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Book Review: Sea captain’s wife’s letters to home tell wondrous tales of the Far East

by Jeffrey Sanzel - July 25, 2024

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Book2 Mary Swift Jones COVER2 OP_Page_1 — The cover of Beverly Tyler's latest book.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

Imagine sailing five months on a ship from New York to China, while not knowing whether you will survive storms at sea or attacks by pirates.

Imagine living in a Japanese temple recently made over to accommodate British and American visitors in a country where most of the population has never seen a person from another country or another race.

Imagine exploring a country where you are not sure of your own safety and where many men, including Samurai warriors, carry two visible swords.

The cover of Beverly Tyler’s latest book.

These are just some of the thoughts posited by author Beverly C. Tyler in his latest book, Mary Swift Jones: Love and Letters from Japan, published by History Close at Hand and the Three Village Historical Society. The multi-hyphenate Tyler (writer-photographer-lecturer-local historian) is the author of Caroline Church, Founders Day, Down the Ways—The Wooden Ship Era, and Setauket and Brookhaven History (all reviewed in this paper).

Mary Swift, who was Tyler’s great- grandaunt, married Captain Benjamin Jones sometime in the mid-1800s. In September of 1858, at only twenty-four years of age, she embarked with him from New York on an extraordinary journey on the Mary and Louisa, a 145-foot square-rigged medium clipper bark that was constructed in Setauket.

The voyage would last three years and take Mary to China and Japan. While abroad, she wrote extensive letters to family and friends and returned with remarkable furniture, fine china, fabrics, and spices. Tyler touches on the ship’s traveling from port to port, carrying cargo between the Chinese ports of Hong Kong and Shanghai to the Japanese ports of Nagasaki and Yokohama.

Mary’s letters give the perspective of an American in a world completely foreign to her knowledge and experience. She reflects on the Mary and Louisa’s shifting crew; she shows fascination with the citizens of the various towns and cities; she pays tribute to the breathtaking landscapes.

Tyler highlights the appreciation of the countries and cultures with quotes from a range of visitors, often selecting lyrical passages from a variety of letters.

Voyages of this breadth faced storms, strong winds, illness, the threat of piracy, and the fear of the ship sinking. Additionally, violence was a shadow cast by the Japanese, who were less welcoming to a foreign presence.

In his journal on April 15, 1860, a passenger on the ship, New York Tribune reporter Francis Hall wrote, “It seems odd to start out for a walk by putting a revolver in one pocket and a copy of Tennyson in the other.” The possibility of losing family members at home was something that deeply concerned Mary. Of course, the Civil War broke out during their time at sea.

Tyler gives perspective on the perils of such undertakings. Quoting from the memoir of Egbert Bull Smith (the ship’s cabin boy, who later published Voyage of the Two Sisters): “Mrs. Jones did not know, nor did I, at the time, that when we sailed none of her friends expected to see her again in this life, and that all of the necessary articles for preserving her body had been placed on board.”

Mary survived the journey but contracted consumption, dying shortly after her return to the States at the age of 26. She is buried in the Setauket Presbyterian Cemetery.

Like all of Tyler’s work, the material is meticulously researched with exceptional documentation, details extracted from both primary and secondary sources. The book is highlighted with color illustrations, photographs, maps, and woodcuttings, giving his “narrative alive” tomes an almost three-dimensional quality.However, Tyler’s inherent sense of history and commitment to telling the American story are what truly imbue his works.

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Copies of Mary Swift Jones: Love and Letters from Japan by Beverly C. Tyler are available for purchase for $10 at the Three Village Historical Society’s gift shop at 93 North Country Road in Setauket. Tyler will also be selling and signing copies of the book at the Three Village Farmer’s Market at the same location on Fridays from 3 to 7 p.m.

Town of Huntington hosts 13th Annual Anne Frank Memorial Ceremony

by Press Release - July 25, 2024

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Keynote speaker was Holocaust survivor Rosalie Simon with music by Toby Tobias

Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth, in conjunction with the Suffolk YJCC, hosted the Town of Huntington’s 13th Annual Anne Frank Memorial Ceremony on July 19. The event took place at Arboretum Park in Melville, home of the Anne Frank Memorial Garden.

The ceremony was held mid-way between Anne Frank’s June 12th birthday and the August 4th date of her capture. Frank would have been 94 this year. Frank died in 1945 at the age of 15 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany.

