The Long Island History Project

They were women and they fought for the right to vote. Beyond that, every person documented in the Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States has a different story to tell. Dr. Thomas Dublin and a crowdsourced team of volunteers have worked diligently to collect those stories. The Dictionary, a free online resource, is a searchable database of biographical sketches telling the life story of three groups of women: Black women suffragists - many of whom migrated out of the South to find more opportunities yet were not always embraced by the wider suffrage movement. Members of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) - the mainstream organization of the movement with thousands of members working across every state. Members of the National Womans Party (NWP) - formed by women impatient with the strategies and pace of change under NAWSA. Dr. Dublin describes what it took to pull this database of materials together. A network of volunteers including historians, librarians, genealogists, and students combed through local newspapers, public records, and various primary and secondary sources. What emerged was a series of biographies that document the many faces of women in the movement in the late 19th and early 20th century. Further Research Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States Find a Grave Chronicling America NYS Historic Newspapers African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote, 1850-1920. Bloomington: by by Rosalyn Terborg-Penn (Find in a Library via WorldCat) The History of Woman Suffrage (vol 6)

In 2020 we marked the centennial of woman suffrage and the passing of the 19th amendment. Although the intervening 102 years can make that struggle feel like the distant past, the story of the many people who fought and marched and pushed for the right to vote is very much alive. Marguerite Kearns keeps one such story before our eyes in her book An Unfinished Revolution (SUNY Press). The book presents the life of her grandparents, Edna Buckman and Wilmer Kearns, and their extended world of Pennsylvania relatives, fellow Quakers, and suffrage activists. Living in Rockville Center in 1905, Edna and Wilmer were in the thick of grassroots organizing on Long Island and New York City. The stories that Marguerite heard from her mother and grandfather, along with her own extensive research, form a picture of loving, dedicated, real people making the best of their lives and making history. On today's episode, Marguerite shares how she learned that story and how she wove it into a book rich with photographs and the words of Edna and Wilmer. Further Research An Unfinished Revolution (SUNY Press) by Marguerite Kearns Bearing Witness: A Family Legacy [Spirit of 1776] Wagon (NYS Museum) Long Island and the Woman Suffrage Movement Dr. "General" Rosalie Jones (National Park Service) Women’s Suffrage: Pictures of Suffragists and their Activities (Library of Congress) Image credit: Edna Kearns (circa 1915). Image courtesy of Marguerite Kearns used under a CC BY -SA 3.0 license.

Brad Kolodny returns to the podcast to update us on what he's been doing during the intervening thirty episodes. Turns out he's got a new book and a new historical society. The Jews of Long Island (SUNY Press) is out now and in it, Brad documents the personal and communal stories of Jews on Long Island from the l8th through the early 20th centuries, uncovering a cast of thousands from itinerant peddlers to early baseball players to vacationing vaudevillians. Further Research: The Jews of Long Island Upcoming events Jewish Historical Society of Long Island Audio Footnotes: The Synagogues of Long Island The Jewish Community on Long Island The Soldier City of Suffolk County

Journalist Karl Grossman and historian Christopher Verga have teamed up for the new book Cold War Long Island, out now from the History Press. In it, they detail the productive and tumultuous post-World War II years on Long Island. With an influx of returning GIs and an increase of military spending to counteract the growing strength of the Soviet Union and other communist countries, Nassau and Suffolk Counties saw rapid growth. Aviation companies like Republic and Grumman became household names and a housing boom, epitomized by suburban communities like Levittown, brought many people to the area. Grossman and Verga also highlight the challenges that came with the prosperity. Neighborhoods like Levittown denied homes to Black veterans. Widespread anxiety led to a rise in prescription drug abuse. Nuclear missiles were stationed across the Island and the everyday use of nuclear power was promoted by the government with little or no acklnowledgement of its dangers. And that's not even mentioning Plum Island. Join us for this wide-ranging discussion on the 1950s, 60s, and 70s as we take in everything from Nazi scientists to the United Nations, space tourism, and the Rolling Stones. Further Research Cold War Long Island (History Press) Books by Karl Grossman Power Crazy (1986) Cover Up: What You Are Not Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power (1982) Books by Christopher Verga World War II Long Island (2021) Civil Rights on Long Island (2016) Avoiding Nuclear Destruction by the Skin of Our Teeth (WHTV) Welcome to Shirley: A Memoir from an Atomic Town (2008) by Kelly McMasters Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Laboratory (2004) by Michael C. Carroll Brookhaven National Lab "America's Long Love Affair with Anti-Anxiety Drugs" (Newsweek) "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel (official video) Audio footnotes: Episode 50 with Sandi-Brewster walker whose father poured cement for Levittown Episode 27 with Karl Grossman on Long Island's nuclear power industry Episode 145 with Christopher Verga on Victor Yannacone

