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Alexandra Wolfe

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The pony Snowball once kept at Sherwood-Jayne Farm. Photo courtesy Mallie Jane Kim
Preservation Long Island is exploring other ways to run a working farm

By Mallie Jane Kim

The bucolic farm scene on East Setauket’s historic Sherwood-Jayne Farm no longer includes grazing animals, as the elderly pony and four sheep who lived there were recently moved to new homes. According to farm owner Preservation Long Island, they are settling in well, and the organization is looking forward to the future of the farm. 

“It’s a new beginning, and it’s a nice place,” said PLI executive director Alexandra Wolfe.

The pony Snowball. Photo courtesy Mallie Jane Kim

According to Wolfe, the sheep have gone to Berkshire Farm Sanctuary in Massachusetts, and the pony, Snowball, has moved to a private family property on Long Island, with people who are familiar with caring for elderly ponies. Wolfe said PLI moved Snowball first so she wouldn’t be left alone on the farm, after a vet deemed her safe for transport and “very sound” for a pony her age — some 40 years old.

Wolfe said her contact at the farm sanctuary told her this week that the sheep are adapting well and getting ready to join a new flock. “It looks like heaven up there, as far as I’m concerned,” Wolfe said of Berkshire. “If I was an animal, I’d want to go retire there.”

It was a calm end to a contentious chapter on the farm. After hearing of plans to rehome the animals last summer, some area residents protested in an attempt to get PLI to change its plans — people were attached to the animals and enjoyed having that picture of historic farm life on Old Post Road. A petition to that effect garnered more than 3,500 signatures.

Surprised by the community response, PLI paused plans for a time but ultimately arrived on a November morning to move the animals, with short notice to the animals’ longtime caretaker Susanna Gatz. Friends of Gatz and other concerned neighbors formed an impromptu protest. Tensions ran high, but in the end the organization tasked with transportation decided the animals were too spooked to force into a vehicle.

Despite the protests, PLI maintained that animal care was not central to their mission, which is to celebrate and preserve the cultural and architectural heritage of the region. Also, Wolfe explained, the organization’s board didn’t feel it could meet best practices related to maintaining livestock at historic sites, pointing to a document that lays out details to consider, including fencing type, feed storage, security measures and many other factors. 

“Preservation Long Island doesn’t have the capacity or resources to implement a viable interpretation of 19th-century livestock farming.” Wolfe explained. “The primary motivator for Preservation Long Island is best practices.”

So PLI opted to give Gatz official notice to move out of her on-site apartment, and they waited until she had moved and the freezing weather passed before rehoming the animals.

Still, some residents are sad to see the farm quiet, without its grazers. The school bus that drives by every afternoon will no longer slow down for the kids to wave at Snowball and the small flock of sheep. 

“It’s a bit lifeless now,” said Tony Lopez of East Setauket. “It was always nice when you drove by and saw someone stopped there looking at the animals — it was a gem.”

Lopez says he wishes the community and PLI could’ve worked something out to allow the animals to stay but he maintains the historic house itself is a gift to the community, and said he hopes PLI can bring back some of the festivals Sherwood-Jayne used to host.

Festivals may be a long way off, though, because of county regulations on the property that prohibit use of the pasture as a parking lot and require PLI to obtain county permission before hosting big events that include the farmland.

Those regulations came to light last fall as part of a letter from Suffolk County informing PLI the property was out of compliance with its Farmland Preservation Development Rights program. The county and the Town of Brookhaven jointly purchased development rights to the farm parcel in 2003, requiring Sherwood-Jayne to maintain a working commercial farm.

According to Wolfe, PLI is in the process of seeking out local partners, like the Peconic Land Trust, to help sort out the most fitting way to bring the property back into compliance. 

PLI’s board does not want to jump into a relationship with a farmer who would bring in large, commercial equipment, Wolfe said, so they will take their time researching and deciding. 

“It has to be in alignment with the historic character of the farm,” she said, adding that whatever they do should match PLI’s interpretive goals and the natural setting. “Our goal is also to find something that contributes to the community in some way.”

