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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.

How the Bayport Blue Point Phantoms Got Their Name

May 31, 2023 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoOn the latest Long Island History Project podcast Stephanie Eberhard-Holgerson’s journalism class at Bayport Blue Point (BBP) High School in Islip tries 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. [Read more…] about How the Bayport Blue Point Phantoms Got Their Name

Filed Under: History, New York City, Recreation Tagged With: Education, Islip, Long Island, sports, Sports History, Suffolk County

Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution

May 18, 2023 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoWe’re returning to Revolutionary War era Long Island on this episode of The Long Island History Project podcast. 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 until reconstructed by Claire Bellerjeau. Her book with Tiffany Yecke Brooks, Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution (Lyons Press, 2021), brought to life the meticulous research Bellerjeau conducted over years to illustrate Liss (Elizabeth), a woman surviving through tumultuous times. [Read more…] about Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: American Revolution, Black History, Culper Spy Ring, Long Island, Military History, Oyster Bay, Podcasts, womens history

Redeeming Al Smith: New York’s Four-Time Governor

May 1, 2023 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

Governor Franklin D Roosevelt (left) and Al Smith (right) in Albany, New YorkAl 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. [Read more…] about Redeeming Al Smith: New York’s Four-Time Governor

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City Tagged With: Al Smith, Albany, Catholicism, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ku Klux Klan, Long Island, Lower East Side, New York City, Political History, Robert Moses

The Steamboat Lexington Tragedy in Long Island Sound

April 4, 2023 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoOn a frigid night in January 1840, the luxury steamboat Lexington burned and sank in the middle of the Long Island Sound with over 140 people on board. What followed were harrowing tales of survival, tragic deaths, and a media sensation that dominated the headlines for months. [Read more…] about The Steamboat Lexington Tragedy in Long Island Sound

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Cornelius Vanderbilt, Fires, Long Island, Long Island Sound, Maritime History, Podcasts, Steamboating, Transportation History

Grumman’s Long Island Test Pilot Bruce Tuttle

March 21, 2023 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoJet fighters once roamed the skies above Long Island. Grumman, the aviation powerhouse behind such planes as the Hellcat and the Avenger, turned its attention to jets by the end of the Second World War. And to test those jets, they turned to men like Bruce Tuttle. [Read more…] about Grumman’s Long Island Test Pilot Bruce Tuttle

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Aviation History, Industrial History, Long Island, Long Island Sound, Military History, Podcasts, World War Two

Long Island’s Culper Spy Ring History

March 5, 2023 by Chris Kretz 1 Comment

long island history project logoThe Long Island History Project podcast welcomes back former Newsday reporter Bill Bleyer. Bill is an author and historian with a number of Long Island-related history books to his credit and today we dive into his work on the Culper Spy Ring. [Read more…] about Long Island’s Culper Spy Ring History

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: American Revolution, Culper Spy Ring, Long Island, Podcasts

Bellport, Long Island Preservation with Victor Principe

March 1, 2023 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoA tree-lined street running gently down to a flat blue bay, flanked by over two hundred years worth of American architecture. Bellport, in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, was in all its glory, from its founding by the Bell brothers through its growth as a waterfront resort destination and the ensuing years as a sleepy, forgotten village.

But there came a time when the old place needed saving – when all the Greek Revivals and Victorians could have been razed or replaced with McMansions. [Read more…] about Bellport, Long Island Preservation with Victor Principe

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Architecture, Brookhaven, Historic Preservation, Long Island, Podcasts, Suffolk County

Long Island In The 1980s

February 5, 2023 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoBayport and its immediate vicinity in Islip on the south shore of Long Island have some deep ties to history. There’s the Bayport Aerodrome with its vintage airplanes, the Meadowcroft Estate of John Ellis Roosevelt, and the roadside sphinx of the Anchorage Inn from the early 1900s.

But what would all this mean to a teenager in the early 1980s? Today we find out with Bayport native Rob Walch who grew up in the area during the age of video games and the Islanders dynasty. [Read more…] about Long Island In The 1980s

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Cultural History, Islip, Long Island, Podcasts, Pop Culture History, Suffolk County

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

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