Nassau County Historical Society

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

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

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

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 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