Five middle school students, accompanied by teacher Darien Logan, attended a March 30 talk hosted by the Historical Society of Islip Hamlet and featuring Christopher Verga, a writer and American history lecturer at Suffolk County Community College. The free event was held at the Islip Public Library.

Verga utilized images from local historical societies, private collections and the African American Museum of Nassau County to create the book “Civil Rights on Long Island,” published last October by Arcadia. His other works include a monthly column in Greater Bay Shore and the forthcoming book “Bay Shore.” His interactive lecture detailed historic race relations and struggles for equality across Long Island.