The Long Island History Project
Stories and interviews with people passionate about Long Island history.
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Episode 202: Robert Anen and Manhasset Oral Histories
04/08/2025
Episode 202: Robert Anen and Manhasset Oral Histories
The voices of the past are all around us, if you know how to listen. And sometimes those voices are trapped on small thin strips of tape wrapped in cheap plastic. That’s where Robert Anen comes in. As project archivist for the Long Island Library Resources Council, he works with historical collections across Nassau and Suffolk counties. Specializing in audio preservation and digitization, he’s rescued a number of collections – copying them to digital media and making them publicly available online. Today we focus on Robert’s work with one of the oldest oral history collections on Long Island at the Manhasset Public Library. Library director Maggie Gough introduces us to the scope and depth of their oral history collection while Antonia Mattheou, their consulting archivist, helps us unpack the history contained on the recordings. Special shout out to Manhasset’s first librarian Ruth Cowell who conducted most of the oral history interviews. Her foresight, along with a committed group of patrons, means that we get to listen to memories of the Blizzard of 1888 and the Vanderbilt Cup Races from those who experienced them. Recorded in 1953 on a reel to reel recorder, the interviews were converted to cassette tapes sometime in the 1980s before Rob digitized them in the 21st century, On today’s episode you’ll hear from these Manhasset residents: Ernest Willets Herbert Fish Laura Schneider Ernest Willets George D. Smith Further Research (1953-1988) Intro music: Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions
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Episode 201: Isle of Ever w Jen Calonita
03/22/2025
Episode 201: Isle of Ever w Jen Calonita
Isle of Ever is Jen Calonita’s newest middle grade novel, a story grounded in the history of Long Island’s North Fork. On today’s episode, Jen discusses growing up on Long Island and spending many summers at her grandparents’ house in Mattituck. It was here, in between trips to Greenport, that she first heard tell of Captain Kidd’s lost treasure. She tried digging up the local beach, came up empty, but the idea buried itself in Jen’s mind. Now she has worked her experiences into the tale of Benny Benedict, a young girl caught up in a race to solve a puzzle and claim an inheritance. The plot and the clues to the mystery are tied up in Greenport’s history. Jen walks us through the Greenport locales and local legends that made it into the book in one form or another. We also talk about her love of reading and of middle grade and young adult fiction. Further Resources (Sourcebooks) (temporarily closed) (Good Reads) Music: Intro music: Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions
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Episode 200: The 1975 Babylon High School Panthers w Tom McKeown
03/10/2025
Episode 200: The 1975 Babylon High School Panthers w Tom McKeown
Tom McKeown lived and breathed basketball throughout junior and senior high school in Babylon. As an eighth grader in 1974-1975, he got to experience the thrill of watching the varsity team win their league and the Suffolk County championships. As fate would have it, this was also the first year that New York State allowed county champions to play each other, setting up a showdown between Babylon’s Panthers and Nassau County’s champs, the South Side Cyclones of Rockville Center. It was an epic season that engaged Tom so deeply that he has written his version of the story as This Is Panther Country. We don’t want to spoil the outcome but the subtitle is A Memoir of Youth, Underdog Spirit, and Basketball Glory. Available March 18, 2025, the book chronicles life on the court, in the school hallways, and in the McKeown family home on Coppertree Lane. You’ll learn a lot about the ins-and-outs of basketball tournaments but you’ll also be pulled back to your own high school days of close friend groups, petty slights, unrequited crushes, and weekend parties. Further Research by Tom McKeown (Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame) “” (Smithsonian Mag) Audio Footnotes: (episode 133)
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Episode 199: Dr. Angela Fernandez and Pierson v Post
02/10/2025
Episode 199: Dr. Angela Fernandez and Pierson v Post
When Jessie Pierson and Lodowick Post argued over a fox in early 19th century Southampton, they probably didn’t think the resulting court case would echo down the ages. Yet here we are 220 years later talking with legal historian Angela Fernandez about the odd, improbable history of Pierson v Post. A professor of law and history at the University of Toronto, Fernandez has delved deep into the case. Her “legal archaeology” uncovered important, presumed-lost information on the early phases of the proceedings. Her 2018 book Pierson v. Post, The Hunt for the Fox: Law and Professionalization in American Legal Culture, unpacks more of the impact and context around the decision. On today’s episode we discuss the local history surrounding the case, more about the Piersons and the Posts, and the surprisingly whimsical inner life of the legal profession. Further Research (University of Toronto) Fernandez, Angela. Pierson v. Post, the hunt for the fox: Law and professionalization in American legal culture. Cambridge University Press, 2018. ( via WorldCat) Fernandez, Angela. “” Law and History Review 27, no. 1 (2009): 149-178.
