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Chris Kretz

Chris Kretz produces and co-hosts the Long Island History Project. He is the Head of Stony Brook University's Southampton campus library and the co-author of Oakdale from Arcadia Press.

Raymond Buckland and Wicca in America

January 24, 2023 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoIf you lived in Brentwood, Long Island in the late 1960s and 70s, you may have encountered a charming, transplanted Englishman named Raymond Buckland. You many not have realized it at the time, but Buckland was in the process of establishing Wicca as a religion in America.

A private practitioner at first, introduced to Wicca by Gerald Gardner, Buckland was soon thrust into the public eye by the press. He then helped popularize Gardnerian Wicca through television appearances, newspaper interviews, and his own numerous writings on the subject. He went on to found his own museum and his own tradition of Seax Wicca. [Read more…] about Raymond Buckland and Wicca in America

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Brentwood, Cultural History, Long Island, Podcasts, Religion, Religious History

The Aftermath of The Hurricane of 1938

December 8, 2022 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoMuch has been written about September 21st, 1938, the day that a massive hurricane hit Long Island. For Jonathan C. Bergman, the more interesting story began the day after.

His extensive research focused on the cleanup and disaster relief efforts orchestrated by a shifting network of Red Cross officials, New Deal workers, Suffolk County agencies, churchgoers, and volunteers. [Read more…] about The Aftermath of The Hurricane of 1938

Filed Under: History, Nature, New York City Tagged With: Disaster Management, Hurricane of 1938, Long Island, natural disasters, Podcasts, Red Cross, Suffolk County, weather

The Ferguson Brothers Lynching on Long Island (Podcast)

November 25, 2022 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoTwo Black men were shot and killed by a police officer in Freeport on a cold winter morning in 1946. Another was wounded. All three were brothers, two were World War II veterans dressed in their military uniforms. The ensuing outcry and investigations would spread far beyond the south shore of Long Island and bring the story of racial tensions on Long Island to the national level. [Read more…] about The Ferguson Brothers Lynching on Long Island (Podcast)

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Black History, Crime and Justice, Freeport, Hempstead, Long Island, Nassau County, Podcasts

Robert Moses: The Man New Yorkers Love to Hate

November 14, 2022 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoRobert Moses is the man many New Yorkers love to hate. This is in no small part due to his own hubris and the impact he had on the people living in the path of his massive construction projects. Add to that Robert Caro’s hard hitting 1974 biography The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (Vintage Book, 1975) and you’ve got a reputation that is hard to live down. [Read more…] about Robert Moses: The Man New Yorkers Love to Hate

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Engineering History, Environmental History, Long Island, Nassau County, New York City, Podcasts, Political History, Robert Moses, Suffolk County, Transportation History, Urban History

Culper Spy Ring At Drowned Meadow, Long Island

November 6, 2022 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoToday we dive back into a discussion of the Culper Spy Ring, turning our attention to the area of Port Jefferson, Long Island or, more appropriately, its original incarnation of Drowned Meadow. The village of Port Jefferson is opening the Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum inside the 18th century home of Culper ring member Phillips Roe. [Read more…] about Culper Spy Ring At Drowned Meadow, Long Island

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: American Revolution, Culper Spy Ring, Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum, Long Island, Military History, Podcasts, Port Jefferson, Setauket, Suffolk County

Long Island’s Barrier Beaches: Gilgo Culture & History

October 17, 2022 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoLong Island’s barrier beaches are fascinating places. Stretched along the south shore of the island, they persist through much of Long Island history as wild natural landscapes constantly shifting and remolded by the Atlantic Ocean. And despite the storms and shipwrecks and isolation, people have persisted in thinking “I want to live there.” [Read more…] about Long Island’s Barrier Beaches: Gilgo Culture & History

Filed Under: History, Nature, New York City Tagged With: Atlantic Ocean, Babylon, Great South Bay, Long Island, nature, Podcasts, Robert Moses

Revelations From William Sidney Mount’s Long Island Paintings

October 7, 2022 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoWilliam Sidney Mount was known for his keenly-observed portraits and scenes of everyday life on Long Island during the first half of the 19th century. He portrayed farmers, fiddlers, tradesmen, and workers in their natural haunts, laughing, singing, and enjoying life. [Read more…] about Revelations From William Sidney Mount’s Long Island Paintings

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Art History, Long Island, Old Field, painting, Podcasts, Setauket, Stony Brook, Suffolk County

Hempstead Plains Environmental & Cultural History

October 2, 2022 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoThe Hempstead Plains were once a defining feature of Long Island. Covering some 40,000 acres, the Plains stretched from the Queens border in the west to the Suffolk border in the east, creating a sea of waist-high grass in the middle of what is now Nassau County.

Remnants of the Plains still remain, most notably in a 17-acre segment on the campus of Nassau Community College preserved by the Friends of Hempstead Plains. [Read more…] about Hempstead Plains Environmental & Cultural History

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Aviation History, Cultural History, Environmental History, Hempstead Plains, Horses, Long Island, Nassau County, Podcasts, Spanish-American War

Horrific Homicides & Long Island Judge Thomas Stark

April 29, 2022 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoThomas M. Stark served as a judge in Suffolk County and New York State beginning in the early 1960s.

During his career he presided over a number of important cases but the one that loomed largest was the murder of the DeFeo family at their home in Amityville by their son Ronald in 1974. Stark’s daughter Ellen remembers hearing about the case over dinner while the rest of the world remembers it as the Amityville Horror case. [Read more…] about Horrific Homicides & Long Island Judge Thomas Stark

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Crime and Justice, Legal History, Long Island, Podcasts, Suffolk County

Square Dance History on Long Island

April 8, 2022 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoGlenn Durlacher looks back over his family’s legacy of square dance calling on Long Island with deserved pride. His grandfather Ed pioneered square dancing in the New York City area starting in the 1930s.

At the urging of his friends in the Top Hands band, Ed Durlacher made a name for himself calling dances and traveling to promote the use of his records and square dancing to phys ed teachers across the country. [Read more…] about Square Dance History on Long Island

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: 1939 World's Fair, Dance, Long Island, Performing Arts, Podcasts

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