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'Voices and Votes' exhibit

‘Voices and Votes: Democracy in America’ will be on view in Cold Spring Harbor from March 22 to May 3

Preservation Long Island has been chosen to be the first venue in New York State to host the “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America” exhibition which examines the nearly 250-year-old American experiment of a government “of, by and for the people,” and how each generation since continues to question how to form “a more perfect union.”

This initiative is all part of the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program — a national/state/local partnership to bring exhibitions to small town and rural cultural organizations across America. The exhibit will be on view at the Preservation Long Island Exhibition Gallery, 161 Main Street, in Cold Spring Harbor from March 22 to May 3 before touring eleven more communities across New York through January 2026.

“Preservation Long Island is excited to serve as the inaugural site for “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America,” said Alexandra Wolfe, Preservation Long Island Executive Director. “The exhibition’s focus on freedom, civic participation, and political engagement resonates strongly with our commitment to making the past relevant to the present.” 

The exhibit engages multimedia interactives with short games; and historical objects like campaign souvenirs, voter memorabilia, and protest material and will include a section that incorporates art and artifacts drawn from Preservation Long Island and other local collections. 

“The objects we chose connect the broader historical narratives of Voices and Votes with Long Island people and stories—addressing themes such as the ways people make their voices heard, who is left out of the conversation, and the roles and responsibilities of citizens,” said Lauren Brincat, Preservation Long Island Curator.

Among the local highlights in the exhibition is an original essay by Jupiter Hammon (1711–ca. 1806), America’s first published African American poet, written while he was enslaved at Joseph Lloyd Manor in Lloyd Harbor shortly after the American Revolution, advocating for the citizenship of Black New Yorkers in the new nation. Other items include a bracelet and ring made from scrap sheet metal by women aircraft factory workers on Long Island as the United States fought to preserve democracy abroad during World War II, and the drawings and models for the national monument to African American civil rights leader and women’s rights activist, Mary MacLeod Bethune (1875–1855), created by Long Island artist, Robert Berks (1922–2011) in 1974. 

“‘Voices and Votes’ allows us to reflect on Cold Spring Harbor and the surrounding community history and explore what it means to be an active participant in the governance of not only the country but also this community,” said Andrew Tharler, Preservation Long Island Education and Engagement Director.

The series of local exhibition-related programming and free events include a community quilt project, curator-led exhibition and walking tours, lectures, community conversations and an oral history series. To preview the full schedule, visit preservationlongisland.org/voices-and-votes/.

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Kings Park Psychiatric Center. Photo courtesy of Preserve KPPC

Properties in Brentwood, Huntington, Kings Park, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Riverhead, and Smithtown are included in Preservation Long Island’s biennial list of Endangered Historic Places.

Preservation Long Island’s 2023 Endangered Historic Places List features seven nominated sites that span Long Island from a lighthouse on the Sound off Kings Point, to an early power plant in Riverhead. From historic homesteads to an expansive former mental health campus, the latest list highlights the historical richness of the region.

The Preservation Long Island (PLI) Endangered Historic Places Program (EHPP) is designed to identify, highlight, and address the imminent threats faced by significant historical sites and structures across Long Island. Properties are nominated to the list by concerned citizens and groups on Long Island. The program aims to raise public awareness about the endangered status of these historical places. PLI engages in advocacy efforts to garner support from the local community and beyond, emphasizing the importance of preserving these sites for future generations.

“The program offers Long Islanders an opportunity to advocate for preservation in their communities while learning how to use tools like landmark designation, tax incentives, and public outreach,” said Alexandra Wolfe, Preservation Long Island’s Executive Director. “Our program partners receive priority technical assistance from our professional staff and their listings are featured on our website and social media.”

“Operating on two levels, the program seeks to educate and mobilize new preservation advocates while identifying endangered historic places,” said Tara Cubie, Preservation Long Island’s Director of Preservation and Advocacy. “The relationships fostered by becoming an EHPP listing site are long term. The goal is for communities to develop sustainable comprehensive strategies for the protection and preservation of their historic resources.”

