LI Road Named After Dead KKK Member May Be Changed

MELVILLE, NY — Steps are being taken to rename Ruland Road, named for Judson Floyd Ruland, a member of the Ku Klux Klan who died in the 1920s.

Sal Ferro, a Town of Huntington councilman, is reaching out to residents and business owners who have an address on Ruland Road. Should a name change be endorsed, it would go to Suffolk County, as the road is county property, for what could be a six- to nine-month process.

Ferro said he is "thrilled" to see there is awareness of the road name's origins and believes re-naming it is the right thing to do.

“This guy was a member of the KKK. Enough said. Boom. That was it," Ferro told Patch. "History is history. All the blemishes. We have a lot of blemishes in our history. There’s no doubt. As a country, as a world, as a community, whatever it may be. So sometimes you look at those blemishes, and you say, ‘OK, I understand.’ But this is part of your history, and you have to make a decision. History is there. You can’t change it. But you sure as heck don’t have to celebrate somebody who was part of such a vulgar, hate-spewing group."

Ferro's office said any new names for the road would have to be approved by Suffolk County, which would have the final say on a new name. No new name ideas for the road have been discussed yet by Ferro's office, a spokesman said.

Robert Hughes, the Town of Huntington historian, confirmed that Ruland was a Klansman after he was presented with the research of April Lynne Earle, a librarian at Farmingdale State College. Earle discovered it while reading Ruland's obituary following a question she received from a Farmingdale Public Library librarian about who owned the farmland before the state purchased it for the college.

In June, Earle discovered three prominent landowners who the current college grounds were purchased from. Judson Floyd Ruland was one of them. Earle wanted to do more research, and she found his obituary.

In May 1888, Ruland purchased the farmland that would eventually become Farmingdale State College. He sold it to the state in December 1913.

Ruland died on Jan. 1, 1925, at the age of 72. He died of apoplexy after a short illness, according to his obituary.

His obituary references a cross being burned at his funeral, which was attended by a "large gathering of Klansmen" from Nassau County and western Suffolk. More than 200 Klansmen, "robed, but not masked," paid their respects to Ruland, referenced as a "faithful Klansman," as they buried him at Lower Melville Cemetery.

"I was startled a little by the amount of detail in it," Earle said. "I wasn’t shocked or surprised that the Klan was here in this area. The Klan had prominence here on Long Island in the 1920s. The detail in that obituary was startling. I was shook by that. The idea that they burned a cross in the cemetery is really what upset me the most, I think. The idea of 200 Klansmen marching past my campus is just something I can’t imagine.”

Earle said she sent a copy of the obituary to Farmingdale State College President John Nader, who then met with Ferro. Earle did not foresee the amount of attention it would get. She said the attention has been great in the sense that people should know their history.

"Some responses have been, ‘Why are you erasing history?’ I’m not erasing it," Earle said. "You didn’t even know it. You drive down that street by it all the time, and you had no idea it was named after a Klansman. The history of the Klan on Long Island is significantly diminished, but the effects of it aren’t really gone. There is still a lot of racism on Long Island. The Klan didn’t just hate Blacks. They hated immigrants of all kinds. They hated Jews. They hated Irish Catholics. It was a force here on Long Island. It feels good to have brought attention to it, and it will be changed."

Earle, who is white, said many people around her face racial discrimination, even if she doesn't. Changing the name of the road, she said, isn't a political issue.

"I'm not doing this because it's political," she said. "I'm doing it because it's upsetting."

Ferro sent letters out to those living or working on Ruland Road on Monday to explain why the road is a candidate for a name change.

"This is kind of erasing some of the past things that we’re not proud of as a society or a community," Ferro said. "By changing the name, we’re not celebrating this person who was part of a group that spewed such hate.”

Suffolk County is looking for the Town of Huntington, spearheaded by Ferro's office, to formally endorse a name change for Ruland Road. Community outreach must be done first, however, Ferro said. That can take a month or two.

If people on Ruland Road support the name change, it would be a quicker process, according to Ferro. He said business owners with shops named after Ruland Road could face hardships.

Once the endorsement is made to the county, Suffolk officials would then have to do their due diligence, which could take months, Ferro said.

In the end, the councilman believes the road's name will be changed.

“I’m confident if people read and they know of this man’s past, the name will be changed. I’m pretty confident.”

Ferro said he is glad there has been support from the community on the name change so far.

"We’ve truly gotten some good feedback," he said. "The feedback we’ve gotten is very positive and very supportive. I think this is something that does help bring the community together.”