This year’s event featured Holocaust survivor Rosalie Simon, and students, Alexa Nissenbaum and Chloe Swartz, who participated in Suffolk Y JCC’s Names, Not Numbers program, a unique program where students learn to combine research, journalism, and video production to capture and share the stories of Holocaust survivors so that they are never forgotten.

The ceremony also featured special musical guest, South African-born guitarist, and composer Toby Tobias. Tobias shared his stories of hope through music, during a time of war and upheaval across three continents, from Johannesburg to Jerusalem — then here in the United States.

Commander Harry Arlin and members of Jewish War Veterans Post #488 provided a color guard to present the colors for the ceremony while Rabbi Jeff Clopper of Temple Beth El in Huntington led the prayers.

“Every year, we strive to make this event memorable and thought provoking. This year is no different. What happened to Anne Frank, her family, and all victims and survivors of the Holocaust could have happened to anyone, at any point in time,” said Superviser Smyth.

“Abroad today, in places like Ukraine. At home, with targeted attacks against different groups and the population at large. We must counter the voices that seek to divide us. We can teach love, acceptance, and unity. We can and should resolve ignorance with education,” Smyth added.

The Anne Frank Memorial Garden, was unveiled by the Town in June 2010 at Arboretum Park. The park symbolically captures the journey of Anne Frank’s life. It features a circular pathway that surrounds a garden, which leads to the sculpture of a young girl’s dress.

The Memorial Garden serves as tribute to Anne’s legacy of wisdom and genuine belief in the goodness of mankind and human nature, despite the ugliness of war and discrimination.

Cinema Arts Centre to screen ‘Resistance – They Fought Back’ on July 25

by Daniel Dunaief - July 19, 2024

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By Daniel Dunaief

Paula S. Apsell wants to correct one of the more insidious myths about Jews during the Holocaust.

The award-winning filmmaker is showing the documentary Resistance – They Fought Back at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington on July 25, offering numerous examples of Jews who fought against the murderous Nazi regime.

The film from Apsell, who will be at the Cinema Arts Centre screening to speak with the audience, chronicles resistance in many forms, from getting married in secret, to having children, to holding concerts, to caring for the poor, to smuggling food and weapons into ghettos and, ultimately, to guerilla combat.

These stories of courage and a readiness to fight back when any form of resistance could mean severe punishment or death not just for the person rebelling but for many others paint a completely different picture than the one in which Jews surrendered meekly to their fate.

“There were seven rebellions in death camps, and six of them were led by Jews,” said Apsell, who won numerous awards as executive producer for PBS NOVA films. “They still mustered the courage to rebel knowing they would die in the rebellion” and almost all of them did.

The survival rate among Jews in general and those who the Germans found were rebelling, which includes many in their late teens and early 20’s who were fighting to protect and defend their families, was low.

While she was an executive producer at PBS for the Nova science series in 2016, Apsell traveled to Lithuania near Vilnius, where she produced a documentary for PBS about Jews who were brought to a site to burn the bodies of thousands of other Jews whom the Nazis had murdered.

At night with shackles on, they used spoons to dig a tunnel over the course of 76 days. When they escaped, they filed off their shackles and raced towards a forest, with 11 of them surviving through the rest of the war.

Building on this story, Apsell, who worked with Lone Wolf Media and co-directed the documentary with Kirk Wolfinger, started gathering information for the Resistance film in 2019 and completed editing the movie in September of 2023.

Apsell, who herself is conservative about what she shares with her eight and 11-year old grandchildren, suggested the documentary is appropriate for juniors in high school or older, unless they have had some level of education about the Holocaust.

Compelling lives

Amid the many stories of courage and sacrifice, Apsell felt a particular connection with Bela Hazan.

A courier who brought information, money and weapons to the ghettos, Hazan posed as a Polish Christian woman and traveled along dangerous roads surrounded by Nazis who would imprison, torture or kill her if they knew of her work.

After Hazan survived the dangers of the war, her son Yoel Yaari, who hadn’t heard of his mother’s wartime activities, found two notebooks containing details about her work.

Yaari, who is the Henri and Erna Leif Professor for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases at the Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine in Jerusalem, has told people through articles and his book “Portrait of a Woman” about his mother’s “astounding courage and what she had done for the Jewish people,” said Apsell. “We can all learn about courage in adversity.”