A panel of Preservation Long Island staff and trustees, as well as experts in architecture, historic preservation, and other related fields selected the properties based on three key criteria: overall historic significance, severity of the threat and impact the EHPP listing will have on efforts to protect the nominated site.

In-person events are planned for the Spring of 2024 that include site tours, and panel discussions open to the public. Visit the EHPP page on our website to learn more about each of the selected sites and browse the schedule of upcoming events.

Preservation Long Island invites all Long Islanders to join us in celebrating and supporting the important sites on Long Island’s List of Endangered Historic Places for 2023:

Eliphalet Whitman House (c. 1736), Jericho Turnpike, Smithtown (part of Caleb Smith State Park). Listed on the National Register as a contributing structure to the Wyandanch Club Historic District, the house does not appear to be maintained and is showing significant signs of neglect and deterioration.

Perkins Electric Generating Plant (Riverhead Electric Co), West Main Street, Riverhead. Constructed in 1897, it was one of the earliest electric plants on Long Island. The building is vacant and deteriorating.

Steppingstone Lighthouse, Long Island Sound, off Kings Point and South of City Island (owned by Town of North Hempstead). Completed in 1877, it is one of the last offshore lighthouses in the Upper Mid-Atlantic to be built of brick and stone.  The site is threatened by deterioration and neglect.

King’s Park Psychiatric Center, Nissequogue River State Park, Kings Park. A former mental health facility established in 1884, with the oldest extant buildings dating from 1890, the complex is significant for its architecture and as a cultural historic landscape. The Master Plan for the park finalized in August 2023, proposes demolition of Kings Park Boulevard.

Coindre Hall Boathouse, Town of Huntington. Located directly behind Coindre Hall (c.1912), the boat house is a miniature replica of the mansion. No longer safe for use, the structure has been fenced in for safety purposes, and is in bad condition. Although there has been stabilization work completed, there is debate regarding whether the building should be restored or the waterfront should be turned into a nature reserve.

Shutt House, Town of Islip. The house is one of the original homes in Modern Times (1851-1864), Long Island’s utopian community (which evolved into today’s Brentwood). The structure is threatened by proposed demolition and development by the current owner.

Mill Pond House, Town of Oyster Bay. Built before 1720, the Mill Pond House is one of the oldest surviving dwellings in Oyster Bay. The building has been vacant since 2008 and continues to deteriorate.

Preservation Long Island’s Endangered Historic Places Program is made possible in part by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

About Preservation Long Island

Preservation Long Island is a not-for-profit organization that works with Long Islanders to raise awareness, appreciation, and support for the protection of our shared past through advocacy, education, and the stewardship of historic sites and collections.

Preservation Long Island’s preservation advocacy services support the work of our local partners in communities across the region. We offer consultation and strategic guidance for Long Islanders seeking help with local preservation projects, including historic resource surveys, local landmark designation, National Register listing, and restoration or adaptive reuse of historic buildings.

Preservation Long Island also maintains and interprets historic sites and collections that embody various aspects of Long Island’s history including:

Joseph Lloyd Manor, Lloyd Harbor

Custom House, Sag Harbor

Sherwood-Jayne Farm, Setauket

Old Methodist Church and Exhibition Gallery

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Caretaker informed minutes before animals due to be taken away

Locals confront Preservation Long Island on Wednesday, Nov. 8, during the nonprofit’s attempted removal of the animals at Sherwood-Jayne Farm in East Setauket. Photo by Mallie Jane Kim

Local residents rallied outside Sherwood-Jayne Farm in East Setauket Wednesday, Nov. 8, when representatives from Preservation Long Island — the nonprofit that owns the farm and its animals — made an unexpected attempt to remove the elderly pony and four sheep that live there.

