The Long Island History Project

Students at Bayport Blue Point High School investigate the origins of their mascot, The Phantoms. They dig through yearbooks, archives, and local legends, debunking myths and finding compelling evidence. The podcast explores the history of school mascots on Long Island and the importance of documenting school decisions. The true origin of the mascot is revealed, sparking interest in the history of indigenous peoples on Long Island.

We're returning to Revolutionary War era Long Island on this episode. And while the Culper Spy Ring does play a part, we are turning the focus to a woman whose story and connections to the Ring were ignored and misrepresented across time until reconstructed by Claire Bellerjeau. Her book with Tiffany Yecke Brooks, Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution, brought to life the meticulous research Bellerjeau conducted over years to illustrate Liss (Elizabeth), a woman surviving through tumultuous times. Their latest book (and non-profit organization) is Remember Liss which brings the story to students and educators. Combined with primary sources through the New York State Archives, Remember Liss is a fascinating journey through the late 17th and early 18th centuries on Long Island, New York City, and South Carolina. It uses documents, letters, and similar records to show the struggles of a woman born into slavery in Oyster Bay, her ties to Robert Townsend (Culper Jr), General John Simcoe, Major John Andre, and the lengths she would go to in order to gain her freedom. Further Research Remember Liss Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution Consider the Source “Did an Enslaved Woman Try to Warn the Americans of Benedict Arnold’s Treason?“ The Battle of Stony Point Deposition of Richard Palmes (Boston Massacre Historical Society) Audio Footnotes Episode 46 : Morton Pennypacker All Culper Spy Ring-related episodes

Al Smith was many things during his political career: reform champion after the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, four-time governor of New York State, the first Catholic presidential candidate. But he was always a New York City boy at heart.  On this episode we talk with another New York City native, Dr. Robert A. Slayton. His book, Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith (Free Press 2001), documents Smith's rise from the Lower East Side to the top of the Democratic Party ticket in the "dirtiest presidential election in history." Along the way we learn more about progressive reforms in the early 20th century, the career path of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the influence of the KKK in 1920s America. We also touch on Smith's influence on Long Island history, mostly through his elevation of Robert Moses in state government.  Further Research Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith by Robert Slayton (Find in a Library via WorldCat) Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (OSHA) "The Fourth Ward Boy Who Became Governor" (Chronicling America) Mapping the Second Ku Klux Klan, 1915-1940 (VCU Libraries) Empire State Building History Al Smith at the end of Prohibition (British Pathe, YouTube) History of Central Park Zoos (NYC Parks)

From time to time on the podcast we like to explore the histories of other Long Islands, those far from New York. Today we focus on the story of Long Island Mill and the Long Island Mill Village in North Carolina. We have a number of guests to help us tell the story. Jennifer Marquardt, site manager of Murray’s Mill in Catawba County, has researched the Long Island Mill and its 19th century past. Chuck McShane, writer and economic data consultant, authored A History of Lake Norman, a body of water that factors heavily in the Long Island Mill story. Most importantly, we include a number of oral histories collected by Richard Eller, professor of history at Catawba Valley Community College, as part of the project Spinning Yarns: The Long Island Cotton Mill Family. Conducted in collaboration with the Historical Association of Catawba County, the project included the voices of Gerald Robinson, Gerald Sigmon, Fletus Poston, Carroll Gilleland, Una Mae Brown, Regis Barnhardt, Gene Fisher, Gail Eades Sigmon, and Sylvia Cannon. Further Research Spinning Yarns: The Long Island Cotton Mill Family Hands on History (Catawba County Community College) A History of Lake Norman: From Fish Camps to Ferraris History Museum of Catawba County Historical Association of Catawba County Murray’s Hill Historic District Under Lake Norman (Davidson College)

On a frigid night in January 1840, the luxury steamboat Lexington burned and sank in the middle of the Long Island Sound with over 140 people on board. What followed were harrowing tales of survival, tragic deaths, and a media sensation that dominated the headlines for months. Historian and journalist Bill Bleyer compiled all of the details in his book The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound, out May 1st from the History Press. Today we unpack the whole history with Bill, from the ship's creation by Cornelius Vanderbilt to its glory days on the Sound, to the various attempts through the years at raising it from the deep. It is an epic story of technological progress, maritime dangers, and Long Island's transportation history. Further Research Bill Bleyer History Lectures (Facebook) The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound (History Press) Suffolk County Historical Society Events Lexington - National Underwater and Marine Agency Cornelius Vanderbilt's Railroad and Steamship Empire Nathaniel Currier

