A Light in the Undark
Today our guest, Erin Elizabeth Becker, recounts the story of her great grandmother, Marion Murdoch O’Hara, who worked for the US Radium Corporation in New York City. Through genealogical and […]
Suffolk County News, March 26, 1920
We’re using our home isolation to look back – reading issues of the Suffolk County News of 1920 week by week. They had quarantines back then too, it turns out, […]
The LaGrange Inn on Higbie Lane
The LaGrange Inn was a storied stopping point along Montauk Highway from the 1700s when it opened for business with a Higbie at the helm. It remained a local landmark, […]
Still There on Christian Avenue
History is not the full story if not everyone gets to tell it. And in places where the traditional records are scarce or silent, where do you look for answers? […]
A Burning Question
Warren McDowell, former publisher of The Fire Island Tide, has been pondering the mystery of how Fire Island got its name all his life. This burning question has been answered […]
A View to a Kiln
Mark Smith, last heard talking bottles on episode #63, returns to explain his other collecting passion: pottery! Take a walk with us through Mark’s private collection and see the astonishing […]
A Writing Life on Long Island
Theresa Dodaro survived a life-threatening illness, waking from a coma determined to make the most of the time she had been gifted. One of the promises she made to herself: […]
The Noble Experiment
America tried something new from 1920 to 1933: outlawing the production, sale and transportation of intoxicating liquors. In that same spirit of social experimentation, we made this episode something new. […]
Visiting Brentwood, Revisiting the Revolution
We take a look back at the Revolutionary War on Long Island, courtesy of the Brentwood Public Library and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Peter Ward, the library’s […]
Remembering Gene Horton
We were saddened by the recent news of the passing of Gene Horton, Blue Point historian, former social studies teacher, tour guide, storyteller, friend and colleague. To honor Gene’s memory […]
“We Have to Write a Story about This.”
Elaine Kiesling Whitehouse knows a good story when she sees it, and those stories often come from history. Writing from an early age, she was intrigued by the signs of […]
A Field of Dreams in the Sky
Imagine a world with a private airport around every corner and an airplane in every garage. Where your form of ID could just as easily be a pilot’s license as […]
Working on the Rail Road
David Morrison knows his railroads, from his six books on LIRR history to his extensive research collection to his years overseeing thirty-nine stations. With his seventh book due out from […]
The Year Broadway Went on Strike
The life of an actor is never easy, so it’s not surprising that many early Broadway stars made a point of vacationing in solitude on Long Island whenever they could. […]
Saving Long Island’s Endangered History
Every other year, Preservation Long Island compiles a list of endangered historic places in need of saving. Sarah Kautz, their Preservation Director, joins us to discuss the four sites chosen […]
The Amazing Ludlows of Islip
Join Islip Town Historian George Munkenbeck as he reveals the lives and times of this family and, by extension, the social and political climate of late 19th and early 20th […]
Walt Whitman: Straight out of Paumanok
Two hundred years ago, the man who broke American poetry wide open was born in West Hills, Long Island. His house remains a shrine and place of pilgrimage for fans […]
Not Your Grandmother’s Museum
If you haven’t visited a Long Island museum in a while, now would be a good time. Erin Elizabeth Becker will tell you why. Erin is the Visitor Services & […]
Clarence H. Robbins: All About the Horses
Clarence H. Robbins was a master of hounds and horses, a gentleman jockey and trainer, and a member of Brooklyn’s Gilded Age elite. Come explore this forgotten Long Island figure […]
Come for the beach, stay for the local history lecture.
