Nearly 50 people in Cortlandt Manor gathered Thursday night to mark the 75th anniversary of the Peekskill riots and celebrate the legacy of Paul Robeson. At the event, there were speakers, art displays and performers playing music by Robeson.

Gregory Robeson Smith is Paul Robeson’s grand-nephew. He’s now carrying on his uncle’s legacy.

“We’re celebrating all that he meant to this community, to the world community and to the people of color,” Gregory Robeson Smith, Paul Robeson's grand-nephew, said. “I’m old enough to have known my uncle as a youngster, as a teenager and as an adult. The two people that had the greatest influence on my life was my grandfather and my uncle without question.”

In 1949, violence broke out in Cortlandt Manor from the concerts of Paul Robeson, an African American singer and civil rights activist. It still holds a strong meaning to the community 75 years later.

“This community particularly, we’ve really transformed over the last 75 years. We’re not the same Peekskill,” Wendy Tallio, organizer of Thursday’s event, said.

Tallio has lived in Cortlandt for 31 years but didn’t know about the riots until about three years ago.

“I was surprised not only by the story but I was really surprised that so few people who live here actually knew about it,” she said.

The community is raising awareness of the riots and the civil rights movement in Westchester County. Tallio and Robeson Smith said they are committed to making sure the Peekskill riots are remembered.