The Long Island History Project

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 time when milkmen roamed the earth, when an outhouse was a man's castle, and when just about anything could be labeled "medicine." Listen as Mark walks us through the history of bottle making, the local businesses of Sayville and Oakdale, and his equally-obsessive love of ceramics. Further Research: Long Island Antique Bottle Association (Facebook) Antique Bottle Dive Off Long Island

The 1989 fire that nearly destroyed the Terry-Ketcham Inn brought Bert Seides to tears but it also set him on the road to saving the historic Moriches landmark. Building from a small group of volunteers meeting around Mary and Van Field's kitchen table, Bert marshaled support and learned to navigate a maze of regulations, paperwork, and government agencies to bring the 1693 Inn back to life. In this discussion he provides a road map for preservation projects and reveals the hard work involved, from painstaking research to outreach programs to, of course, book sales.

Bob Keeler wrote the book on Newsday, a candid history detailing the origin story of Long Island's original tabloid. On this episode we discuss that history, including the relationship of Alicia Patterson and Harry Guggenheim, the rollicking newsroom of the '50s and '60s, and more. Bob also relates his own history at the paper, including his atypical Pulitzer Prize and his trip to see the Pope. Further Research Newsday: A Candid History of the Respectable Tabloid by Robert Keeler (find in a library) The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro (find in a library) Falaise: Sands Point Preserve Interview with journalist Karl Grossman on the Shoreham nuclear power plant Interview with the Barbash family on the Fire Island road

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 and fire department. The place could fit close to 40,000 people with room for 15,000 horses. Imagine that and you've got Camp Upton. Today our guests Suzanne Johnson and David Clemens discuss the history of Camp Upton, the vast military training camp in Brookhaven that served the US Army in World War I and II. We focus on their new book, Camp Upton, from Arcadia Press which features images of the life of the camp throughout 1917-18 and beyond. Many of the images are drawn from the Longwood Public Library where both Suzanne and David were directors. You'll hear about the 77th Division, the Harlem Hellfighters, Irving Berlin, and the amazing feat of raising an army to fight The War to End All Wars. Further Research Camp Upton by Suzanne Johnson and David Clemens Longwood Public Library Digital Collection Camp Upton (via Brookhaven National Laboratory) Irving Berlin (Songwriters Hall of Fame)

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 Long Island's North Shore for all time. On today's episode, Charles Riley guides us through the birth of The Great Gatsby and Fitzgerald's struggle to make it into a masterpiece. Charles is the director of the Nassau County Museum of Art and author of Free as Gods: How the Jazz Age Reinvented Modernism. Further Research: Free as Gods: How the Jazz Age Reinvented Modernism by Charles Riley. (find in a library) Nassau County Museum of Art So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures by Maureen Corrigan (find in a library) "Where is Jay Gatsby's Mansion?" via Slate.

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 British hay at Coram during the Revolution. And the boot-strapping of Gordon Heights by African Americans from Harlem and beyond. How about Camps Siegfried and Upton, the former a 1930s, Nazi-inflected retreat and the latter a staging ground for troops during World War I and II? To round it off, we experience the thrills of Fairy Town's roadside attractions and Connie tells her monkey story. Further Research: Thomas R. Bayles Local History Room Longwood Historic Photographs The Gordon Heights Archives The Tallmadge Trail Camp Upton

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 use of the collection as well as the Harlem Renaissance, Chuck D and Julius Irving. We also cover the history of Roosevelt, known as Rum Point for most of the 19th century, as well as the challenges and opportunities of preserving its past. Further Research The Black Heritage Collection Roosevelt Year Books Chuck D Presents This Day in Rap and Hip-Hop History (find in a library) Zora Neale Hurston Award

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 1972 Republican National Convention. Now, after a decades-long career in journalism at Newsday, he writes books about the history of Long Island. Today's interview covers Bill's career, his love for rock and roll, and the interesting corners of the Island's history that he's found over the years. Further Research: Bill's books on Facebook Fire Island Lighthouse Long Island and the Civil War (on Facebook) Sagamore Hill "Marking the Dual Legacy of Robert Moses." (NYT) Newsday: A Candid History of the Respectable Tabloid by Robert F. Keeler (Find in a library) Press Club 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 in Babylon, Frank forms a baseball team for exhibition games and barnstorming through the area. Some say they formed as the Black Panthers but they went on to become the Cuban Giants, the first professional African-American team in history. On today's episode, fellow librarian Fabio Montella relates the story of the Cuban Giants and the related history of the Negro Leagues and segregation in baseball up through Jackie Robinson's debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. ]Further Research Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball by Lawrance D. Hogan (Find in a library) Out of the Shadows: African American Baseball from the Cuban Giants to Jackie Robinson by Bill Kirwin (Find in a library) Negro Leagues Baseball Museum "Black Baseball's Rich Legacy" (NYT 4/27/2008) Babylon Historical Society Save

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 through it. Today you'll hear five people, recorded back in 2008, recalling their experiences from Brooklyn out to Orient and up into Massachusetts. Children at the time, they all remember that day as if it just happened. Special thanks to Ken Strange, George and Rhea Mitchell, Priscilla Teisch, and John Kalinowski for sharing their memories with us. If you're on the Island, make sure to check out the new exhibit In Harms Way running at the Long Island Museum. It looks at natural disasters on Long Island, how the region has responded in the past, and how we can plan for the future. [caption id="attachment_2274" align="alignnone" width="644"] Front page of the Mattituck Watchman, Sep 22, 1938. From NYS Historic Newspapers[/caption] Further Research A Wind to Shake the World by Everett S. Allen (find in a library) The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 (Nat Weather Service) In Harm's Way at the Long Island Museum Remembering the Long Island Express (New York Times) Save