More than a beach or a brand, Southampton has a history that stretches back thousands of years with the Native Americans in North America. The coming of English settlers in […]
Genealogy and You
Linda Metzger is the Long Island Genealogist. On today’s episode, you’ll hear how she turned a hobby into a career working to uncover the lost, complicated, and often forgotten stories […]
Saving Lake Ronkonkoma
We’ve interviewed people who have restored houses and inns and even old race cars but how do you go about restoring a lake? We conitnue our conversation with Evelyn Vollgraff […]
Still Waters Run Deep
The waters of Lake Ronkonkoma have seen it all: Native Americans, English settlers, Broadway actresses, 20th century resort-goers and automobile racers. No one knows this better than Evelyn Vollgraff, […]
Tracing the Whale Design
Dr. John Strong, professor emeritus of Southampton College, has spent a career pursuing the history of Long Island’s Native Americans. His latest achievement is bringing to life the earliest […]
God Bless Us, Every One
You haven’t missed it! There is still time to attend the Charles Dickens Festival in Port Jefferson on December 1st and 2nd. Don’t know about the Festival? Don’t know […]
The Local History of Ghosts and Spirits
Don’t call her a ghostbuster. Kerriann Flanagan Brosky approaches her investigations of the paranormal on Long Island with a photographer’s eye and a historian’s perspective. She has long been […]
The Night That Dowling Burned
In honor of Labor Day, we return to the subject of Long Island volunteer firefighters. Last episode, Tom Rinelli and Connie brought up the infamous 1974 fire at Dowling […]
Fighting Fires, Saving History
Who knew that firehouses were such deep sources of local history? In the town of Islip, they are overflowing with trophies, photos, devices, and mechanisms going back to the […]
Revisiting the 18th Century Alien Weasel Influx on Long Island
Matthew Montelione is back to discuss his new fantasy comic book series set in Revolutionary War-era Long Island. If you are a fan of history, JRR Tolkien, or the […]
Anna Smith Strong, Long Island Patriot
Margo Arceri grew up with history. A native of Strong’s Neck in Setauket, she learned early on the stories of Anna Smith Strong and the role she played in […]
Long Island’s Notable Women
Behind every great woman is another great woman and Natalie Naylor is bringing them to light. Her book Women in Long Island’s Past (History Press, 2012), highlights the accomplished […]
Postcards from Huntington
PJ Novak wrote the history of Huntington on a postcard. A librarian, archivist and dedicated deltiologist, she is also the author of Huntington from the Postcard History Series of […]
Ducks on Ice
The Long Island Ducks personified an era and a brand of hockey. From 1959 to 1973, they fought, checked, and slashed their way through the Eastern Hockey League and […]
Washington’s Spy Letters
We’ve been tracking the history of the Culper Spy Ring for a while on the Project but today we go to the source – two primary sources to be […]
Remembering Gil Bergen
On this episode, we honor the memory of Gil Bergen, superintendent of the Connetquot River State Park Preserve, and his long service to the Park and the memory of […]
We Bought a Newspaper
Mary Lou Cohalan and her husband bought the Suffolk County News along with three other couples in the late 1960s. Her resulting career as the first woman editor of […]
Chris Bodkin’s Book of Sayville
Chris Bodkin is a man with a keen eye for detail and a deep love for his hometown of Sayville. We’ve published our interview with him in three parts – […]
The South Side Signal Newspaper
Henry Livingston came to Babylon in 1869 and founded the South Side Signal. He made an immediate splash advocating for Babylon to split from the town of Huntington and went […]
Time in a Bottle
Mark R. Smith saves time in a bottle, literally. His antique bottle collection preserves the memory of local dairies, pharmacies, hotels and more. It also tells the story of a […]
Mother Newsday
Bob Keeler wrote the book on Newsday, a candid history detailing the origin story of Long Island’s original tabloid. Started in 1940 as the “toy” of Alicia Patterson, the paper […]
The Soldier City of Suffolk County
Imagine a city rising from the fields of Suffolk County in the early 20th cenutry, a wooden metropolis covering almost 20,000 acres. It has its own post office, theater, library […]
Making Gatsby Great
Few authors are more synonymous with a place and point in time than F. Scott Fitzgerald. His Great Gatsby came to define the 1920s and cast a golden aura across […]
Longwood Stories
Melanie Cardone-Leathers is the Local History Librarian at the Longwood Public Library. Today she regales us with tales covering three centuries and many locations. There is Benjamin Tallmadge burning the […]
In the Heart of Roosevelt
Carol Gilliam is the Black Heritage Librarian at Roosevelt Public Library where she oversees a collection dedicated to black culture and history. On this episode we discuss the growth and […]
Out of Bayville, Endlessly Rocking
Bill Bleyer has a knack for finding history – or maybe it finds him. He had front row seats for Woodstock, did battle with Robert Moses, and got tear-gassed at […]
The Cuban Giants of Long Island
It’s the summer of 1885 and an industrious and itinerant hotel man named Frank P. Thompson is making history on Long Island. Working for the season at the Argyle Hotel […]
The Hurricane of 1938
We’re looking back to the Hurricane of 1938 on this episode. Called “The Long Island Expresss” by some, “The Great New England Hurricane” by others, remembered by all who lived […]
SPLIA’s Endangered Historic Places 2017
Sarah Kautz, preservation director of the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, joins us to discuss their new list of most endangered historic places on Long Island. From […]
Picturing the Past
Jeremy Dennis is in pursuit of the past, intent on documenting the historical and sacred sites of indigenous people on Long Island. His project, On This Site, restores a map […]
The Colored Girl from Long Island
Today we talk with Sandi Brewster-walker about her life and her family’s history. Not only do the Brewsters have deep ties to North Amityville and the Native American community on […]