The Long Island History Project

While Long Island developed a reputation for affluence throughout the 20th Century, there has always been a parallel history of the everyday workers and servants who toiled in the shadow of that reputation. The economic boom of the war years and the subsequent population boom in the 1950s did not change that. Tim Keogh, assistant professor of history at Queensborough Community College, delves into this history in his book Levittown's Shadow: Poverty in America's Wealthiest Suburb. He documents the influence of federal spending in the 1940s, the questionable building practices of the Levitts, and a host of attempts to alleviate poverty and fight the dominance of single family housing on Long Island. Further Research In Levittown’s Shadow: Poverty in America’s Wealthiest Suburb (Chicago Press) Suffolk County Online Records Nassau County Land Records Viewer “Business Zone Helps Islip Reclaim a Slum.” (NYT) A Freedom Budget for All Americans (The Atlantic) Audio Footnotes (related episodes): Making Long Island Cold War Long Island Long Island Migrant Labor Camps

No one sheds a tear for the British Loyalists of Long Island, those inhabitants who remained loyal to the crown during the American Revolution. But genealogist Brendon Burns has spent a tremendous amount of effort tracking them down through libraries and archives across the world. The result is his 5-volume series The Loyal and Doubtful: Index to the Acts of British Loyalism in the Greater New York and Long Island Area 1775-1783. It's a meticulous record of people in New York, Staten Island, and on Long Island, acting in support of King George and the efforts to subdue the patriots. The Loyal and Doubtful is of a piece with Brendon's work as a genealogist at the Daughters of the American Revolution. He helps vet applications for membership, which includes proving that an ancestor demonstrated "unfailing" service to the revolution. This criteria poses a problem on Long Island where swearing an oath of loyalty or other public acts of support could hardly have been avoided. On this episode, Brendon walks us through the DAR process, the challenges of disproving loyal acts, and what the surviving records can tell us about life on Long Island during the war. Further Research Brendon Burns (APG) The Loyal and Doubtful The Virginia Genealogist Genealogical Research System (DAR) Daughters of the American Revolution Inhabitants of New York by Thomas B. Wilson (via WorldCat) “A List of Persons on Long Island”: Biography, Voluntarism, and Suffolk County’s 1778 Oath of Allegiance by Christopher Minty (LI History Journal) Audio Footnotes: Episode 45 : Loyalist Richard Floyd Episode 137: Lost British Forts of Long Island

Every other year, Preservation Long Island compiles a list of historic places on Long Island that are endangered. Each list is a mix of structures from different periods of time, each with its own history and own preservation challenges yet all worthy of preserving for future generations. On today's episode, Preservation Long Island's Preservation Director Tara Cubie joins us to discuss the 2023 list. The seven places are: the Stepping Stones Light House (Kings Point), the Coindre Hall Boathouse (Huntington), the Shutt House (Brentwood), Kings Park Psychiatric Center (Kings Park), the Eliphalet Whitman House (Smithtown), the Mill Pond House (Oyster Bay) and the Perkins Electric Generating Plant (Riverhead).  Tara talks about the sites, the groups who nominated them, the struggles that each of them face, and the reasons why you should care about their survival. Further Research Preservation Long Island Friends of Caleb Smith Preserve Great Neck Historical Society Coindre Hall Preserve KPPC (Facebook) Brentwood’s Endangered Historic Places The Perkins Local History Collection Audio Footnotes Episodes about preservation

There is a Long Island just below the Kansas border with Nebraska, between the Elk and Prairie Dog Creeks. It's apparently the creeks that gave the area its name. When swollen with rain, they cut off the land in between until it appeared to be an island rising from the surrounding plains.  Long Island is also the home town of Carrie Cox and on today's episode she describes what it was like growing up in a small town on the family farm. We discuss the local sites and legends, the value of history in the tourism industry, and the success of the Northern Valley Huskies. Further Research Travel Tales from Long Island, Kansas Monument Rocks, Kansas Northern Valley Huskies Sports Long Island, Kansas Meteorite Grasshopper Plague of 1874

Cindy Schwartz grew up on Long Island and followed her love of history into a long career as a social studies teacher at the Wheatley School in Old Westbury. She has since turned to a new type of classroom - reaching a wider audience through radio and podcasting at WCWP, Long Island University. Her podcast Civics is Dead explored the lack of focus on civics education in schools and ways it can be strengthened. Her radio show Rockin History (Mondays and Wednesdays, 11 AM and 11 PM) mixes classic rock music with interesting stories and facts from history. Further Research Civics is Dead podcast Rockin History Civic Readiness Initiative (New York State Ed) The Wheatley School “Nathaniel Wyeth – Got a Lot of Bottle” (The Chemical Engineer) Audio Footnotes Natalie Naylor interview Episodes dealing with Suffragists

Irwin Levy and Esperanza León bring the rich history of the Hamptons to life in their podcast. They discuss the concept of the Hamptons, explore the unique vocabulary of the Springs area, and share stories about the decline of skills and diverse occupations in the region. They also talk about preserving historical buildings, the challenges of privatization and limited access to preserved lands, and the importance of capturing and preserving the memories of the past. With a focus on the 1970s and 80s, they bring forgotten stories to life and discuss their excitement for constantly finding new ideas for podcast episodes.

