The Jay Estate in Rye was home to one of our nation's greatest peacemakers, John Jay...

...and today, it is YOUR park

Our nonprofit, the Jay Heritage Center (JHC) is dedicated to transforming the 23-acre Jay Estate into a vibrant educational campus, hosting innovative and inclusive programs about American History, Historic Preservation, Social Justice, and Environmental Stewardship.

More about who we are and what we do

Gardens Closed for 2025

Reopening May 2026

Thank you to everyone who came out to visit on our closing day, November 2. The gardens will be closed through the spring and reopen in May 2026.

Visitors enjoyed Analogue Sites by Spanish American artist Jorge Otero-Pailos. “It is deeply meaningful to share these sculptures at the Jay Heritage Center, a place rooted in the history of American diplomacy. Here, they connect the story of our modern embassies abroad with John Jay’s legacy as a statesman at home and diplomat abroad” says Otero-Pailos. Read more about the exhibit here which has been extended through Spring 2026.

Commemorating Veterans Day Every Day

Student Research at JHC

Our volunteers have immersed themselves in almost every chapter of American history, and not just on Veterans Day. One of those students, Anthony Castellano, studied the First World War using a Jay family uniform from our collection as an access point :

Arthur Mason DuBois (1890-1979) was the grandson of Catherine Helena (Jay) DuBois, a granddaughter of John Jay. DuBois served in the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) as a 1st Lieutenant, and was eventually promoted to Captain during World War I. Like many of the Jay descendants, service to his country was never a question but rather an honorable responsibility passed down through generations.

DuBois joined the army in 1917, the same year that the US joined the war. Throughout the course of the war the number of men that served under DuBois increased from 12 to 28, due to his increase in rank. He was first assigned to run the Aviation Clearance Office in the port city of St. Nazaire. The Aviation Clearance Office was a part of a new division in the United States Armed Forces – the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps. The Signal Corps, during this time, was tasked with utilizing new technologies…

Read more here.

Photo of JHC Advisory Board Member John Jay Du Bois next to his father’s AEF uniform.

SEPTEMBER 2024 - 2025

YEAR AT A GLANCE

Every September, we look back and take stock of what we have accomplished. On behalf of our organization, the Jay Heritage Center (JHC), and our dedicated Board of Trustees, staff, volunteers and corporate funders, we present an overview of programs, site improvements and restoration projects of the past year made possible by our supporters, partner organizations and government officials (see link below).

Of particular note, JHC has already exceeded its $250,000-over-10-years commitment to NY State Parks and Westchester County in just under 2 years with 8 years remaining! Since the November 2023 renewal of our three-party operating agreement, JHC has raised and spent over $900,000 on maintenance and improvements to the Jay Estate and made it safer and more welcoming for the public all the while adhering to the standards of the Department of the Interior and following SEQR.

We look forward to future collaborative successes!

SEE THE FULL MONTH BY MONTH LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS HERE

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Land Acknowledgement

It is with gratitude and humility that we acknowledge that we are learning, speaking and gathering on the land of the Wiechquaesgeck (WE-QUEES-GECK), a subdivision of the Munsee people. The Munsee can be identified as speakers of Munsee, a dialect of the Lenape language. Today, the Munsee language is considered critically endangered, only spoken by a handful of elders on the Moraviantown Reserve in Ontario, Canada, each speaker over the age of 70. Lenape, or Leni Lenape was a name prescribed to them by colonists, rather than a label of initial self identification.
The Wiechquaesgeck were the historic owners of Rye, Harrison, and large parts of Westchester County, as they lived between the Hudson and Long Island Sound. Modern nations like the Stockbridge-Munsee, the Delaware Tribe of Indians, and the Delaware Nation trace their ancestry to the Munsee tribes, and continue to keep their history alive. We pay honor and respect to their ancestors past and present as we commit to building a more inclusive and equitable space for all. In the coming years, we plan to reintroduce species of fauna and flora indigenous to the Wiechquaesgeck into our gardens as a way to promote greater respect and understanding of their culture.

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