The Jay Heritage Center (JHC), in partnership with the African American Men of Westchester (AAMW), is proud to announce the recipient of the inaugural Purdy – Bell Fellowship, Chase Aidan Randolph Gray. Chase will conduct original historical research related to the documented African American history of the Harrison – Rye – Mamaroneck area. Over a span of six weeks this summer, he will work with historians both on-site and virtually at the National Historic Landmark Jay Estate in Rye. Among the original source materials that he will help digitize and contextualize are 19th century accounting ledgers and associated receipts kept by the Purdy and Bell families and passed down through generations. Chase will also have the opportunity to discuss his findings with other scholars at both local and national institutions that preserve and interpret Black history in Westchester and in New York State.
Chase is a Senior at Harrison High School in Harrison, NY, where he is a member of the school’s Model Congress and has participated as a Student Senator at Yale, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard Model Congress Conferences. He currently serves as the President of the New Rochelle – White Plains Alumni chapter of the National Kappa League Leadership Development Program through Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., while balancing his responsibilities of academics, extracurricular activities and maintaining scholastic achievement.
Chase’s passion is filmmaking and photography and during the summer of 2021, he started his own business, Chase A. Photography. In just three short years, he has worked over 35 events for groups and organizations. He has created short films, including “Journey to Justice,” which led to him being the 2025 recipient of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Youth Legacy Award for Social Justice, awarded by AAMW. He’s always looking to grow and improve his craft and is grateful for the opportunity to capture art in its various forms.
Chase’s involvement in Model Congress and community service led to his interest in law. This fall, he will attend American University in Washington, DC, where he plans to declare an interdisciplinary major in Communications, Law, Economics, and Government. He hopes to pursue a career as an attorney.