The Long Island-born, Yale-educated Benjamin Tallmadge seized his moment to shine in the American Revolution. Whether fighting the British on horseback with the 2nd Continental Dragoons or uncovering their secrets through his agents in the Culper Spy Ring, Tallmadge kept up a hectic pace. You can also throw in maritime battles on the Long Island Sound and daring raids behind enemy lines. Historian Richard Welch documented Tallmadge's eventful life in his 2014 book General Washington's Commando: Benjamin Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War. On today's episode he explains the significance of this important figure in Long Island and American history. He also helps illustrate the nature of British activity in the New York region, the documentary trail he followed, and what questions were left unanswered. Further Research General Washington's Commando: Benjamin Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War by Richard Welch (find in a library via WorldCat) Memoir of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge (Google Books) The Battle of Brooklyn/Long Island (American Battlefield Trust) The Death of John André (William Clements library)Audio Footnotes All episodes on the American Revolution

Dr. Tammy C. Owens of Skidmore College joins us to discuss her 2019 article "Fugitive Literati: Black Girls' Writing as a Tool of Kinship and Power at the Howard School." Having discovered a treasure trove of letters written in the early 1900s by girls at the Howard Orphanage and Industrial School, Owens was off on a journey to learn more. The research took her from the Schomburg Center in Harlem to Tuskegee University in Alabama and, ultimately, to the doorstep of the Kings Park Heritage Museum. What Owens pieced together was the story of young Black orphans forging connections and support networks through a unique institution known by some as the Tuskegee of the North. The letters she found tell personal and sometimes painful stories, often by the details which they leave out. Owens' research brings to light voices that are often overlooked or missing from archival collections. We hear her thoughts on the process, the historians and authors who inspire her, and the story of her life-changing day riding around Kings Park with Leo P. Ostebo. Further Research Owens, T. C. (2019). Fugitive literati: Black girls’ writing as a tool of kinship and power at the Howard School. Women, Gender, and Families of Color, 7(1), 56–79. https://doi.org/10.5406/womgenfamcol.7.1.0056 Howard Orphanage and Industrial School Photograph Collection (NYPL Schomburg Center)Leo P. Ostebo Kings Park Heritage MuseumTuskegee University History and MissionLose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route by Saidiya Hartman (find in a library via WorldCat)Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet A. Jacobs (find in a library via WorldCat)The Bondwoman’s Narrative by Hannah Craft (find in a library via WorldCat) Darlene  Clark Hine

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 RecordsNassau 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 IslandCold 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 DoubtfulThe Virginia Genealogist Genealogical Research System (DAR)Daughters of the American RevolutionInhabitants 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 IslandFriends of Caleb Smith PreserveGreat Neck Historical Society Coindre HallPreserve KPPC (Facebook) Brentwood’s Endangered Historic PlacesThe Perkins Local History CollectionAudio 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, KansasMonument Rocks, KansasNorthern Valley Huskies Sports Long Island, Kansas MeteoriteGrasshopper 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 podcastRockin 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 interviewEpisodes dealing with Suffragists

Your idea of the Hamptons on the East End of Long Island may include images of supersized mansions and extravagant parties but there is an older, richer Hamptons history beneath and beyond that glitzy surface. Irwin Levy and Esperanza León bring that history to life in their podcast, Our Hamptons. Their Hamptons is a decidedly personal place, rooted in their love of the people, the landscape, and the lost landmarks of East Hampton, Southampton and everything in between.  Starting with their first episode in the spring of 2022, Irwin and Esperanza have wandered the map and covered topics ranging from the Bell Estate in Amagansett to auto racing in Bridgehampton to Jungle Pete’s in Springs. With a soft spot for the 1970s and 80s, they bring to life the stories that have almost faded from memory, providing a place for them to live again. Further Research Our Hamptons PodcastEast Hampton Trails Preservation SocietyThe Bonackers ProjectTim W. Ferguson“The House That Ate the Hamptons” (Mother Jones)

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 RehabilitationThe 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 IslandSatchel 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 MovementLong Island Forum 1950-2004 (Internet Archive)

Today we team up with Stephanie Eberhard-Holgerson's journalism class at Bayport Blue Point (BBP) High School to try to solve a mystery. At the suggestion of BBP's librarian Pam Gustafson, the class has spent the last year looking into the school's mascot, The Phantoms. The takeaway is that the straightforward question "where did the name come from" has yielded a very convoluted answer. Digging into the research, the class combed school yearbooks, local newspaper archives, Board of Education minutes, and more. Their investigations took them down many paths, touching upon early aviation history, the foundations of ghost stories, local legends, and rival high school teams. They debunked some myths and found compelling evidence for others. They've also discovered a new appreciation for Long Island history and for the need of documenting school decisions for future generations.  Further Research Origin of BBP’s “Phantoms” NameBayport-Blue Point Heritage AssociationBayport Yearbooks(NY Heritage)Section XI Athletics (NYSPHSAA)Use of Indigenous Names, Mascots, and Logos (NYS Board of Regents)Audio Footnotes Episode 168: Bayport HistoryPast episodes under Native Americans

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 LissEspionage and Enslavement in the RevolutionConsider the Source“Did an Enslaved Woman Try to Warn the Americans of Benedict Arnold’s Treason?“The Battle of Stony PointDeposition of Richard Palmes (Boston Massacre Historical Society)Audio Footnotes Episode 46 : Morton PennypackerAll 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 HistoryAl 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 FamilyHands on History (Catawba County Community College)A History of Lake Norman: From Fish Camps to FerrarisHistory Museum of Catawba CountyHistorical Association of Catawba CountyMurray’s Hill Historic DistrictUnder 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 EventsLexington - National Underwater and Marine AgencyCornelius Vanderbilt's Railroad and Steamship EmpireNathaniel 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 HistoryLeroy 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 episodes2017 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 SocietyWilliam Glackens (Smithsonian American Art Museum)