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Episode 198: Mark Torres: Long Island and the Legacy of Eugenics
01/20/2025
Episode 198: Mark Torres: Long Island and the Legacy of Eugenics
The science of genetics took a wrong turn in the early 20th century and it ran through Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Here overlooking a former whaling port, Dr. Charles Benedict Davenport created the Eugenics Record Office and served as director of the Carnegie Institution’s Station for Experimental Evolution. From these posts he promoted and pushed the Eugenics Movement in the US and throughout the world. Historian and attorney Mark Torres has explored the far reaching and sinister influence of Davenport’s activities in his new book Long Island and the Legacy of Eugenics: Station of Intolerance (Arcadia Press). It is not the story of a fringe movement but of “the rage of the age.” Eugenics, which sought to control the development of the human race through such means as selective breeding, segregation, and forced sterilizations, was touted by politicians, intellectuals, academics, and even Supreme Court justices. In his work, Torres traces a sinister strategy that included legislative control, the trappings of academic credentials, and partnerships with like-minded movements like the emerging Nazi Party in Germany. On today’s interview you’ll hear more about the people involved, the power they wielded, and their surprising, ultimate fate. Further Research (Arcadia Publishing) (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) Audio Footnotes: : Long Island Migrant Labor Camps with Mark Torres Music Intro music: Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions
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Episode 197: Riverhead Stadium with Fabio Montella
12/23/2024
Episode 197: Riverhead Stadium with Fabio Montella
Memorial Day 1949 was an auspicious day in Riverhead as it saw the inaugural game at the brand new Wivchar Stadium on Harrison Ave. The brainchild of Tony Wivchar, a local entrepreneur and owner of an earth-moving company, the venue soon came to be known as Riverhead Stadium. Although it only existed for a few brief years, the stadium was alive with excitement. To help drum up interest, Wivchar formed the Riverhead Falcons baseball team out of local talent to play in exhibition games. Their opponents ranged from Negro League stalwarts such as the Black Yankees to barnstorming attractions like the House of David. Other events included women’s softball, rodeos, and professional wrestling. By the mid-1950s, however, the stadium was gone with little left to mark its passing. Enter Fabio Montella – Suffolk County Community College librarian, history professor, and friend of the podcast. As part of his on-going explorations of baseball in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Montella became aware of the stadium’s short but illustrious existence. He was able to uncover more about Wivchar’s past and his pursuits, even finding and interviewing Wivhcar’s wife and daughter. The result, as today’s episode will attest, is a fascinating glimpse into one man’s passion and the field of dreams he built to contain it. Further Research “.” County Review, May 26, 1949 “” [House of David baseball] Audio Footnotes: Music Intro music: Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions
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Episode 196: Dutch Language in New York with Kieran O'Keefe
11/18/2024
Episode 196: Dutch Language in New York with Kieran O'Keefe
The Dutch held on to their New Netherland colony for some forty years. They lost it to the English twice, at gunpoint in 1664 and by treaty in 1674. But although officially gone, the Dutch were not forgotten. In addition to their cultural legacy, the Dutch language held on stubbornly across the region for a long time. How long? That’s the question Dr. Kieran O’Keefe answers in “When Did New York Stop Speaking Dutch? The Persistence of the Dutch Language in Old New Netherland” (New York History journal, 2024). He tracks the long history of Dutch-language speakers across the centuries, finding traces of it in Revolutionary War records, cemetery headstones, contemporary travel accounts, and in enslaved people like Sojourner Truth, taught it by their Dutch owners. We unpack it all in this interview, touching on old Brooklyn, the Queens-Nassau border, Albany, and other enclaves up the Hudson Valley. Along the way Martin Van Buren and Sinterklaas make an appearance as evidence of Dutch influence. Despite their short-lived enterprise on the East Coast, the Dutch (along with their language) made a long-lasting impression. When did New York stop speaking Dutch? The answer will surprise you. Further Research O’Keefe, Kieran J. “” New York History 104, no. 1 (2024): 150-170. (New Netherland Institute) Featured image: George Henry Boughton (1833-1905), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Music Intro music: Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions
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Episode 195: Dr. James R. Wright and Walt Whitman's Brain
10/21/2024
Episode 195: Dr. James R. Wright and Walt Whitman's Brain
The science of the brain was changing throughout the 19th century. Medical researchers were peering ever deeper into cerebral mysteries and one question piqued their interest more than any other: who has the biggest brain? On today’s episode we turn for answers to Dr. James R. Wright, medical historian and retired professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Calgary. He introduces us to brain clubs, mutual autopsy societies and above all, the American Anthropometric Society of Philadelphia. The AAS had a particular interest in collecting and studying the brains of prominent scientists and intellectuals. You can imagine their excitement then, when Walt Whitman died in 1892 not far from their laboratory. Wright walks us through the ensuing complicated tale uncovered by him and other historians. Did Whitman really donate his brain to science? Why did Henry Ware Cattelll, who performed the autopsy, keep changing his story? And how does eBay and the 1931 movie Frankenstein play into it all? Join us for a special Halloween episode that is not for the feint of heart. Further Research Wright Jr, James R. “.” Clinical Anatomy 31, no. 7 (2018): 988-996. Hecht, Jennifer. The end of the soul: scientific modernity, atheism, and anthropology in France. Columbia University Press, 2005. ( via WorldCat) Burrell, Brian. “.” Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 20, no. 3/4 (2003). Gosline, Sheldon Lee. “.” Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 31, no. 4 (2014). . Camden, NJ Music by Tele50 via . by ekfink. License: Creative Commons 0 by FASSounds via
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Episode 194: The Art of Edward Lange with Lauren Brincat and Peter Fedoryk
10/07/2024
Episode 194: The Art of Edward Lange with Lauren Brincat and Peter Fedoryk
Edward Lange was a German artist who started his career on Long Island in the late 19th century. He meticulously captured the landscape and built environment across the island from Flushing to Sag Harbor in water color paintings rich in detail and charm. Preservation Long Island has just published Promoting Long Island: The Art of Edward Lange, 1870-1889 by chief curator and director of collections Lauren Brincat and former curatorial fellow Peter Fedoryk. The book features over 100 color reproductions of Lange’s work along with essays from Brincat, Fedoryk, and contributors Jennifer L. Anderson, Thomas Busciglio-Ritter, and Joshua M. Ruff. On today’s episode, Brincat and Fedoryk discuss their work on the book including the new research that fills in the gaps of Lange’s family and education. We also talk about his entrepreneurial drive, his love of photography, and the life of a landscape painter on a Long Island that was rapidly turning from bucolic farmland to a vacation destination. Further Research 11/16/24 ““, Scribner’s Monthly, February 1879 (Google Books) (National Gallery of Art) Music Intro music: Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions
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Episode 193: Associated Public Historians of New York State conference
09/18/2024
Episode 193: Associated Public Historians of New York State conference
The Association of Public Historians of New York State held their annual conference at Danford’s in Port Jefferson this year, gathering public historians from all corners of the state to discuss resources, projects, and to provide a great opportunity for people to talk history. The Long Island History Project was there to hold a workshop, “How to Be a Podcast Guest.” Today’s episode features the brave individuals who sat down at the mics and told us a little bit about their work, the challenges they face, and where exactly “upstate” begins. Further Research Ross Lumpkin Historian Marilyn Hayden Historian Amy Folk Debra Allen Gabrielle John Tracy Robert Finnegan Regina Feeney Historian Intro music: Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions
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Episode 192: Broadway to Jones Beach w Richard Arnold Beattie
07/17/2024
Episode 192: Broadway to Jones Beach w Richard Arnold Beattie