The impromptu protest was confrontational and tense, with caretaker Susanna Gatz visibly distressed, and PLI executive director Alexandra Wolfe expressing frustration. Suffolk County police officers who cleared the 20 or so people out of the pasture area as requested by Wolfe also worked to maintain a calm atmosphere where possible.

In the end, the sheep and pony were spooked amid the tension, so the Save-A-Pet representative engaged to move the animals wouldn’t do so while they were agitated, and left the scene.

PLI has long planned to rehome its animals, but paused for review in August after significant community outcry. Gatz has lived on the property and cared for the sheep and pony for more than eight years. She and other local residents have been hoping the sheep and pony could live out the rest of their lives there.

On Nov. 8, Wolfe told Gatz the animals would leave just minutes before a Save-A-Pet van arrived to transport them.

Gatz said she felt blindsided. “To show up here today with a 15-minute notice to start moving the animals is not fair.”

Suffolk County Legislator-elect Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) attempted to help mediate and said he had a productive start to a conversation with Wolfe. He explained that the animals are an important educational and cultural resource for the community, but that he also understands PLI is essentially a collection of small museums and not in the business of caring for live creatures.

“She’s unhappy because the ownership that they have of these animals is not part of their mission,” he said, but added, “There has to be a solution other than removing the animals.”

Englebright said Wolfe expressed willingness for the idea of a separate organization owning and taking charge of animals on the property — though as police cleared people out of the pasture area and the protest grew heated with sobs, yelling and even a bit of shoving, Wolfe told the crowd she did not want the current animals to be part of any discussion.

Gatz’s sister, Sharon Philbrick, pulled three of her children out of school so they could come say goodbye to the animals, but police were no longer allowing people to go near the barn by the time they arrived. The kids were crying, and one ran past police officers to get close. “They’ve been around these animals their whole lives.” Philbrick said, adding that they’d held the sheep when they were little lambs. “The animals know them.”

PLI explained in a fact sheet provided to TBR News Media that the sheep are slated to get a private enclosure at Berkshire Farm Sanctuary, a nonprofit farm in Massachusetts that rescues and rehabilitates “abused and neglected companion and farm animals,” according to its website.

Snowball, the old white pony, PLI’s fact sheet indicated, would move to a private farm “a short distance away from the Sherwood-Jayne Farm,” and would have access to another elderly pony and 24-hour veterinary care. 

PLI provided a statement Thursday suggesting it still planned to move the animals, without indicating when.

“Regrettably, the emotions of our property custodian and some protesters disrupted the attempt to gently move the animals yesterday, and that effort had to be paused. We continue to believe that Berkshire Farm Sanctuary will provide the humane and caring environment we seek for the grazing animals,” the statement read.

Compliance issues for Sherwood-Jayne

In an additional layer of complication for PLI, a Sept. 8 letter from the county procured by TBR News Media informed them the property is out of compliance with the Farmland Preservation Development Rights Program. Suffolk County and the Town of Brookhaven purchased development rights to the 10.6-acre farm parcel in 2003, requiring Sherwood-Jayne to maintain a working commercial farm. The county also owns the 36 acres directly north of the property.

A county statute about the program stipulates “no owner shall leave agricultural land uncultivated and not engage in agricultural production … for more than two consecutive years.”

The letter also informed PLI it needs to apply for special-use permits to host events like the recent Baseball on the Farm, and the nonprofit also needs to discontinue the practice of allowing nearby schools and camps to use the field for overflow parking.

According to PLI’s fact sheet, the organization met with Mikael Kerr, the county’s farmland and open space supervisor, Sept. 30 to talk through options of bringing the property into compliance with the program.

PLI has not provided details about those options, but it will need to create a plan to put forward for approval by the county’s farmland committee.

Though there was no indication the current animals staying at the farm would hinder that process, the effort to move the animals last Wednesday made clear the organization is so far not interested in rethinking the decision.

“We have made arrangements to rehome our animals to a private sanctuary, where they will peacefully live out the rest of their days in a beautiful, park-like environment,” PLI said in a statement.

