The Long Island History Project

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)

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