-president to Rev. Pearson in 2011 after Renee Ortiz served in the position, has championed civic engagement and voter-registration having registered well over 1000 people to vote in the Town of Islip. William King Moss III, the branch's current president, began serving in January 2015. In January 2016, the Branch earned New York State Conference recognition for being the fast growing Branch in New York State for 2015. Since then the Branch has focused on documenting discrimination while continuing its dedication to supporting youth and youth programs like ACT-SO, the Back-to-School Rally and its NAACP Scholars Program.