Historical News and Views from the Empire State
The history of the Rogers Mansion in Southampton starts in 1648 when it was a one room farm house built by the pioneering William Rogers family.
Hundreds of Rodger family descendants were born, raised and died on the property. [Read more…] about Spooky Spirits at Rogers Mansion, Southampton, LI
Brad Kolodny’s new book Seeking Sanctuary: 125 Years of Synagogues on Long Island (Segula Publishing, 2019) provides an history, inventory, and photo archive of every synagogue, past and present, in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. [Read more…] about 125 Years of Synagogues on Long Island
The Long Island history community recently lost an important member: Gene Horton, historian of Blue Point in the town of Brookhaven. His dedication to local history and his skill in making it accessible and entertaining to others knew no bounds.
To celebrate, the Long Island History Project presents portions of two interviews conducted with Gene over the years. You’ll hear about his dogged pursuit of the paintings of William Glackens as well as his admiration for the shennanigans of early 20th-century innkeeper Bill Graham. Gene loved a good story and we were glad that we were able to capture some of them on the podcast. [Read more…] about Brookhaven: Long Island History Project Remembers Gene Horton
For the past thirty years in the hamlet of Setauket, the last Sunday of September is celebrated with apples, from freshly pressed cider to homemade pies. Preservation Long Island is set to host the 30th Annual Long Island Apple Festival at Sherwood-Jayne Farm in Setauket on Sunday, September 29th, from 11 am to 4:30 pm.
The Festival features continuous activities, special programs and apple-related demonstrations including apple pressing with Johnny Appleseed, live music, old fashioned games and relay races, apple crafts, face painting, pony and hayrides, apple cider tasting, colonial cooking demonstrations, historic house and barn tours, local craft artisans and a variety of festival food and beverages will be available for purchase. [Read more…] about 30th Annual Long Island Apple Festival
During the First World War, one of sixteen Army cantonments (temporary camps) was located on Long Island. Camp Upton was established on 9,000 acres in the wilds of Suffolk County in 1917.
The Camp would train 40,000 soldiers for the war, and when it was over, it was torn down and auctioned off, only to be rebuilt twenty years later when the United States entered the Second World War.
The site of the camp in Yaphank is now the home of Brookhaven National Laboratory. [Read more…] about Camp Upton on Long Island
Elaine Kiesling Whitehouse is an author, educator, and journalist who has been writing since she was a young girl. And no matter how many years she spent living abroad, her interest in Long Island and its history remained strong. On this episode of the Long Island History Project, we’ll hear how she developed her novel Hart’s Tavern out of the barest of mentions on a roadside historical marker in Patchogue. We’ll also talk about her growth as a writer on the Fire Island Tide newspaper and the allure of the myths and legends of Long Island’s South Shore. [Read more…] about Long Island History Project Features Elaine Kiesling Whitehouse
In this episode of the podcast Someone Lived Here, Kendra explores Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock’s home and studio on Long Island in Springs, NY. The two artists, Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock created much of their most prominent work on this property.
While walking through the property and barn studio Gaylord explains their professional and personal relationship, and the physical legacy they have both left on the studio in the barn. Gaylord also uncovers more about Krasner and Pollock’s friendship with Ted Dragon and Alfonso Ossorio. [Read more…] about Someone Lived Here: Pollock-Krasner House, Long Island
The skies above Long Island have always called to the adventurous, the innovative, and the ambitious. So it’s no surprise that Walt Winnicki, born in 1928 in the shadow of the biplanes above Roosevelt Field, grew up with a love for aviation. He got his pilot’s license soon after World War II, learning from many of the flyers who were invovled in the golden age of flight themselves.
On this episode of the Long Island History Project, we talk with Walter about life between the air and the myriad of small airports that used to dot the Island. And we also talk with Bob Mott, historian of the Bayport Aerodrome Society, about the preservation and promotion of the last public grass airfield on Long Island. [Read more…] about Aviation and Airport History On Long Island
Love it or hate it, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) has been in operation for over 180 years under the same name and moving people from one end of the Island to the other. Dave Morrison definitely loves it, as his seventh book on LIRR history attests. On the latest episode of the Long Island History Project, we discuss the storied history of the LIRR, from steam locomotives setting the woods on fire to the coming of diesel and the push to attract people to build homes as far out on Long Island as possible. We also detail the detective work involved in Dave’s new book from Arcadia Pres, Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station: Statuary and Sculptures. [Read more…] about A Long Island Rail Road History Podcast
If the thought of W.C. Fields and Ethel Barrymore walking a picket line strikes you as incongruous, it’s time to brush up on some labor history. On the Long Island History Project Podcast, Caroline Propersi-Grossman, a labor historian and PhD candidate at Stony Brook University, relates the story of the 1919 Actors’ Equity Strike and how it fits into labor history. [Read more…] about Labor History: 1919 Actors’ Equity Strike