William Floyd (1734–1821), who lived on a large slave plantation on the south shore of eastern Long Island, was the first of four men who signed the Declaration of Independence from New York. [Read more…] about William Floyd’s Daring Demand For Independence
Nassau County Historical Society
The Battle of Long Island Virtual Program on Sunday
August 27, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the largest battle of the American Revolution – the Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn.
It was the first military engagement following the July 1776 adoption of the Declaration of Independence. [Read more…] about The Battle of Long Island Virtual Program on Sunday
Major Benjamin Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War
“The Talented Major Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War” is the subject of a Sunday, April 26th hybrid program of the Nassau County Historical Society, being held online and in person at the Jericho Public Library at 2 pm.
Benjamin Tallmadge (1754–1835), a native of Setauket, Long Island, is best known today as George Washington’s spymaster, in charge of the Culper Spy Ring, popularized in the television series, Turn: Washington’s Spies. [Read more…] about Major Benjamin Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War
Long Island Women During the Revolutionary Era
Women are almost invisible in most accounts of the American Revolution on Long Island, although they experienced more than seven years of British occupation, skirmishes, and calculated humiliations.
Before the outbreak of the war, it was women who made the boycotts against British goods effective by weaving homespun and devising substitutes for tea. [Read more…] about Long Island Women During the Revolutionary Era
Culper Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide
The Revolutionary War Culper Spy Ring has been the subject of numerous books and the television series, Turn!: Washington’s Spies. Using cipher, codes, and invisible ink, the Culper Spy Ring exposed the British plans to attack the Patriots’ French allies at Newport, Rhode Island, and their plot to counterfeit colonial currency. Many of the Culper Spy Ring sites can be visited today.
Bill Bleyer, former Newsday reporter, and the author of George Washington’s Long Island Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide, (History Press, 2023) will speak in person and online on Sunday, February 1st at 2 pm. [Read more…] about Culper Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide
Nelson Rockefeller and the Long Island Railroad
The once privately-owned Long Island Railroad (LIRR) gained access to Manhattan’s core in 1910, fueling Nassau County’s transformation into a metropolitan suburb.
In 1949, the LIRR entered bankruptcy, and in 1950, two terrible train accidents killed more than 100 people and led the state to intervene in LIRR affairs. [Read more…] about Nelson Rockefeller and the Long Island Railroad
Long Island’s Legacy of Eugenics
In the early 20th century, eugenics was at the forefront of scientific discourse in the quest to understand human genetics. On Long Island and throughout the nation, eugenicists were granted unfettered access to conduct experiments on prisoners, psychiatric patients, Coney Island circus performers, Native American communities, and more, all in an effort to legitimize a false science.
The origins of the eugenics movement can be found within the Eugenics Record Office in Cold Spring Harbor, NY, under the direction of Charles Davenport from 1910-1939. [Read more…] about Long Island’s Legacy of Eugenics
The British Occupation of Long Island
Long Island was occupied under the brutal yoke of occupation by the British army and navy from 1776-1783. The scars, trials and experiences of the occupation would not soon be forgotten. [Read more…] about The British Occupation of Long Island
A New Perspective on Post-War Suburban Long Island
The usual story of post-war Long Island is a familiar one: New Yorkers leaving their cramped city apartments for inexpensive Cape Cods and ranches along leafy-green streets in Levittown and other suburban communities. A different history will be presented on Sunday, June 9 at 2 pm in a program by the Nassau County Historical Society and Jericho Public Library. [Read more…] about A New Perspective on Post-War Suburban Long Island
History of the Nassau County Courthouse Complex
The “New” Nassau County Courthouse complex on Old Country Road has been the centerpiece of Nassau County’s judicial system since 1940. It is one of Long Island’s outstanding examples of large-scale civic architecture, and in 2021 was added to the National Register of Historic Places. [Read more…] about History of the Nassau County Courthouse Complex
Long Island and the Gilded Age
“Long Island and the Gilded Age” is the subject of the Sunday, January 7 hybrid program of the Nassau County Historical Society.