Apsell suggested that scholars knew about the way Jews had resisted, but that lay audiences often say they thought Jews went to their death as sheep to the slaughter.

Other ways to watch the film

Apsell is in the final stages of putting together a broadcast deal, which she hopes will be ready in January to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is on January 27.

She also plans to work with organizations that have relationships with schools and libraries so students can access the information.

These stories “ought to be a much more visible part of the history of the Holocaust,” she said.

“I had a mission to tell these stories,” Apsell said. “I felt like it was a personal commitment and a responsibility” to share these stories.

While Apsell appreciates and acknowledges that people who weren’t Jewish helped their Jewish friends, neighbors and even strangers, she felt like the focus on resistance has often been on outside help.

“In this film, my emphasis was on Jews rescuing other Jews,” she said.

The film includes interviews with five Jewish survivors who were among the resistance fighters. Resistance also uses considerable archival footage from organizations that had recorded interviews. The film’s narrators include actors Corey Stoll, Dianna Agron and Maggie Siff.

Dr. Jud Newborn, lecturer, author and curator at the Cinema Arts Centre, had an immediate reaction when he viewed the film.

“I was stunned,” said Newborn, who is an expert on Jewish anti-Nazi resistance and served as the founding historian of New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage. “No documentary covers the panoply of Jewish resistance in its many forms and in such a moving as well as revelatory manner.”

Newborn, who will host a discussion with Apsell right after the screening, added that he thought this was a “groundbreaking film.”

While Newborn describes all manner of Jewish resistance in his multimedia lecture programs, he learned new stories because the movie pulls together “the most cutting edge information,” he said. “The subject of Jewish resistance breaks stereotypes and is deeply inspiring and energizing and it’s also deeply moving because they had to overcome obstacles unlike any people under Nazi occupation or indirect rule.”

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The Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave., Huntington will screen Resistance – They Fought Back on Thursday, July 25 at 7:15 p.m. with filmmaker Paula S. Apsell in person followed by discussion with moderator Dr. Jud Newborn. Tickets are $18 per person in advance at www.cinemaartscentre.org or at the box office. For more information, please call 631-423-7610.

Between You and Me: Compare 1920s vs. 2020s — There are remarkable parallels

by Leah Dunaief - July 17, 2024

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smithsonian-2501720_1280 — Pixabay photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

In some ways, the 2020s appear to be similar to the 1920s. We humans like to look for historical parallels, I think, in hopes of using the past to predict the future, futile as that might be. Call them coincidences between the two centuries, if you will, but let’s look at them and judge if history is repeating itself.

The most obvious is the raging coronavirus pandemic of this century and its resemblance to the Spanish Flu that began in 1918 and lasted into the early 1920s.The flu killed some 50 million people worldwide, with 675,000 being Americans. Covid killed 6.5 million, including 1.1 million in the United States.

And although no plans existed for coping with a pandemic in 1918, individual cities did implement school closings, banned public gatherings, issued quarantines and encouraged social isolation. Public health and medical advances have made huge strides, which account for the global change, although the world population has quadrupled in the last 100 years.

We can compare cultural shifts, too. Liberal views toward equality of women and minorities, drug use and sexuality blossomed then, as well as backlashes to these ideas, setting us up for issues that have followed. Marijuana became popular in what was termed “The Jazz Age,” especially among musicians and those in show business. These themes, along with their inherent tensions, are prominently with us today, even if we consider that we have made significant progress in some ways.

Geographically, more of the population began to live in cities than on farms then, and that holds true for our cities and suburbs now. But the divide today is not so much physical as generational. Social media and video games are the provenance of the young, while older Americans still read, watch TV and film.

The stock market and the financial world are strikingly similar while a century apart. Stocks are roaring today, much as they did in the Roaring Twenties. America’s wealth more than doubled in the decade of the 1920s. But it was a time of immense economic prosperity for upper-class white American men. Most Americans, with minimal wages, only experienced income inequality. It was also a time of the one percent owning a widely disproportionate share of that wealth, some 23.9 percent.

Sound familiar? And because the wages of the working class were not brought along with that of the wealthy, as consumers, they could not keep up their vital role. Consumers are responsible for as much as 70 percent of the economy. Depression followed. Again, today the top one percent own some 26 percent, and again income inequality is rampant.