But some area residents think the animals should stay. One protester, Judy Wilson, who has helped feed the animals during times Gatz needed coverage, twisted a lock of the pony’s coarse white tail she found in the grass as she watched the situation unfold.

“What has happened today is atrocious,” she said. “The animals don’t need rescuing.”

Herb Mones, land use chair of the Three Village Civic Association, also came to the farm to show support. He took issue with the way the nonprofit handled a delicate situation, because the last the community heard, the plan to move the animals was on pause.

“We are quite shocked that something like this would happen by any organization that depends upon Long Island communities’ support,” said Mones, who is also president of the Three Village Community Trust, another organization that acquires and preserves local properties of historical importance. “These are really actions that go beyond anything that’s reasonable. It just amazes me.”

Gatz said she was touched that so many neighbors and friends stopped by — some who noticed the commotion while driving by and others who got calls to support the effort to keep the animals at the farm.

“People love this place, and they care about these animals,” she said. “I want them to stay here. This is their home, and I don’t know why [PLI] doesn’t understand that.”

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The Sherwood-Jayne Farm House in East Setauket where animals currently graze in the roadside fields. Photo by Mallie Kim

By Mallie Jane Kim

East Setauket’s historic Sherwood-Jayne Farm will bid farewell to its grazing animals this summer as nonprofit Preservation Long Island seeks to focus its programming to align closer with its mission.

“The animals serve as a visual respite for people on the road, but they don’t really connect the property to what we do,” said Alexandra Wolfe, executive director of PLI, an organization that works to preserve the cultural heritage of the region by preserving historic buildings and using them to engage and inform the public. “We have to think about how we use the Sherwood-Jayne property in ways that are more education-based and talk about history in ways that are more focused on Setauket and Long Island.”

Snowball the horse and four sheep currently live on the grounds of the Sherwood-Jayne Farm. Photo by Nancy Trump

Going forward, Wolfe said, the organization wants to engage the community with history — more than just maintaining small museums or a beautiful farm tableau. “We want to think about interpretation as a very interactive experience,” she said. “Try not to just tell the public about history, but get them to interact with the property.”

But the property’s caretaker and some community members are upset about the change. 

“What they’re doing is ruthless and insensitive,” said caretaker Susanna Gatz, a doula who coaches and supports women through childbirth, and who has lived in the farm’s carriage house apartment for eight years, managing the property and the animals. 

Gatz said she is sad both to say goodbye to the animals and to lose her home. PLI hopes to install an employee in the carriage house, according to Wolfe, someone who can represent the society and the house’s history while keeping an eye on the property.

The farm hosts an aging white pony Snowball — some 40 years old — and four sheep in the fields on Old Post Road next to the 18th century farmhouse, all managed by Gatz, whose goats and chickens also live on the property.

The current flock of sheep was established in 1933 by Howard Sherwood, founder of the organization that later became PLI, according to information in a virtual tour of the property available on the nonprofit’s website. The tour text explains the organization has been maintaining the flock “as a tribute to Sherwood and to preserve the working nature of the farmstead.”

PLI asked Gatz to discontinue the breeding program about three years ago. 

Gatz, who mows, mends fences and liaises with the community, calls the work “heart led” for the amount of time, energy and care she puts into it. Gatz is currently nursing a sheep back to health from injuries it sustained on an unsanctioned romp in the woods, and she looks out for the nearly deaf-and-blind Snowball, giving her the extra care she needs, like approaching upwind so she can smell Gatz is coming.

Snowball may not survive a move, according to Gatz, and the sheep were born on the farm. “My wish would be for the animals to live out their lives in the place they know best,” she said.

Longtime neighbor of the farm, Nancy Trump, believes getting rid of the animals is a loss to the community. “It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “They represent a part of society that’s just dwindling away.”

Trump passes the farm at least twice a day, and she brings her grandchildren to greet the animals and take pictures of them as the seasons change. “I don’t know how you have a farm without the animals,” she said.

