“The Great Migration” was a historic movement of Black Americans, primarily in response to rampant injustices, extreme poverty, and racial violence. From around 1910 to 1970, these communities left their southern homes to look for better lives in the Northeast and West. It was a journey that echoed American and African American history, but it didn’t stay in the past; it also reshaped the narrative of our future.” PBS – What Was the Great Migration?
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, members of the Royster, Robinson, Henderson, and Bobbitt families left Granville and Vance Counties in north-central North Carolina, and Sudan, Virginia (former community was essentially “wiped off the map” in the early 1950s to make way for the creation of a man-made lake—John H. Kerr Reservoir (also called Buggs Island Lake) that straddles the border of Virginia and North Carolina)—and migrated north in search of a better quality of life, better jobs, better living conditions, educational opportunities, and the freedom to be themselves.
They settled in Westchester County, New York, in the cities of New Rochelle and Mount Vernon, and later in the Bronx. At the time, New Rochelle was one of the county’s first communities for emancipated Black people, as early as the late 1800s. It was a bustling resort town and artistic community. Mount Vernon was an industrial village that saw rapid expansion, resulting in a popular “bedroom community” with a thriving commercial business.
The Great Migration wasn’t just about leaving something behind—it was about moving toward something better, even if that “better” was uncertain. It was about agency. About choice. About rewriting what was possible in a country that had long denied Black people full participation in its promise.
On Friday, April 24, 2026, many of their living descendants gathered at Beechmont Cemetery in New Rochelle to honor the members of John E. Royster’s family who took up the torch to venture north:
- Irene Jordan “Joyner – His wife (pictured above)
- Lindo C Bobbitt and Lucy Beatrice Royster
- John Royster
- Thomas A Haley and Pearl Royster
- Matthew Henderson and Louvina Royster
- Leroy James Henderson and Sarah Burwell (my maternal grandparents)
- Thomas Robinson and Mildred “Millie” Royster
- Baker Royster and Della Griffin
- Robert Royster and Catherine Jeffreys
- Hubert Royster and Viola Lucille Jones
- Giles Royster and Cora Fields
- Walter Royster Sr and Mary Eaton
- James Edward Royster and Queen Esther Hicks Bobbitt
Numerous family members are interred throughout Beechwood Cemetery, and present generations have gathered to honor and commemorate the tenacity, bravery, fortitude, and dedication of those who traveled to New York, as well as the numerous generations of Royster, Robinson, Henderson, and Bobbitt ancestors who have settled in New York. They took a moment on April 24 at 3:00 PM to honor their forefathers and foremothers who gave them both roots and wings, to think back, to celebrate, to reconnect, and to give thanks.
The Royster, Robinson, Henderson, and Bobbitt families continue to reside in the Bronx, Mount Vernon, and New Rochelle. Every family still makes contributions to Westchester County’s religious, civic, educational, and artistic life, as well as the nearby regions of Connecticut and New Jersey. Additionally, the majority of the descendants now reside in different states, and some even abroad.
The theme of the day was Let’s Continue To Celebrate – “Like branches on a tree, we grow in different directions; yet our roots remain as one.” Mary Royster-Harris and Peter Robinson welcomed family members, and then Peter read the Royster/Robinson/Henderson/Bobbitts History. Followed by a prayer for their ancestors by Rev. James D. Robinson, Jr., music was played, and a balloon release took place. Afterwards, several members gave reflections, including me.
I reflected on the influence of my grandfather Leroy James Henderson, affectionally known by many as “Fats,” my grandmother Sarah Burwell, my mother Patricia L. Henderson, my uncle Leroy Henderson Jr, my sister Nicole Woodson-Berick, and my daughter Paula Sharelle Woodson, and how I attempt to carry on the legacy on my branch of the family.
Shout out to Mary and Michelle Harris for creating the opportunity for us to meet and honor our families!
The legacy of the Great Migration lives on in the cities that were transformed, in the culture that was created, and in the generations that followed. It lives in the idea that movement—physical, social, and spiritual—is often necessary for freedom. Because in many ways, the Great Migration wasn’t just about geography. It was about becoming.
My friend Joyce Cole, Ossining Village Historian, also preached the importance of documenting your family history. This is me taking her advice and sharing mine. It’s easy to think of family history as something optional—something you get to when you have time. But the truth is, documenting your family history is not just important… It’s essential. Because history isn’t just what’s written in books—it’s what lives in our families, our stories, our names, and our memories. And if we don’t take the time to preserve it, it can disappear in a single generation.
Every family carries a legacy. Some of it is known. Some of it is forgotten. And some of it was never written down in the first place. For many Black families, especially, history was disrupted through slavery, migration, displacement, and systemic barriers that kept records incomplete or inaccessible. That makes what we can recover and document even more valuable. Every story you capture is a piece of history reclaimed.
This is me, the beginning of reclaiming a piece of my family history.