Then there was Prohibition. In 1920, the 18th Amendment banned the making and selling of alcohol. But alcohol didn’t simply go away. It went underground, making petty gangs who transported and sold liquor into powerful forces in the country. Fast forward 100 years and we have drug lords with the same sort of influence over society as a result of similar incredible profits. The legalization of pot is clearly an attempt to learn from the century-old Temperance Movement. The turnaround in policy toward cannabis has provided a big economic boon, as the product has made its way into fiber, food and medicine.

Technology in the 1920s was dramatic and had a profound effect on people’s lives. Fridges, vacuums, telephones, radios, electricity and automobiles changed daily living. Again, major technological innovations, coming along at an exponentially faster pace, are transforming lives today. Consider internet expansion, 5G connectivity, 3D printing and artificial intelligence among most recent debuts. A few people are amassing unprecedented wealth with these marvels. Here we go again with an ever-increasing wealth gap. Plus, both centuries saw workers worried for their job, first with industrialization and now with knowledge. Advancing technology provides miracles and threats. It is also a crucible for social unrest in both centuries.

And then there is transportation. Lindbergh crossed the ocean in 1927. We are on course to fly to Mars in 10 years. Both centuries’ 20s hosted marvels. But the 1920s set the stage for WWII.

Are we learning from history?

Preserving our shared heritage with local cemetery cleanups

by Press Release - July 12, 2024

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By Scott Ferrara

Three Village Historical Society partnered with the Setauket United Methodist Church in East Setauket June 22 for the latest cemetery cleanup event.

The historical society has recently reformed its Cemetery Committee to address the conditions of the 20 cemeteries in the area. These committee projects invite community members to help in the organized cleaning of cemetery grounds, correcting leaning or fallen gravestones, and using professional methods and materials to clean gravestones.

Participants in the program previously attended the Cemeteries 101 workshop at TVHS headquarters to learn the basics of Long Island cemetery history. They received hands-on lessons in the proper application of D/2, a biodegradable and eco-friendly chemical compound that removes stains caused by mold, algae, lichens and air pollutants. Participants, additionally, learned the do’s and don’ts of working with different types of headstones, and what kinds of permissions are needed to organize a gravestone cleaning project.

The Cemetery Committee has taken on varying duties over the past four decades, including the mapping and recording of headstones, cemetery cleanings and the organizing of numerous Eagle Scout cemetery restoration service projects. The current goals of the committee are focused on addressing the many headstones in need of cleaning and repair to preserve these cultural resources, and to create an updated database to aid local history and genealogical researchers.

The most recent project invited workshop attendees to participate in the organized cleaning of the Setauket United Methodist Church graveyard. The graveyard dates to the mid-19th century, and includes gravestones of many notable families in Three Village history such as the Terrells, Van Brunts, Darlings and Bryants — all of whom were early founders and patrons of the church.

Volunteers and guests at the cleanup day included current residents of historic homes and communities once lived in by people buried at this cemetery.

Cemetery Committee chair, Robert Von Bernewitz, remarked that the D/2 cleaning solution applied to the gravestones will continue working over the next few months, slowly breaking down stains and growths.

Those who wish to participate in future cemetery cleaning projects should contact TVHS, and follow its social media and newsletters for future announcements. The website is: www.threevillagehistoricalsociety.org.

Scott Ferrara is exhibits & collections coordinator at Three Village Historical Society.

Honoring Independence Day

by TBR Staff - July 4, 2024

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american-flag-2144392_640 — Pixabay photo.

By Rich Acritelli

It was 248 years ago when men such as George Washington, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin declared their intention of working toward a permanent separation from the British Empire. After years of protesting “no taxation without representation,” Thomas Jefferson was given the task of writing the Declaration of Independence — a declaration against King George III with the intention of creating a new nation.

Once written, this document had to be signed before it could be delivered to the king. Patriots like William Floyd, who lived among loyalists, became one of two signers of the declaration from Long Island. Floyd ran a prosperous farm in Mastic. Entering local and state politics, he represented this part of Long Island in the First and Second Continental Congress and later became a general in the Suffolk County militia. Although not as well known, Francis Lewis was the second Long Islander to add his signature to the Declaration of Independence.

Once the war moved onto Long Island, Floyd was a targeted patriot who was forced to move his family to Philadelphia. From the British takeover of Long Island to the Treaty of Paris in 1783, Floyd experienced both the difficulties and triumphs of this conflict. He later served in the First Congress in 1789, which carried out the earliest functions of the Constitution and saw the election of President George Washington. Today, thousands of people visit the 613-acre William Floyd Estate — with its impressive Old Mastic House — part of the Fire Island National Seashore in Mastic Beach.