Jet fighters once roamed the skies above Long Island. Grumman, the aviation powerhouse behind such planes as the Hellcat and the Avenger, turned its attention to jets by the end of World War II. And to test those jets, they turned to men like Bruce Tuttle. Tuttle dreamed of flying from an early age. From his family's farm on the north shore he witnessed Charles Lindbergh passing overhead on the first transatlantic flight. Tuttle became a pilot and a Marine, flying in the Pacific during World War II. After the war he went to work for Grumman, along with many of his fellow veterans, to fly jets. Today on the podcast we learn more about Tuttle and a very specific test flight he took in an F9F Panther over Long Island Sound on December 10, 1951. It was the day that every test pilot dreads. With us are Amy Tuttle, Bruce's daughter; Chris Ryon, Port Jefferson Historian, Bob Laravie, and John Hiz, Belle Terre historian. We discuss life as a test pilot, the importance of Grumman in Long Island history, and what to do when your jet flames out at 33,000 feet. Further Research Bruce Tuttle (from TBR News Media) Port Jefferson Village History Leroy Grumman (Cradle of Aviation Museum) Birth of the American Jet Age

Today we welcome back former Newsday reporter Bill Bleyer. Bill is an author and historian with a number of Long Island-related history books to his credit and today we dive into his work on the Culper Spy Ring. Published in 2021, George Washington's Long Island Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide is an analysis of the Culper Spy Ring. In it, Bleyer synthesizes what is known and has been written about the Ring. He incorporates and evaluates primary sources such as the 194 extant letters regarding the spy ring as well as the works of Morton Pennypacker, Alexander Rose, Brian Kilmeade and others to tease out fact from fiction from downright fabrication. The book also includes a comprehensive guide to sites on Long Island related to the Culper Spy Ring story. Further Research Bill Bleyer History Lectures (Facebook) George Washington's Long Island Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide Raynham Hall Museum Three Village Historical Society George Washington Letters (SBU Special Collections & Archives) Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum (Instagram) Tri-Spy Tours Audio Footnotes Past Culper Spy and Revolutionary War episodes 2017 Bill Bleyer interview

A tree-lined street running gently down to a flat blue bay, flanked by over two hundred years worth of American architecture. Bellport in all its glory, from its  founding by the Bell brothers through its growth as a waterfront resort destination and the ensuing years as a sleepy, forgotten village. But there came a time when the old place needed saving - when all the Greek Revivals and Victorians could have been razed or replaced with McMansions. Victor Principe's new book, Unhampton Preservation and the Happiness of Place in Bellport Village and Environs, documents the history of preservation in the area. On this episode, he discusses the importance of preserving a sense of place in an area, protecting streetscapes and historic districts as well as conserving the natural landscape. We also talk about the careful balance of forces needed to make historic preservation work, from dedicated individuals to willing political leaders to a commitment over time to following the plans and specific codes hammered out at the local level. Further Research Unhampton Preservation and the Happiness of Place in Bellport Village and Environs (order here) Bellport Village and Brookhaven Hamlet (Find in a library via WorldCat) Bellport Revisited (Find in a library via WorldCat) Bellport Brookhaven Historical Society William Glackens (Smithsonian American Art Museum)

Bayport and its immediate vicinity in Islip on the south shore of Long Island have some deep ties to history. There's the Bayport Aerodrome with its vintage airplanes, the Meadowcroft estate of John Ellis Roosevelt, and the roadside sphinx of the Anchorage Inn from the early 1900s. But what would all this mean to a teenager in the early 1980s? Today we find out with Bayport native Rob Walch who grew up in the area during the age of video games and the Islanders dynasty. It's local history through one man's life, from a part-time job at Satelite Pizza to a position on the high school rifle team to clandestine forays into the Girl Scout camp next door. Further Research Bayport Aerodrome Society Camp Edey Meadowcroft Satelite Pizza A Brief History of the Hardy Boys Audio Footnotes: The Sphinx: Episode 9 Bayport Aerodrome: Episode 94 La Salle Military Academy: Episode 41

If you lived in Brentwood in the late 1960s and 70s, you may have encountered a charming, transplanted Englishman named Raymond Buckland. You many not have realized it at the time, but Buckland was in the process of establishing Wicca as a religion in America. A private practitioner at first, introduced to Wicca by Gerald Gardner, Buckland was soon thrust into the public eye by the press. He then helped popularize Gardnerian Wicca through television appearances, newspaper interviews, and his own numerous writings on the subject. He went on to found his own museum and his own tradition of Seax Wicca. On today's episode, we talk with Peter Ward (Brentwood Public Library) and Ellen Edelstein (Brentwood Historical Society) about Buckland's time in Brentwood, his connections to the library, and his position in the area's long history of the colorful and spiritually-minded. Further Research Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick Brentwood Public Library: Local History Brentwood Historical Society Raymond Buckland on the Dick Cavett Show (1971) Video Gallery (Buckland Museum) Articles Raymond Buckland obituary (The Wild Hunt) An Interview with Raymond Buckland (Llewellyn 2003) "At a Witchcraft Museum, Halloween is more than Trick or Treat." (NYT, 10/31/1971) Books by Raymond Buckland (Open Library)