Taylor honored by County Board

Prominent Peekskill educator James Taylor was honored at Black History Month ceremonies held prior to the Board Meeting of the legislators on the evening of Feb. 1 at the Michaelian Office Building in White Plains.

“Mr. Taylor has contributed in so many ways to the vitality of our community,” said County Legislator John G. Testa, who submitted Taylor’s name.

“I have known Jim for over 20 years as a colleague in the Peekskill School District. His continued dedication and commitment to our community’s youth through hands on education deserves the highest recognition. I am very proud to put the name of James Taylor forward for recognition this evening,” Testa said.

Prior to retirement in 2003, Taylor served as elementary school principal with the Peekskill City School District. He is a retired captain with the New York Guard having served as company commander and search and rescue specialist with the 56th Brigade stationed at the Peekskill Armory.

Presently, Taylor is a part-time interpreter with Historic Hudson Valley, portraying an enslaved cooper at Phillipsburgh Manor in Sleepy Hollow. There he tells the story of enslaved Africans who worked and lived at the site in 1750.

He is a member of the African American Advisory Board for Historic Hudson Valley.

Taylor also performs his ‘Bucket Full of History” program at area schools and historic events telling the story of slavery in the Colonial Hudson Valley.

In the summer of 2009, Taylor supervised a boat building program for high school students sponsored by the City of Peekskill Youth Bureau, called Peekskill Boatworks. The participants built a fourteen-foot Wright Skiff, a wooden rowboat typical of the workboats that were used for centuries by fishermen and rivermen on the Hudson River.

Taylor and his wife Judith Moshier are the parents of two grown daughters and live in Cortlandt Manor.