Setauket native Benjamin Tallmadge was only 22 in 1776. While attending Yale University, Tallmadge became friends with Nathan Hale. After the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill, Tallmadge enlisted as a lieutenant in a Connecticut regiment in the Continental Army. Like Floyd, Tallmadge experienced the dark moments of the Revolutionary War that saw the Continental Army on the brink of defeat by the British.

Culper Spy Ring

Rising in rank, Tallmadge served in the cavalry, fought in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and by 1778 Washington utilized him to establish an intelligence network. The Culper Spy Ring collected information on the actions of the British in New York City, sent it to Setauket and later guided it across the Long Island Sound to Tallmadge in Fairfield, Connecticut. Tallmadge’s work with the Setauket spy ring increasingly targeted British operations on Long Island through his contacts in this North Shore loyalist area.

This successful operation was aided by Tallmadge’s friends Abraham Woodhull and Caleb Brewster to prevent the British from attacking the 6,000 French soldiers expected to land at Newport, Rhode Island. The British were given incorrect information that Washington intended to attack New York City, creating a safe passage for these allied soldiers. Tallmadge also discovered the treachery of Gen. Benedict Arnold and the failed British capture of the West Point military base on the Hudson River.

The Culper Spy Ring was supported by Setauket tavern owner Austin Roe, who often traveled to Manhattan to purchase supplies for his business. As a secret patriot courier collecting enemy intelligence, Roe worked with Anna Strong, who defied the British and helped ensure it was safe for patriot whaleboats to land near Setauket Harbor to transport this information back to Tallmadge in Connecticut, where it was eventually read by Washington.

Throughout the war, Tallmadge supported activities to help the Americans win their independence and was promoted to lieutenant colonel and remained in Connecticut, where he later became a Federalist Party representative in Congress from 1801 to 1817. Millions of television watchers enjoyed the AMC series “Turn” that chronicled the patriotic and dangerous activities that took place on Long Island. Characters such as Floyd and Tallmadge helped ensure the permanent freedom of the patriots who fought in order to bring the meaning of the Declaration of Independence to the new nation.

This Fourth of July, may we never forget the past, present and future importance of service to always protect and preserve the ideals of America.

14 fun facts about the Fourth of July

by Press Release - July 2, 2024

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With July 4 just around the corner, here are some Independence Day-themed facts to share at your backyard barbecue.

• The Continental Congress voted in favor of declaring independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776. The Declaration of Independence was officially adopted two days later, marked by the ringing of the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It apparently wasn’t signed by everyone until a month later on August 2.

• Every July 4, descendants of the signers of the Declaration of Independence tap the Liberty Bell 13 times in honor of the original 13 colonies.

• In 1778, General George Washington gave his soldiers a double ration of rum and an artillery salute to celebrate on July 4.

• The first public 4th of July event at the White House took place in 1801 with music, food and horse racing.

• Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Monroe all died on July 4.

• Independence Day became a federal holiday in 1870.

• There have been 27 different official versions of the flag. The last addition was Hawaii’s star after it was added in 1959.

• One World Trade Center in New York City is 1,776 feet tall to mark the year the U.S. declared its independence from Britain.

• The United States is not the only place to celebrate American independence. Such celebrations also occur in Australia, Denmark, Ireland, and Norway.

• This year, Americans are expected to spend around $9.5 billion on food alone, and in 2022 revelers spent $2.3 billion on fireworks.

• Americans typically eat 150 million hot dogs on Independence Day, “enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. more than five times,” according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.

• About 50 million Americans travel more than 50 miles from home during the holiday weekend, according to WalletHub data from 2023.

• About 16,000 July 4 fireworks displays happen around the country each year, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.

• The famed Macy’s fireworks show in New York City uses more than 75,000 fireworks shells and costs about $6 million.

History Close At Hand: Memories of Setauket High School

by Beverly C. Tyler - June 23, 2024

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Setauket High School 7th-grade class NO DOT (1) — Setauket High School seventh-grade class as pictured in the 1951 Sachem Setauket School yearbook.