Robert Moses had a vision for Jones Beach in the 1920s that included a theater to bring high quality entertainment to the people. That theater on Zachs Bay went through a number of iterations but reached its height from 1954-1977 when it was under the direction of Guy Lombardo. Along with his brothers Carmen and Lebert, the Canadian-born band leader/impresario brought Broadway shows and original productions to the beach. Their stage was an 8,200-seat amphitheater with a host of spectacular additions including icebergs, waterfalls, showboats, and floating mansions. Richard Arnold Beattie got more than a front row seat, performing as a child actor in The Sound of Music and The King and I at Zachs Bay in the early 1970s. Although he went on to a career that included journalism, songwriting, and audio production, he never forgot his time at the Jones Beach Theater. He has captured the experience in a new audio documentary called From Broadway to Jones Beach, streaming now on Spotify and planned to be repackaged as an audiobook. Hear more on today’s episode about the development of the Jones Beach Marine Theater and its connections to Broadway history and the Lombardo family who lived in nearby Freeport. You’ll also get a preview of Richard’s documentary through interviews with actors Connie Towers and June Angela. If you like your Broadway big – including Nazis in speedboats and sharks circling the stage – then you’ll love this story. Further Research (Spotify) (OVRTUR) Sound effect - License: Creative Commons 0 Intro music: Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions
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Episode 191: The 1914 Freeport Murder Mystery w Woody Register
06/24/2024
Episode 191: The 1914 Freeport Murder Mystery w Woody Register
An obscure bit of early 20th century technology embroiled Dr. Woody Register in a murder mystery. Register, a professor of history at the University of the South (Sewanee), became intrigued by the detective dictograph and followed its trail to the 1914 murder of Louise Bailey in Freeport. Mrs. Bailey was shot in the Merrick Road office of Dr. Edward Carman. Dr. Carman's wife, Florence, had secretly installed a dictograph in her husband's office hoping to capture evidence of his philandering. What followed was a media frenzy of an investigation that played out in countless inches of newspaper columns across the country. Register's 2014 essay in the Journal of Theory and Practice examined the case, the surrounding newspaper coverage, and the legal, social, and philosophical issues that lay at its heart. We do not find all the answers but on this episode you'll hear more about the tragic crime that rocked Freeport and momentarily knocked the First World War off of the front page. Further Research (University of the South) "." (Amazon) . "?" (Chronicling America) (IMDB) by Gertrude Atherton (Google Books)
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Episode 190: Ralph Bunn, Long Island's Jackie Robinson w Fabio Montella
05/15/2024
Episode 190: Ralph Bunn, Long Island's Jackie Robinson w Fabio Montella
Librarian and baseball historian Fabio Montella returns to the podcast to bring us the story of Ralph “Sammy” Bunn. Bunn was a Setauket native who excelled at baseball all his life. A star athlete in high school in the 1930s, he went on to play for decades on a number of teams and leagues in the makeshift world of community baseball in Suffolk County. His short stint pitching for the Brookhaven Highway Department team (starting in 1939) makes Bunn, by Montella’s research, the first documented Black player to break the color barrier on Long Island. (Bunn was soon followed by his Brookhaven teammate Kenneth Sells.) On today’s episode Montella describes Bunn’s storied career in baseball and his life as a dedicated family man and World War II veteran. Working with Sammy’s son, Ralph Jr., and his nephew Carlton Edwards (an accomplished player in his own right) Montella brought to light many details, including Ralph’s Shinnecock heritage, a fact not mentioned in contemporary accounts. You’ll also hear more about the world of community and semiprofessional baseball on the Island along with other teams like the Suffolk Giants and the Huntington Police Department who make it such an interesting glimpse into local history. Further Research ““ Intro music: Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions Audio footnotes (past episodes with Fabio Montella):
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Episode 189: Chubby Jackson and Freeport
05/01/2024
Episode 189: Chubby Jackson and Freeport
