The Long Island History Project

The waters around Long Island were long known for their bounty. Fish and oysters sustained the indigenous population long before the coming of Europeans, who then developed full fledged industries around oysters, clams, and more. The Long Island Maritime Museum in West Sayville is dedicated to preserving and documenting much of this history, collecting and restoring everything from boats and clam rakes to baymen's cottages and oyster houses. And from 1977-2002, they collected oral histories. Led by maritime historian John Kochiss along with Peggy Holsten, the museum recorded over 480 interviews with the men and women who made their living on and around the Great South Bay. Some of their memories stretch back to before World War I, with other stories passed down form their families who came to America in the early 19th century. Our returning co-host today is Robert Anen, Project Archivist at the Long Island Library Resource Council. He spent many hours digitizing much of this collection and we explore the stories and struggles that are hidden within. We are also joined by Justin Walsh, Visitor Services and Volunteer Coordinator at the Museum. Justin explains the mission of the museum, the challenges of boat restoration, and gives wider context to the lives of the baymen in Oakdale, West Sayville, and beyond. Further Research The Long Island Maritime Museum "When the Great South Bay Froze Over: Gleanings from the Baymen's Oral History Group." John Kochiss. The Long Island History Journal, 1992. Part 1 Part 2 Oral Histories in This Episode Webster Duncan Beket William Broere Allen Howell Brown Carl Chichester  Jerry Kellogg Dominy Lucille Carmen Hulse Gaible  Hanff's Boatyard Workers Tonis Locker Edward Morris Ockers Mary Esther Abrms Petersen Isadora Evadner "Sue" Warner Schaper John Tucker John & Mildred Tucker George Van Wyen Marinus Verschuure  Fred Zegel and Edward Stewart "Pop" Zegler Music Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/ Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0

The story of Nathan Hale is a foundational myth of the Revolution: an earnest but inexperienced patriot takes on the role of spy and unfortunately ends up a martyr to the cause. But that's not the whole story. Historian Claire Bellerjeau, chronicler of Robert Townsend and the enslaved woman Liss, has brought to light another Nathan Hale. HIs name was David Maltbie and his history is remarkably similar to yet also significantly different from Hale's On today's episode, Bellerjeau explains the documentary trail she followed to uncover Maltbie's espionage activities and his ultimate fate as well as the implications it all has for the history of spies on Long Island. Further Research "This Connecticut Teenager Spied on the British During the American Revolution" (Smithsonian) Remember Liss Revolutionary Incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties by Henry Onderdonk, Jr. (1849) Henry Onderdonk Papers (Center for Brooklyn History) Harlem Heights (American Battlefield Trust) Occupied City (Museum of the City of New York) Music Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/ Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0

Today we continue our tour of the Long Island Museum with Joshua Ruff, Co Executive Director, Collections & Programming. This time we're traversing the 1970s through the exhibit Long Island in the '70s. It was a decade of change that brought us the end of the Vietnam War, the opening of the Long Island Expressway, a gas crisis, a bicentennial, and so much more. Ruff and his staff, notably collections manager Andrea Squeri, have assembled an experience filled with everything from an AMC Matador Station Wagon to a Telstar Arcade and everyone from Nelson Rockefeller to Denis Potvin. If you lived through the '70s, you'll want to see this for yourself. And bring someone younger so that you can explain to them why you would sit in the way-back of a station wagon, facing out the back window with no seatbelts. The exhibit runs through October 18th. Further Research Long Island in the '70s My Father's Place Power of the People: How Opposition Sank the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant 30 Years Ago Walk With Frank Cold Spring Harbor (Spotify) Audio Footnotes Ellen Stark, daughter of Amityville Horror judge Thomas Stark (episode 158) Karl Grossman on the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant (episode 27) Vietnam vet Frank Romeo w Christopher Verga (episode 147) Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/ Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0

Join us for a private tour of the exhibit The Seat of Action: Long Island in the American Revolution and Beyond at the Long Island Museum. Running through October of this year, the exhibit tells the stories of the lives of people affected by the conflict at all levels of society. Joshua Ruff, Co-Executive Director, Collections and Programming, is our guide. You'll find some familiar faces along with new insights, mysteries, and revelations. There's the sword of loyalist Richard Hewlett, passed down through the same family over decades. There are muskets that Long Islanders carried into war. Belt buckles and ammo unearthed from British forts, portraits of the formerly enslaved, and of course a Culper Spy letter (from Benjamin Tallmadge to Robert Townsend). Along the way Joshua explains the challenges and opportunities this type of exhibit entails, working with the Museum's own collections as well as historical societies, libraries, and private collectors. The result is a rich experience that is the perfect capstone to this 250th anniversary year of the American Revolution and Long Island history. Further Research The Seat of Action: Long Island in the American Revolution and Beyond Samson Occom Don Troiani Revolutionary Incidents in Huntington: Occupation & Resistance Audio Footnotes David Bunn Martin and the Shinnecock (episode 29) David Griffin and British Forts (episode 137) Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/ Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0

There are untold stories of the American Revolution. We've highlighted many that took place on Long Island but today we follow a remarkable life that started on Long Island in the mid 18th century but wound up in the heart of empire during truly tumultuous times.  Patience Wright was born a Quaker (and a relative of the Townsend family) in Oyster Bay. She had a talent for sculpting and her medium was the wax figure. Her museum in New York City was a popular attraction, featuring lifelike replicas of notable figures. After disaster struck, this widowed mother with four children moved to London and quickly established herself as a local celebrity. Her new museum became a destination for all walks of life. Filled with conviction for the American cause, Patience made no secret of her views and support (although she was not above a little espionage as well). Dr. Zara Anishanslin has documented Patience's story, along with other artists on both sides of the Atlantic who championed the Revolution, in her book The Painter's Fire (Harvard University Press). On today's episode, we discuss Patience's decidedly unique personality, her Quaker upbringing, the inherent flammability of wax, and the world of London during the height of the American Revolution. Further Research The Painters Fire: A Forgotten History of the Artists Who Championed the Revolution Dr. Zara Anishanslin William Pitt and Family (Westminster Abbey) Thing4Things (Apple Podcasts) Audio Footnotes "The Death of Woodhull: An American Ballad" (episode 29) Kerriann Flnagan Brosky (episode 80) Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/ Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0