Participants will explore the days of the Vanderbilts, Whitneys, and Astors to learn about the homes, parties, and real life personalities that inspired Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and others who created countless novels, programs, and films about this time in America. [Read more…] about Long Island and the Gilded Age
McKim, Mead & White and Imagined American Aristocracy
As Americans assembled money in the late 1800s, a need to appear grander accompanied the wealth, leading to the transference of European grandeur to the United States. The architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White designed for this “American Aristocracy” mansions on Long Island, in New York City, at Newport, Rhode Island, and beyond. [Read more…] about McKim, Mead & White and Imagined American Aristocracy
Tuskegee Airmen in World War II
The Tuskegee Airmen were African-American units who achieved a distinguished record in World War II. Nearly a thousand fighter and bomber pilots, as well as 15,000 crew and support personnel served in the war with the U.S. Army Air Force when the military was racially segregated.
The first black military airmen, the Tuskegee Airmen were dedicated, determined young men who accepted the challenge during a time when many people thought that Blacks were inferior. Named for the Army Air Field where they trained in Alabama, the airfield is now Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. [Read more…] about Tuskegee Airmen in World War II
The Hidden History of Nassau County, Long Island
Nassau County on Long Island was born at an auspicious and exciting time on the cusp of a new century and a major transition. It went from a series of quiet farming communities to a hub for industry, playground for the rich, a training ground for soldiers heading to war, and a cradle for the nascent aviation industry.
[Read more…] about The Hidden History of Nassau County, Long Island
Hempstead Plains: Natural & Human History
The Hempstead Plains, the only natural tall grass prairie east of the Appalachian Mountains, once covered approximately 40,000 acres in the center of Nassau County on Long Island.
A unique ecological habitat, the Plains were home to a diverse community of plants and animals. Today, a remnant of the Plains continues to exist as a nature preserve, a unique gem in a heavily developed area. [Read more…] about Hempstead Plains: Natural & Human History
Long Island’s Gold Coast & The First World War
Richard F. Welch book Long Island’s Gold Coast Elite and The Great War (History Press, 2021) looks at how Long Island’s leading North Shore families supported the Allies at the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914. Welch considers the Morgan bankers, movie producers, society glitterati, government officials, politically connected lawyers, and a former U.S. president who arranged massive loans and supplies for the Allies, while agitating for militarization and intervention.
This undercut the Wilson Administration’s official policy of neutrality and led the United States on a course, which led us inexorably to war with Germany in 1917. [Read more…] about Long Island’s Gold Coast & The First World War
The Golden Age of Aviation on Long Island
The years between the end of the First World War and the beginning of the Second are often referred to as the “Golden Age” of aviation history.
On Long Island, aircraft manufacturing boomed and pioneering pilots made countless flights to and from the area’s many airfields, mostly located on the Hempstead Plains in Nassau County. In fact, Charles Lindbergh’s famed first solo transatlantic flight departed from Roosevelt Field in May 1927. So important was Long Island to this period of flying history, it quickly became known as the “Cradle of Aviation.” [Read more…] about The Golden Age of Aviation on Long Island
Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong (Virtual Program)
Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) was one of the most famous and influential musicians of all time, changing the course of music with his innovations as a trumpeter and vocalist. Emblematic of the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.
Armstrong’s unique sound was wildly popular and widely sought-after. The entertainer toured all over the world throughout the course of his illustrious career, but his, home for the last 28 years of his life was in Corona, Queens.
[Read more…] about Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong (Virtual Program)
Harlem Hellfighters: Bigotry, Bravery and Jazz (Virtual Talk)
A century ago the predominately African American U.S. Army 369th Infantry Regiment, fought two wars. Because of the segregation of the U.S. Armed Forces in the First World War, the 369th fought in France, not with our American troops, but with the French army. At least forty men from Sea Cliff, Locust Valley, Oyster Bay, and Glen Cove on Long island served in that unit in the First World War.
Dubbed by the Germans the “Harlem Hellfighters” because of their courage and tenacity in battle, the men of the 369th distinguished themselves on the battlefield. However, when they returned home, they again confronted a battleground in the quest for equal rights. [Read more…] about Harlem Hellfighters: Bigotry, Bravery and Jazz (Virtual Talk)
Uncovering Long Island’s Native Past Through Archaeology
The Nassau County Historical Society will host “Long Island Dirt: Recovering our Buried Past through Historical Archaeologies,” a talk on the archaeology of the two Native American Indian reservations on Long Island — the Shinnecock Reservation in Southampton and the Unkechaug’s Poospatuck Reservation in Mastic, set for Sunday, September 19th. [Read more…] about Uncovering Long Island’s Native Past Through Archaeology