Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Daniel Vitagliano

Each week, Rye Patch will seek suggestions from readers for individual kids, youth groups, teens, and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. We want to hear about these amazing children and teens and select one each week as the Patch Whiz Kid.  Submit your nomination in our comment box below or e-mail the information to satta@ patch.com.

Here's our story on this week's Whiz Kid:

Daniel Vitagliano, 15, Port Chester

Sophomore at Archbishop Stepinac High School

Whiz Kid’s Accomplishment: Daniel, who has been involved with the Cub Scouts and Boys Scouts for almost 10 years, is trying to revitalize the African-American cemetery located next to the Greenwood Union Cemetery in Rye. The cemetery is designated as a Westchester historical site and is recognized in the New York State Register of Historical Places and the National Register of Historic Places.

Keys to Awesomeness: After attending a Rye Town Council meeting and hearing about the difficulties its Ad Hoc Committee was having with the cemetery’s upkeep, Daniel, a future Eagle Scout, decided to step in and undertake a project that will preserve the cemetery’s history.

The one-acre cemetery was donated to the Town of Rye in 1860. One hundred and nineteen people are buried there, including 28 war veterans, many of whom are African-American.

There are no official records showing how plots were laid out or who is actually buried in the cemetery, but Daniel said he has ideas about how to maintain its legacy and share its history with residents throughout the county. 

“I had many ideas on how to promote the history of the cemetery, including its importance to veterans, and educating others to better understand the contributions African-Americans made to the Westchester County community,” Daniel told Patch recently.

Daniel plans to gather information from different historical resources—from things such as obituaries, death certificates, church records and oral histories from relatives—to pinpoint and mark the graves of those who are buried in the cemetery.

Once all the research is compiled, he’ll create a numbered system of all the graves, locate the graves on a diagram of the cemetery, and create a user-friendly interface so that any data collected can be easily accessed. He recently received approval for his project from the Rye Town Council. Daniel hopes that anyone with knowledge of the cemetery or those buried there will contact him to help move his project forward. You can reach him at dvgiants21@yahoo.com.