Greig Stewart “Chubby” Jackson was a swinging sensation in his day. A child of vaudevillians, he was raised in an enclave of actors, musicians, and performers in Freeport, Long Island against the backdrop of Prohibition and a burgeoning club scene. Exposed to music at an early age, he jumped from high school to playing bass in swing bands in New York City and on the road, most notably with bandleader Woody Herman. On today’s episode we trace the life of the man with three very special guests: Freeport Village historian Regina Feeney, jazz historian Scott Yanow, and Chubby’s daughter Jaijai Jackson. And thanks to Monk Rowe and the Fillius Jazz Archive at Hamilton College, we can add in the voice of Chubby himself. Chubby was a colleague to Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and other jazz greats (you’ll see him near the top of the steps in ). His career spans the height of the swing era and the rise of bop with a side trip into headlining several kiddie TV shows in Chicago and New York. Through it all the constants in his life remained the love of family, of performing, and of Freeport. Further Research (Fillius Jazz Archive at Hamilton College) (Freeport Memorial Library) , journalist and historian Music credits from by gregstermatic. License: Creative Commons 0 by elzozo. License: Creative Commons 0 by FrankyBoomer. License: Creative Commons 0
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Episode 188: Benjamin Tallmadge with Richard Welch
04/15/2024
Episode 188: Benjamin Tallmadge with Richard Welch
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 this important figure in Long Island and American history. He also helps illustrate the nature of British activity in the New York region, the documentary trail he followed, and what questions were left unanswered. Further Research General Washington's Commando: Benjamin Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War by Richard Welch ( via WorldCat) (Google Books) (American Battlefield Trust) (William Clements library) Audio Footnotes
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Episode 187: The Howard School with Dr. Tammy C. Owens
03/27/2024
Episode 187: The Howard School with Dr. Tammy C. Owens
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 a unique institution known by some as the Tuskegee of the North. The letters she found tell personal and sometimes painful stories, often by the details which they leave out. Owens' research brings to light voices that are often overlooked or missing from archival collections. We hear her thoughts on the process, the historians and authors who inspire her, and the story of her life-changing day riding around Kings Park with Leo P. Ostebo. Further Research Owens, T. C. (2019). . Women, Gender, and Families of Color, 7(1), 56–79. https://doi.org/10.5406/womgenfamcol.7.1.0056 (NYPL Schomburg Center) Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route by Saidiya Hartman ( via WorldCat) Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet A. Jacobs ( via WorldCat) The Bondwoman’s Narrative by Hannah Craft ( via WorldCat)
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Episode 186: In Levittown's Shadow with Tim Keogh
02/04/2024
Episode 186: In Levittown's Shadow with Tim Keogh
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 host of attempts to alleviate poverty and fight the dominance of single family housing on Long Island. Further Research (Chicago Press) “.” (NYT) (The Atlantic) Audio Footnotes (related episodes):
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Episode 185: Loyalists on Long Island with Brendon Burns
01/19/2024
Episode 185: Loyalists on Long Island with Brendon Burns
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 Loyal and Doubtful is of a piece with Brendon's work as a genealogist at the Daughters of the American Revolution. He helps vet applications for membership, which includes proving that an ancestor demonstrated "unfailing" service to the revolution. This criteria poses a problem on Long Island where swearing an oath of loyalty or other public acts of support could hardly have been avoided. On this episode, Brendon walks us through the DAR process, the challenges of disproving loyal acts, and what the surviving records can tell us about life on Long Island during the war. Further Research (APG) (DAR) by Thomas B. Wilson (via WorldCat) by Christopher Minty (LI History Journal) Audio Footnotes:
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Episode 184: Long Island's Most Endangered Historic Places with Tara Cubie
12/11/2023
Episode 184: Long Island's Most Endangered Historic Places with Tara Cubie
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 Eliphalet Whitman House (Smithtown), the Mill Pond House (Oyster Bay) and the Perkins Electric Generating Plant (Riverhead). Tara talks about the sites, the groups who nominated them, the struggles that each of them face, and the reasons why you should care about their survival. Further Research (Facebook) Audio Footnotes
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Episode 183: Long Island Kansas with Carrie Cox
12/04/2023
Episode 183: Long Island Kansas with Carrie Cox