We continue our focus on the Southold Indian Museum by talking with their current president, Lucinda Hemmick. A science research teacher from Longwood High School, Lucinda found her way to the museum through the research interests of her students. What followed was a ten-year exploration of Clovis arrow points, steatite pots, and the use of science to unravel the secrets of archaeological artifacts. Rare "face pot" found at Three Mile Harbor. (Photo courtesy of Southold Indian Museum.) Lucinda also walks us through the history of the museum, with its origins in a group of archaeologically-minded North Fork men in the 1920s. Their efforts and connections to professional archaeologists led to the opening of the museum in the 1960s. UPDATE 12/13/21 - the Southold Indian Museum is closed through December 2021. Check their website for the most recent info on scheduling. Further Research Southold Indian Museum Lucinda Hemmick (ResearchGate) In Memory of Ralph Solecki Student Partnerships for Advanced Research and Knowledge (SPARK) New York State Archaeological Association Nicotina rustica (USDA) Audio footnote: other episodes focused on archaeology

Welcome to part 1 of a 2-part episode focusing on the Southold Indian Museum. Today we speak with Jay Levenson, incoming executive director of the museum. Jay discusses his Native American heritage, how he moved to Long Island and discovered the museum, and his time learning about its resources. He also talks about the history of Native Americans on Long Island and the importance of having an institution that helps them tell their story. Birdstone atlatl weight from the museum’s collections. Photo by Ephraim Horowitz.  Further Research Southold Indian Museum “A Burial Site is Returned to the Shinnecock” (East Hampton Star) Fort Corchaug (On This Site) Algonquian Language Revitalization Project (SBU) Traditional Tobacco (Keep it Sacred)

Welcome to our 150th episode! Connie Currie is back to bring us the story of the Telefunken site in West Sayville and how she and a dedicated band of radio enthusiasts tried to save it back in the mid-90s, how they failed, and how out of the ashes the Long Island Radio & Television Historical Society (LIRTVHS) was formed. You'll also hear from filmmaker Joe Sikorski on his new documentary, Invisible Threads: From Wireless to War. LIRTVHS has been working with Joe to bring the Telefunken story to the big screen and that day has arrived. This Friday, November 12th, you can attend a sneak preview at Lessing's Bourne Mansion in Oakdale. (Tickets available online only here). It's a story of technological innovation, of espionage, local, national, and international politics, and more. It features Marconi, Tesla, Armstrong, the Secret Service, Suffolk County News editor Francis Hoag, and a cast of thousands. Plus - it's all narrated by the great Tony Todd. This episode is a cross-over with The Radio Tower #36, the official podcast of LIRTVHS. We hope to see you on the 12th!

Some may be shocked to find that there are many Long Islands out there, each with its own fascinating history. We've taken up the challenge of finding those who are passionate about their own Long Island and bringing them here. We're starting in Casco Bay, Maine, speaking with Karen Rea, president of the Long Island Historical Society. Rea has family ties to the island going back into pre-Revolutionary times. We explore these connections as well as her own memories of idyllic summers on the island. We also discuss the changing fortunes of the area from the early hardscrabble days to the tourist boom to WWII, secession from Portland, and beyond. All of this preserved by the members of the Long Island Historical Society. Further Research Long Island Historical Society Long Island Ferry Schedule - Casco Bay Lines Town of Long Island, Maine About the Wabanaki Nations (Abbe Museum)  

In her first book, The Lost Boys of Montauk, journalist Amanda Fairbanks documents the story of the Wind Blown and the four men who lost their lives aboard it in 1984. Piecing the story together over years of interviews and research, she unraveled a history of close-knit communities, from the working class east end to the wealthy upper east side. She also found a complicated tale of relationships and personalities that still absorbs people in the community to this day. Further Research   The Lost Boys of Montauk (Find in a library via WorldCat) Amanda Fairbanks Montauk Historical Society East Hampton Star Golden Tilefish Audio Footnote: Episode 28: Stories of Storm and Sea  

Frank Romeo graduated from Bay Shore High School and enlisted in the US Army during the height of the Vietnam War. Despite fighting in the Tet Offensive and participating in secret missions in Cambodia, he maintains that his problems really started when he returned home. Christopher Verga joins us again as we sit down with Frank Romeo to talk about his experiences and struggles with PTSD in the years following the war. Frank found an outlet in art, turning his emotions into striking images. More recently, he walked the length of New York State, staying in homeless shelters and sharing stories with those he encountered along the way. The result is the new documentary Walk with Frank. This episode is an honest and wide-ranging discussion about war, mental health, and the healing power of speaking aloud what is often kept silent. With thanks to the Sayville Public Library where this episode was recorded. Related Research Walk with Frank The Soldier’s Story PTSD History and Overview Veterans Resources Joseph P Dwyer Veterans Peer Support Project Long Island Cares Veterans Project Wounded Warrior Project Mental Health Association of Nassau County Veterans Services Historical Resources Secret War in Laos Plain of Jars (UNESCO) War Remnants Museum (Ho Chi Minh City) Audio Footnotes Agent Orange on Long Island Joe Giannini and the Vietnam War Jack Parente and the Vietnam War