Recently, Port Press Junior Editors Andrew and Leo had the chance to sit down with Northport High School alumnus (Class of 2017) Ceylan Swenson. Ceylan is the former Editor-in-Chief of the Port Press who created the paper’s first digital website on Weebly, and she remains a fan of the publication to this day. Andrew and Leo asked her several questions about her life, research, and upcoming lecture at the Northport Library on March 7th. Ceylan has been researching local history extensively, especially within Northport, and we had the pleasure of hearing the full story.
Did you ever make any lasting changes or impacts on the club that are still standing today?
Ceylan was the first Editor-in-Chief to host meetings in the mornings, a tradition that has stuck to this day. Until a couple of years ago, the club met Friday mornings and Monday afternoons, a schedule that persisted for a very long time. She also established the basis for the digital version of the Port Press by creating the first website alongside Mrs. Cavaliere and Mrs. Roccisano.
Did you ever have an article that stood out to you—perhaps one that received a lot of recognition?
Over her four years with the Port Press, one article was particularly memorable for Ceylan. It was a report regarding a racist and antisemitic assault involving graffiti on the stage of Northport High School. Due to the significance of the situation and the quality of the writing, the article received an Honorable Mention award from Suffolk County, which helped the piece stay with her over the years.
What was life like for you after Northport High School?
After graduating in 2017, Ceylan continued her studies at Sarah Lawrence College. There, she found that classes were structured similarly to IB Diploma IAs; they were centered around what the student wanted to study and culminated in a 15–30 page paper to present their learning. In 2019, Ceylan joined a program at the University of Oxford. Even when the pandemic hit, she was able to complete her education from Long Island. After college, Ceylan was fortunate to land an internship at the Northport Historical Society. Upon moving back, she wanted to uncover the origins of Northport and explore the historical reasons behind the town’s racial demographics. She scoured books to learn more about the beginnings of her hometown.
Post-high school, what field did you end up pursuing for a career or passion?
In 2021, Ceylan became the Museum Educator for the Northport Historical Society. In this role, she worked as a researcher and educator, teaching fifth graders about the history of Northport. She later took a position at a museum in Yonkers. Although she loved working close to home, the museum market is largest in the city. Today, Ceylan continues to research the local history of Northport and surrounding towns.
Is there one particular person (teacher, friend, family member, etc.) who inspired you to pursue this path?
While conducting her research, Ceylan came across the story of an African American Local Historian named Thelma Jackson, who worked at Northport High School for years in the administrative offices. Ceylan learned from Jackson’s work that there was once a significant African American community right here in Northport. Jackson took it upon herself to preserve and spread that history. Ceylan feels that “Thelma Jackson walked so I could fly.” Jackson was able to complete extraordinary research without the access to digitized sources. Ceylan says that to this day, “She inspires me to keep this history alive.”
If you could go back and change anything about your life, would you?
Ceylan is grateful for every step she has taken and believes that changing a single moment could be risky. However, one tiny thing she would do is stay in school for one more year—not for training, but just for the fun of the college experience. We thought that was an excellent answer.
What do you think the impact of your research is right now, and what do you want it to be in the future?
Ceylan noted that some current efforts attempt to “re-whitewash” American history or remove pieces of African American public discourse from websites, posters, and building names. In the future, Ceylan wants to commemorate history as a community. She believes there are two major ways to do so: by writing a book and by placing information where everyone can see it—on street signs, plaques, historical markers, and commemorative rocks. She believes some people remove history because they find it too powerful, but because history is permanent, she wishes to celebrate it. She hopes to create sustainable information that is so powerful it cannot be torn down.
Northport Library Lecture
This Saturday, March 7th, Ceylan will give a lecture at the Northport Library. The lecture’s tagline is:
“This presentation highlights the stories of African American patriots, preachers, teachers, and families, and touches on their continuing legacies in Northport and East Northport, across the Town of Huntington, and beyond. My purpose is to give pride of place to the African American individuals and families who did so much to shape those communities and were not recognized for their contributions in their time.” We hope to see you at Ceylan’s lecture. We had a great experience learning how Northport started and what it was like before we arrived. At the Port Press, we see a pattern: our members consistently turn out to be successful and intuitive individuals, and that is certainly the case for Ceylan.
