On the next few episodes of the Long Island History Project, we are revisiting the Vietnam War through the eyes of three local residents, each with their own perspective on the conflict and its devastating aftermath. Today we hear from Oyster Bay resident Jack Parente who was drafted out of college and served in the Army’s 1st Calvary Division. These stories come to us through the work of historian Christopher Verga, who has been recording oral histories with veterans throughout the region. Chris walks us through Jack’s life as well as the process of conducting this type of historical research. [Read more…] about Vietnam War Oral History Subject of Long Island History Project
Marion Hollins: Long Island’s Golf Hall of Famer
Marion Hollins was born into a wealthy family in East Islip, Long Island at the height of the Gilded Age. Although an adept equestrian, polo player, and proud member of the Ladies’ Four in Hand Club, she devoted most of her life to the world of golf.
She won the US Women’s National Championship in 1921 and went on to develop and help design a number of prominent golf courses, mostly in California. Forgotten for most of the past century, she is now being recognized for her success and perseverance as a designer, athlete, and real estate developer. In 2022 she will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. [Read more…] about Marion Hollins: Long Island’s Golf Hall of Famer
Square Dancing on Long Island: An Insider’s Look
An immigrant’s son from Brooklyn, Primo Fiore created a life for himself and his family as a physical education teacher on Long Island in the 1960s. He became involved in square dancing through gym class but wound up calling dances at Jones Beach for over twenty-five years. He and his son Mario describe that journey, including the intricacies and challenges of calling a square dance, on the most recent episode of the Long Island History Project. [Read more…] about Square Dancing on Long Island: An Insider’s Look
Restoring an Iconic Long Island Landmark
The local drug store used to be a fixture on many a small town main street. For Sayville, Long Island it was Thornhill’s on the corner of Gillette and Main, featuring a marble soda fountain, an iconic neon sign, and the first telephone number in the area.
Preservation architect Matthew La Piana purchased the vacant property in 2018 and spent the next few years bringing it back to life. You’ll hear how on this most recent episode of the Long Island History Project. [Read more…] about Restoring an Iconic Long Island Landmark
Long Island Migrant Labor Camps (Podcast)
Long Island has a rich agricultural history. One aspect of that past, often overlooked, is the toll exacted on those doing the actual labor.
Author Mark Torres’ new book shines a light on a chapter of that history. Long Island Migrant Labor Camps: Dust for Blood (History Press, 2021) tells the story of the migrant laborers who traveled to Long Island from the 1940s through the 1970s. The camps in which they lived were often little more than shacks and the plight of the migrants were a debated topic among journalists, officials, and the general public for years. [Read more…] about Long Island Migrant Labor Camps (Podcast)
British Forts on Long Island
David Griffin has turned his architectural eye to the landscape of Long Island and to the history of the Revolutionary War-era fortifications built by the British.
His book, Lost British Forts of Long Island (History Press, 2017), documents the painstaking results: twelve locations throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties with evidence of our occupied past. Using maps, eye-witness accounts, and present day research, Griffin has uncovered much of what has been hiding in plain sight. [Read more…] about British Forts on Long Island
The Glacier That Made Long Island (Podcast)
The history of Long Island can be traced back to the advance (and retreat) of the massive glacier that covered much of North America near the end of the Pleistocene Era. Miranda Maliszka and Anthony Johnson, students at Hofstra University, join The Long Island History Project podcast to shed more light on this deep history. Their research, including GIS data and a Digital Elevation Model, looked at the melting of that glacier and other factors that affected the formation of Long Island. [Read more…] about The Glacier That Made Long Island (Podcast)
Francis ‘Two Gun’ Crowley’s 1931 Killing Spree
Francis “Two Gun” Crowley earned his nickname during a mad spree in 1931 that included murder on a Long Island country lane and a chaotic battle with police on 90th St. in Manhattan. It ended in Crowley’s death in the electric chair less than a year later. [Read more…] about Francis ‘Two Gun’ Crowley’s 1931 Killing Spree
Mary Booth: Writer, Translator, and Founding Editor of Harper’s Bazzar
It’s never been easy to make your way as an independent, career-minded woman in New York City. Mary L. Booth did it in the 19th century, forging a career and establishing a reputation as a writer, translator, and the founding editor of Harper’s Bazzar.
Learn more about this Long Island native as we talk to Tricia Foley, author of Mary L. Booth: The Story of an Extraordinary 19th-Century Woman, on the lastest episode of the Long Island History Project. [Read more…] about Mary Booth: Writer, Translator, and Founding Editor of Harper’s Bazzar
Scandal on Plum Island: A Commander Accused
In 1914, Major Benjamin Koehler faced a court martial on Plum Island, off the eastern end of the North Fork coast of Long Island. A number of men under his command at the island’s Fort Terry had accused this career officer of immoral conduct. The resulting trial and verdict, after an initial flurry of notice in the press, is largely forgotten now.
Marian Lindberg, a lawyer with the Nature Conservancy and a former journalist, has gone to great lengths to retrieve Major Koehler’s ordeal from obscurity. Her book, Scandal on Plum Island: A Commander Becomes the Accused (East End Press), uncovers the possible motives for the court martial as well as the social and political climate surrounding it. [Read more…] about Scandal on Plum Island: A Commander Accused