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
11/06/2023
Episode 182: Rockin History with Cindy Schwartz
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) “” (The Chemical Engineer) Audio Footnotes
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Episode 181: Our Hamptons with Irwin Levy and Esperanza Leon
10/09/2023
Episode 181: Our Hamptons with Irwin Levy and Esperanza Leon
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 covered topics ranging from the Bell Estate in Amagansett to auto racing in Bridgehampton to Jungle Pete’s in Springs. With a soft spot for the 1970s and 80s, they bring to life the stories that have almost faded from memory, providing a place for them to live again. Further Research “” (Mother Jones)
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Episode 180: Larry Samuel and Making Long Island
09/24/2023
Episode 180: Larry Samuel and Making Long Island
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 economic landscape with photographs, statistics, and contemporary accounts. A complex picture emerges of a place so successfully marketed as an idyllic countryside that it was almost developed out of existence. Further Research (History Press) by Larry Samuel (JSTOR) (Newsday) Audio Footnotes from past episodes , whose father poured cement for "old man Levitt." , Fire Island-based, environmentally friendly home builder
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Episode 179: Edward Lieberman's Historic Tours
08/16/2023
Episode 179: Edward Lieberman's Historic Tours
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
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Episode 178: The Arthur Murray Girls Baseball Team w Fabio Montella
07/27/2023
Episode 178: The Arthur Murray Girls Baseball Team w Fabio Montella
In 1949 the nine women of the Arthur Murray Girls baseball team took the field against the all-male squad from the Patchogue Athletics. By that year, the Murrays had been together as a semi-pro outfit for some time. Formed out of the sandlots and playgrounds of Queens, they grew under the tutelage of New York Times sportswriter Mike Strauss to become the nucleus of a league that by the late 1940s became the American Girls Baseball Conference. On today's episode, historian and Suffolk County Community College librarian Fabio Montella presents his research into the Murrays, their game with Patchogue, and their full, storied history. Although based out of Cedarhurst in Nassau County, the women traveled a loop that saw them taking the field against the likes of the Glen Cove Clovers, the Perth Amboy Cardinalettes, and the Stamford Nutmegs. Fabio also introduces us to Gloria Del Percio, the last living member of the Arthur Murray Girls. The story of 20th century women's baseball has been popularized by the movie A League of Their Own, but women had their own leagues all across the country. The Murray Girls encapsulate that story at the local level, both as a team and as individual women who loved to play the game. Further Research (Getty Images) "." (Patchogue Advance) "" (LI Herald) Audio Footnotes
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Episode 177: Richard Welch and The Gold Coast Elite in World War One
06/12/2023
Episode 177: Richard Welch and The Gold Coast Elite in World War One
The Gold Coast along Long Island's north shore is most often celebrated as a showcase for the rich and famous in the early 20th Century. A decidedly different aspect of that reputation comes into view when you consider the years leading up to America's entry into World War I. The Morgan Bank, headed by J.P. Morgan, Jr. with his estate in Glen Cove, played a pivotal role in financing and finding supplies for Britain in the early years of the war. Other famous North Shore families, notably former president Theodore Roosevelt of Oyster Bay, pushed for the United States to enter the war. Richard Welch presents this story in his book Long Island's Gold Coast Elite and World War I (History Press). He details the world of the Gold Coast and its prominent families, along with their important industry connections and political leanings. From financial dealings to political activism, large scale rallies, and even pushing their own children to serve, these families helped bring America into the war. Further Research Long Island's Gold Coast Elite and World War I ( via WorldCat) The Road Less Traveled: The Secret Battle to End the Great War, 1916-1917. ( via Worldcat) "." (Smithsonian Magazine) (Internet Archive)
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Episode 176: How the Bayport Blue Point Phantoms Got Their Name
05/30/2023
Episode 176: How the Bayport Blue Point Phantoms Got Their Name
