Larry Samuel is an author and historian whose book Making Long Island: A History of Growth and the American Dream (History Press, 2023) 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.
On the latest episode of the Long Island History Project podcast, Samuel discusses the role of Robert Moses played 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 African-Americans in the 1950s.
Throughout the book, Samuel tracks Long 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.
You can listen to the podcast here.
The Long Island History Project is an independent podcast featuring stories and interviews with people passionate about Long Island history. It is hosted by academic librarian Chris Kretz.
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