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By Beverly C. Tyler

My neighbor, whose brother-in-law graduated from Setauket High School 73 years ago this month, gave me his copy of the “1951 Sachem,” the yearbook of that class — the last class to graduate from Setauket High School. There were just 12 in the class of ‘51, four girls and eight boys. The junior class of ‘51, set to graduate in ‘52 with 12 students, five girls and seven boys, would have to go elsewhere to complete their senior year, most likely to Port Jefferson.

The yearbook shows individual pictures of each member of the senior class and group pictures of sixth grade through the junior class. After pages dedicated to the graduating seniors, the booklet includes photos of the sports teams and seven other school activities, followed by advertisements from local businesses supporting the publication of the yearbook.

However, this isn’t a story about the class of ‘51 or ‘52. This is a story about my class, the seventh grade in 1951, destined to graduate in June 1953 from the new Setauket Junior High School. The picture shows 20 of 21 students, with only Patricia Hart absent. My class photo included

and our teacher, Mr. Good.

I don’t remember if Mr. Good taught the seventh grade the year before, but I believe he was gone the next year. In the 1951-52 school year, we spent most of the year at the old school, located on the south side of Route 25A, on the hill above where the stores, including the Village Chemist, are today. My class was on the second floor of the old wooden school building in the northeast corner room.

Mr. Good was a very no-nonsense teacher who had a humorous side that almost none of us appreciated. He told us, very proudly, that his foot was exactly twelve inches in length and intimated that if he had any troubles in the classroom, he could put his foot where it would do the most good. Mr. Good could also throw an eraser with pinpoint accuracy and did so with some frequency before the majority of students got to know him better.

One of the classmates I got along well with was Abigail Pope. She was a budding artist and loved to draw, which she often did during classes that didn’t interest her. Paying strict attention to the lesson at hand was absolutely necessary in Mr. Good’s classroom, and Abby had been presented with an eraser at least once before she was called to the front of the classroom.

I don’t know what she did that drew Mr. Good’s ire, but it could easily have been one of her very artistic nude drawings, which she often did. In front of the entire class, Mr. Good had Abby put out her right hand, palm up, and struck it with a ruler more than once. I remember that Abby never made a sound in response.

The best students in my class were Naida Hutchinson, Sarah Sells, Linda Schnee, and Everett Hart. Everett, who we called Bub, was also the best athlete. Margaret Jarvis was the cutest girl. All of this is, of course, subject to the passage of time and memory. Phyllis Schmeelk lived on a farm at the intersection of Bennett Road and North Country Road. What made it special for me were the horses in her side yard, right along the road. Katherine Bossey was a friend who often told me things I needed to hear. Her father ran a variety store in East Setauket. I once stole a baseball from the store, and Kathy set me straight. I always appreciated that from her.

John Emma’s father, Joe, was a barber. His shop was along East Setauket’s Main Street. I think at the time the family lived upstairs — I believe I got my first haircut there. My father took me, and when it was my turn, Mr. Emma put on a special seat that went across the arms of the barber chair to raise me to the proper level. It was a special day a few years later when I sat up in the chair as tall as I could and was told I didn’t need the booster chair anymore.

Larry Payne and I talked a lot about people in the community, and I remember Larry taking me down the hill from the old school to the small house just behind the stores at the corner of Main Street and Station Road — currently Gnarled Hollow Road. This was the home of Sarah Ann Sells. Mrs. Sells always offered us a peanut butter sandwich. She really seemed to enjoy being visited by kids from the school. When we moved to the new Setauket School and away from downtown East Setauket, some friendships seemed to change, and I don’t remember visiting Mrs. Sells or walking downtown at lunchtime or after school.

Jean Lewis lived on her family farm on Hub Road in South Setauket. The special feature of the area was Lewis’s Pond, where we would often ice skate in the winter, as it froze much earlier than the mill ponds in Setauket. Jean often invited some of her classmates to her home after skating, and I remember going as often as I could.

Jerry Gerlach was my best friend from the class, but the ones I hung out with most of the time after school and on weekends were all living on my street or close by, including Don Macauley, Paul Acker, Jackie Bennett, and Gene Cockshutt. We explored the woods around our houses, played stickball on Main Street at a time when few cars disturbed our games, rode our bikes all over the area, and spent a lot of time on and in the two mill ponds.