Today we team up with Stephanie Eberhard-Holgerson's journalism class at Bayport Blue Point (BBP) High School to try to solve a mystery. At the suggestion of BBP's librarian Pam Gustafson, the class has spent the last year looking into the school's mascot, The Phantoms. The takeaway is that the straightforward question "where did the name come from" has yielded a very convoluted answer. Digging into the research, the class combed school yearbooks, local newspaper archives, Board of Education minutes, and more. Their investigations took them down many paths, touching upon early aviation history, the foundations of ghost stories, local legends, and rival high school teams. They debunked some myths and found compelling evidence for others. They've also discovered a new appreciation for Long Island history and for the need of documenting school decisions for future generations. Further Research (NY Heritage) (NYSPHSAA) (NYS Board of Regents) Audio Footnotes
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Epiosde 175: Remember Liss with Claire Bellerjeau
05/15/2023
Epiosde 175: Remember Liss with Claire Bellerjeau
We're returning to Revolutionary War era Long Island on this episode. And while the Culper Spy Ring does play a part, we are turning the focus to a woman whose story and connections to the Ring were ignored and misrepresented across time until reconstructed by Claire Bellerjeau. Her book with Tiffany Yecke Brooks, Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution, brought to life the meticulous research Bellerjeau conducted over years to illustrate Liss (Elizabeth), a woman surviving through tumultuous times. Their latest book (and non-profit organization) is Remember Liss which brings the story to students and educators. Combined with primary sources through the New York State Archives, Remember Liss is a fascinating journey through the late 17th and early 18th centuries on Long Island, New York City, and South Carolina. It uses documents, letters, and similar records to show the struggles of a woman born into slavery in Oyster Bay, her ties to Robert Townsend (Culper Jr), General John Simcoe, Major John Andre, and the lengths she would go to in order to gain her freedom. Further Research ““ (Boston Massacre Historical Society) Audio Footnotes Episode 46 :
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Episode 174: Al Smith with Dr. Robert Slayton
05/01/2023
Episode 174: Al Smith with Dr. Robert Slayton
Al Smith was many things during his political career: reform champion after the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, four-time governor of New York State, the first Catholic presidential candidate. But he was always a New York City boy at heart. On this episode we talk with another New York City native, Dr. Robert A. Slayton. His book, Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith (Free Press 2001), documents Smith's rise from the Lower East Side to the top of the Democratic Party ticket in the "dirtiest presidential election in history." Along the way we learn more about progressive reforms in the early 20th century, the career path of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the influence of the KKK in 1920s America. We also touch on Smith's influence on Long Island history, mostly through his elevation of Robert Moses in state government. Further Research Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith by Robert Slayton ( via WorldCat) (OSHA) "" (Chronicling America) (VCU Libraries) (British Pathe, YouTube) (NYC Parks)
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Episode 173: Long Island Mill North Carolina
04/10/2023
Episode 173: Long Island Mill North Carolina
From time to time on the podcast we like to explore the histories of other Long Islands, those far from New York. Today we focus on the story of Long Island Mill and the Long Island Mill Village in North Carolina. We have a number of guests to help us tell the story. Jennifer Marquardt, site manager of Murray’s Mill in Catawba County, has researched the Long Island Mill and its 19th century past. Chuck McShane, writer and economic data consultant, authored A History of Lake Norman, a body of water that factors heavily in the Long Island Mill story. Most importantly, we include a number of oral histories collected by Richard Eller, professor of history at Catawba Valley Community College, as part of the project Spinning Yarns: The Long Island Cotton Mill Family. Conducted in collaboration with the Historical Association of Catawba County, the project included the voices of Gerald Robinson, Gerald Sigmon, Fletus Poston, Carroll Gilleland, Una Mae Brown, Regis Barnhardt, Gene Fisher, Gail Eades Sigmon, and Sylvia Cannon. Further Research (Catawba County Community College) (Davidson College)
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