Larry Samuel is an author and historian whose latest book looks at the development of Long Island throughout the 20th Century. It was a time of land speculation and rapid growth as real estate developers and their syndicates turned the fields and farms of Nassau and Suffolk Counties into residential neighborhoods. We discuss the role of Robert Moses in abetting this transformation as well as the high (and low) water mark of William Levitt's Levittown that attracted crowds of white homeowners while excluding Blacks in the 1950s.  Throughout the book, Larry tracks the Island's social and economic landscape with photographs, statistics, and contemporary accounts. A complex picture emerges of a place so successfully marketed as an idyllic countryside that it was almost developed out of existence.  Further Research Making Long Island: A History of Growth and the American Dream (History Press) by Larry Samuel James Trunslow Adams: Dreaming up the American Dream (JSTOR) Dividing Lines, Visible and Invisible (Newsday) Audio Footnotes from past episodes Sandy Brewster-walker, whose father poured cement for "old man Levitt." Murray Barbash, Fire Island-based, environmentally friendly home builder

Yes, Edward Lieberman is a former assistant district attorney and mayor of Seacliff but just as importantly, he is a long-time listener of the Long Island History Project. So when he reached out to talk about his own forays into Long Island history, we were all ears. On today's episode you'll hear about his work conducting historic bus tours around the Island, focusing on the Oyster Bay area but also venturing into Jones Beach and Great Neck. Further Research Sagamore Hill National Historic Site Bayville Bridge Rehabilitation The Mansion at Glen Cove Jones Beach State Park

In 1949 the nine women of the Arthur Murray Girls baseball team took the field against the all-male squad from the Patchogue Athletics. By that year, the Murrays had been together as a semi-pro outfit for some time. Formed out of the sandlots and playgrounds of Queens, they grew under the tutelage of New York Times sportswriter Mike Strauss to become the nucleus of a league that by the late 1940s became the American Girls Baseball Conference. On today's episode, historian and Suffolk County Community College librarian Fabio Montella presents his research into the Murrays, their game with Patchogue, and their full, storied history. Although based out of Cedarhurst in Nassau County, the women traveled a loop that saw them taking the field against the likes of the Glen Cove Clovers, the Perth Amboy Cardinalettes, and the Stamford Nutmegs. Fabio also introduces us to Gloria Del Percio, the last living member of the Arthur Murray Girls. The story of 20th century women's baseball has been popularized by the movie A League of Their Own, but women had their own leagues all across the country. The Murray Girls encapsulate that story at the local level, both as a team and as individual women who loved to play the game. Further Research The Arthur Murray Girls circa 1953 (Getty Images) "Girls' Nine Next Opponent for A's." (Patchogue Advance) "Recognizing an Unsung Women's Baseball Hero" (LI Herald) Audio Footnotes The Cuban Giants of Long Island Satchel Paige in Riverhead

The Gold Coast along Long Island's north shore is most often celebrated as a showcase for the rich and famous in the early 20th Century. A decidedly different aspect of that reputation comes into view when you consider the years leading up to America's entry into World War I. The Morgan Bank, headed by J.P. Morgan, Jr. with his estate in Glen Cove, played a pivotal role in financing and finding supplies for Britain in the early years of the war. Other famous North Shore families, notably former president Theodore Roosevelt of Oyster Bay, pushed for the United States to enter the war. Richard Welch presents this story in his book Long Island's Gold Coast Elite and World War I (History Press). He details the world of the Gold Coast and its prominent families, along with their important industry connections and political leanings. From financial dealings to political activism, large scale rallies, and even pushing their own children to serve, these families helped bring America into the war. Further Research Long Island's Gold Coast Elite and World War I (find in a library via WorldCat) The Road Less Traveled: The Secret Battle to End the Great War, 1916-1917. (Find in a Library via Worldcat) "The Harvard Professor Who Shot a Financial Titan and Fomented Anti-German Sentiment in a Pre-WWI America." (Smithsonian Magazine) The Preparedness Movement Long Island Forum 1950-2004 (Internet Archive)