Moving to the new Setauket School was a pleasure for us. Everything was new and colorful and all on one floor. Each classroom had a door that opened directly to the outdoors. The students even helped by carrying books to the new library and classrooms. We were not just moving; we were helping. There were probably things we missed about the old school, but we said goodbye and embraced the new with enthusiasm.

Beverly Tyler is Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the Three Village Historical Society, 93 North Country Rd., Setauket, NY 11733. Tel: 631-751-3730. http://WWW.TVHS.org

Long Island State Veterans Home celebrates 80th anniversary of D-Day

by Press Release - June 15, 2024

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The Long Island State Veterans Home commemorated the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion with a special service and the presentation of Proclamations of Meritorious Achievement to two Normandy Invasion veterans on June 6.

New York State and Suffolk County awarded Proclamations of Meritorious Achievement to 100-year-old U.S. Army veteran Frank Agoglia and 102-year-old U.S. Army Air Corps veteran David Wolman, both residents of the Long Island State Veterans Home.

Agoglia, who landed his glider in Ste. Mere Eglise, France, behind German defenses, and Wolman, who worked 72 hours straight as an air traffic controller during the Normandy invasion, were recognized for their heroic service during D-Day and Operation Overlord.

A candle-lighting ceremony honored the 150,000 Allied troops who landed on the beaches of Normandy, all service members who served during World War II, the 41 million men and women who have worn the uniform in defense of freedom, the more than 600,000 members of the armed forces who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and the current 2 million members of the

“For over 33 years, the Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University has had the honor and privilege to have cared for this special generation of veterans,” Executive Director Fred Sganga said. “We will never forget the service and selfless sacrifice of so many soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. Today, we thank all of our World War II veterans for their fortitude and perseverance eighty years ago – for answering the call, in order to make the world a safer place. World War II veterans set high standards for bravery and courage and passed the baton to later generations of servicemen and servicewomen, who met the challenge by continuing to defend America and her allies around the world to this day.”

Vanderbilt Museum presents lecture on ancient Egypt June 20

by Press Release - June 15, 2024

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The-Mummy-the-Obelisk-800x800 — This antique store in Cairo, Egypt, was typical of those Vanderbilt explored when he sought to purchase a mummy for his museum. Photo courtesy of the Vanderbilt Museum

Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport continues its lecture series at the Reichert Planetarium on Thursday, June 20 with a presentation title The Mummy and the Obelisk: Reflecting on the Vanderbilts’ Captivation for Ancient Egypt from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Roberta Casagrande-Kim, an archaeologist and curator of ancient art, will explore the Vanderbilt family’s fascination with ancient Egypt.

In nineteenth-century New York, the wealthiest families pursued art collecting as one of the vehicles through which they established social and cultural prominence. Interestingly, Casagrande-Kim said, Cornelius Vanderbilt, the first in the prominent family to distinguish himself for his financial acumen, showed very little interest in this pursuit while his son William Henry, grandson William Kissam, and great-grandson William Kissam II all resorted to art to decorate their newly built mansions.

“Their taste remained eclectic and for the most part untrained, with paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts of different periods and quality taking over their living spaces,” she said. “Whereas antiquities never became a priority for the Vanderbilts, ancient Egyptian works or Egypt-inspired commissions made their way into their collections.”

Casagrande-Kim’s lecture will focus in particular on William Henry’s involvement in the transportation of the so-called Cleopatra Needle to Central Park (where it was installed in 1881), on Alva Vanderbilt’s penchant for Egyptomania, and on William Kissam II’s purchase of a three-thousand-year-old mummy still on display in the Centerport mansion.

“We will examine these objects closely, establish the motives behind these acquisitions and donations, and frame the Vanderbilts’ interest for Egypt within the largest context of wealth and power of the New York of their times,” she said.

Dr. Roberta Casagrande-Kim is the Bernard and Lisa Selz Director of Exhibitions and Gallery Curator at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. She is also an educator and curator at the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum.

Casagrande-Kim holds a B.A. in Christian Archaeology from the Università degli Studi di Torino (Italy) and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Roman Art and Archaeology from Columbia University. She is a specialist in Roman funerary practices and beliefs in the afterlife, Late Antique urbanism, and Greco-Roman mapping. She has worked extensively in archaeological excavations in Italy, Israel, and Turkey, and has served as the Assistant Field Director at the Amheida excavations (Egypt) since 2010.

Tickets are $10 per person, members free. To order, visit www.vanderbiltmuseum.org or click below.

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