History, Natural History & the Arts
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
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 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 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)
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)
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
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
With more than two hundred miles of shore land, the Long Island has many diverse beaches. For centuries, the island’s beaches have provided sustenance, relaxation, and inspiration. Long Island’s history is intertwined with its beaches including its sandy Atlantic Ocean surf beaches, calm bayfront beaches, and rugged North Shore Long Island Sound beaches. [Read more…] about Long Island Beaches History Presentation
The Lido Club Hotel officially opened in June 1928 as a swanky oceanfront resort adjacent to the world-class Lido Golf Course at Lido Beach, Long Island.
Built by Senator William H. Reynolds, who previously bought and developed the nearby City of Long Beach, the Lido Club Hotel featured a striking architectural design with twin cupolas and became a playground for socialites, industrialists, and politicians. In 1942, the US Navy requisitioned the hotel as a naval training and separation center. After the war, the Lido Club Hotel was leased to the newly formed United Nations and housed over 500 of its personnel.
[Read more…] about Long Island’s Lido Club Hotel Virtual Talk
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
Kerriann Flanagan Brosky’s book Historic Crimes of Long Island; Misdeeds from the 1600s to the 1950s (History Press, 2017), features crimes such as the East Hampton witch trial of 1657; the tar, feathering, and murder of Charles Kelsey in 1872; the kidnapping of Alice Parson in 1937; and more.
[Read more…] about Historic Crimes of Long Island Virtual Program
The Nassau County Historical Society has announced Winning Votes for Women on Long Island and the Nation, a virtual talk with Natalie Naylor, set for Sunday, December 6th, at 2 pm. [Read more…] about Long Island Suffrage History Virtual Talk Set For Sunday