Episode 72: Chris Vaccaro and the Long Island Ducks
The Long Island History Project
Release Date: 05/01/2018
Episode 188: Benjamin Tallmadge with Richard Welch
The Long Island History Project
The Long Island-born, Yale-educated Benjamin Tallmadge seized his moment to shine in the American Revolution. Whether fighting the British on horseback with the 2nd Continental Dragoons or uncovering their secrets through his agents in the Culper Spy Ring, Tallmadge kept up a hectic pace. You can also throw in maritime battles on the Long Island Sound and daring raids behind enemy lines. Historian Richard Welch documented Tallmadge's eventful life in his 2014 book General Washington's Commando: Benjamin Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War. On today's episode he explains the significance of...
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Episode 187: The Howard School with Dr. Tammy C. Owens
The Long Island History Project
of Skidmore College joins us to discuss her 2019 article "Fugitive Literati: Black Girls' Writing as a Tool of Kinship and Power at the Howard School." Having discovered a treasure trove of letters written in the early 1900s by girls at the Howard Orphanage and Industrial School, Owens was off on a journey to learn more. The research took her from the Schomburg Center in Harlem to Tuskegee University in Alabama and, ultimately, to the doorstep of the Kings Park Heritage Museum. What Owens pieced together was the story of young Black orphans forging connections and support networks through...
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Episode 186: In Levittown's Shadow with Tim Keogh
The Long Island History Project
While Long Island developed a reputation for affluence throughout the 20th Century, there has always been a parallel history of the everyday workers and servants who toiled in the shadow of that reputation. The economic boom of the war years and the subsequent population boom in the 1950s did not change that. , assistant professor of history at Queensborough Community College, delves into this history in his book Levittown's Shadow: Poverty in America's Wealthiest Suburb. He documents the influence of federal spending in the 1940s, the questionable building practices of the Levitts, and a...
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Episode 185: Loyalists on Long Island with Brendon Burns
The Long Island History Project
No one sheds a tear for the British Loyalists of Long Island, those inhabitants who remained loyal to the crown during the American Revolution. But genealogist Brendon Burns has spent a tremendous amount of effort tracking them down through libraries and archives across the world. The result is his 5-volume series The Loyal and Doubtful: Index to the Acts of British Loyalism in the Greater New York and Long Island Area 1775-1783. It's a meticulous record of people in New York, Staten Island, and on Long Island, acting in support of King George and the efforts to subdue the patriots. The...
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Episode 184: Long Island's Most Endangered Historic Places with Tara Cubie
The Long Island History Project
Every other year, Preservation Long Island compiles a list of historic places on Long Island that are endangered. Each list is a mix of structures from different periods of time, each with its own history and own preservation challenges yet all worthy of preserving for future generations. On today's episode, Preservation Long Island's Preservation Director Tara Cubie joins us to discuss the 2023 list. The seven places are: the Stepping Stones Light House (Kings Point), the Coindre Hall Boathouse (Huntington), the Shutt House (Brentwood), Kings Park Psychiatric Center (Kings Park), the...
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Episode 183: Long Island Kansas with Carrie Cox
The Long Island History Project
There is a Long Island just below the Kansas border with Nebraska, between the Elk and Prairie Dog Creeks. It's apparently the creeks that gave the area its name. When swollen with rain, they cut off the land in between until it appeared to be an island rising from the surrounding plains. Long Island is also the home town of Carrie Cox and on today's episode she describes what it was like growing up in a small town on the family farm. We discuss the local sites and legends, the value of history in the tourism industry, and the success of the Northern Valley Huskies. Further Research ...
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Episode 182: Rockin History with Cindy Schwartz
The Long Island History Project
Cindy Schwartz grew up on Long Island and followed her love of history into a long career as a social studies teacher at the Wheatley School in Old Westbury. She has since turned to a new type of classroom - reaching a wider audience through radio and podcasting at WCWP, Long Island University. Her podcast Civics is Dead explored the lack of focus on civics education in schools and ways it can be strengthened. Her radio show Rockin History (Mondays and Wednesdays, 11 AM and 11 PM) mixes classic rock music with interesting stories and facts from history. Further Research (New York State Ed) ...
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Episode 181: Our Hamptons with Irwin Levy and Esperanza Leon
The Long Island History Project
Your idea of the Hamptons on the East End of Long Island may include images of supersized mansions and extravagant parties but there is an older, richer Hamptons history beneath and beyond that glitzy surface. Irwin Levy and Esperanza León bring that history to life in their podcast, Our Hamptons. Their Hamptons is a decidedly personal place, rooted in their love of the people, the landscape, and the lost landmarks of East Hampton, Southampton and everything in between. Starting with their first episode in the spring of 2022, Irwin and Esperanza have wandered the map and...
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Episode 180: Larry Samuel and Making Long Island
The Long Island History Project
Larry Samuel is an author and historian whose latest book looks at the development of Long Island throughout the 20th Century. It was a time of land speculation and rapid growth as real estate developers and their syndicates turned the fields and farms of Nassau and Suffolk Counties into residential neighborhoods. We discuss the role of Robert Moses in abetting this transformation as well as the high (and low) water mark of William Levitt's Levittown that attracted crowds of white homeowners while excluding Blacks in the 1950s. Throughout the book, Larry tracks the Island's social and...
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Episode 179: Edward Lieberman's Historic Tours
The Long Island History Project
Yes, Edward Lieberman is a former assistant district attorney and mayor of Seacliff but just as importantly, he is a long-time listener of the Long Island History Project. So when he reached out to talk about his own forays into Long Island history, we were all ears. On today's episode you'll hear about his work conducting historic bus tours around the Island, focusing on the Oyster Bay area but also venturing into Jones Beach and Great Neck. Further Research
info_outlineThe Long Island Ducks personified an era and a brand of hockey. From 1959 to 1973, they fought, checked, and slashed their way through the Eastern Hockey League and the Long Island Arena in Commack.
If this sounds vaguely familiar, think back to the 1977 film Slap Shot with Paul Newman. Newman's character, Reg Dunlop, was based on the Duck's defensiveman John Brophy.
Chrs Vaccaro, head of the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame, relates the story of this storied franchise. Connie Currie tells her own story of watching the Ducks play and what it was like inside that big drafty barn of a stadium when the pucks were flying.