Gatz agreed. People stop by often to watch the animals graze, she said. A bus full of children passes by daily during the school year, honking while the children wave out the window. “I could set my watch to it,” Gatz said. “It was really cute.”

Other passersby have expressed concern about the animals, in particular the ancient — in pony years — Snowball, who has lost most of her teeth, causing her to drool and her tongue to loll out. According to Wolfe, PLI hears from citizens upset about the pony’s condition. 

“It’s not that she’s sick or neglected,” Wolfe said, noting that Gatz takes excellent care of the pony. “Things like that become problematic. People who don’t understand call, and you have to explain.”

Wolfe added that the animals bring in extra liability, as well, especially with people who may not stay on the outside of the fence.

She said she hopes to finalize the animals’ new homes by the end of the month, and she is dedicated to finding good placements for Snowball and the sheep. “I want to make sure they are cared for,” she said, adding that she’s careful to vet good Samaritans who aren’t prepared for the undertaking of farm animals. “I want to make sure that whatever life they have left, there is quality of life.”

The Sherwood-Jayne House is open for public visits on Saturdays this summer, and the grounds, including nature trails around the property, are open to visitors year round from dawn until dusk.

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Peter Fedoryk conducts a tour of “Looking for Lange Exhibition” at Preservation Long Island’s Exhibition Gallery. (Courtesy of Preservation Long Island)

This award celebrates museum professionals with five years or less experience who think creatively, inspire change, spark innovation, and exemplify leadership.

Cold Spring Harbor: Preservation Long Island Curatorial Fellow, Peter Fedoryk, is a recipient of the 2023 Rising Star Award, one of the fourteen awards made by the Museum Association of New York (MANY) that celebrate unique leadership, dedicated community service, transformational visitor experiences, community engagement, and innovative programs that use collections to tell stories of everyone who calls New York home.

 

Peter Fedoryk with Preservation Long Island collections. Fedoryk was named a recipient of the 2023 Rising Star Award, presented by the Museum Association of New York. (Courtesy of Preservation Long Island)

Peter Fedoryk will be honored at the Museum Association of New York 2023 annual conference “Finding Center: Access, Inclusion, Participation, and Engagement” in Syracuse, New York on Monday, April 17 from 12:30 p.m. at the Syracuse Marriott Downtown.

“New York’s museums and museum professionals are reimagining and reinventing their roles within their communities, how they interpret their stories and collections, and the visitor experience,” said Natalie Stetson, Executive Director of the Erie Canal Museum and MANY Program Committee Co-Chair. “This year’s award winners are outstanding examples for the museum field.”

“We were incredibly impressed with the quality and quantity of award nominations this year, which made the review process highly competitive,” said Clifford Laube, Public Programs Specialist at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum and MANY Program Committee Co-Chair. “Museums and museum staff across the state are demonstrating creative thinking and are inspiring institutional change.”

“During the time Peter has been with Preservation Long Island, he has positively impacted the organization in many ways, contributing his diligence and thoughtful creativity to everything from collections management to grant writing and community engagement,” said Alexandra Wolfe, Preservation Long Island Executive Director. “We are delighted that Peter is among our New York State museum colleagues being recognized as an outstanding example to the museum field.”

Since July of 2021, Peter has led Preservation Long Island’s Art of Edward Lange Project, a collaborative effort to reexamine the life and Long Island landscapes of the late 19th-century German immigrant artist. In his role, Peter launched an interactive website featuring nearly 150 artworks accompanied by in-depth catalogue information and interpretive content, curated an in-focus gallery exhibition, published and presented on new scholarship, and spearheaded numerous public programs. He is currently co-authoring and co-editing a new publication on Edward Lange that is slated to be published next year.

Lauren Brincat, Preservation Long Island Curator added, “I am continually impressed by Peter’s initiative, creativity, and leadership. As Curatorial Fellow, he has pushed us in exciting directions and exceeded all expectations. Peter’s future in the field is bright, and it’s been a real pleasure watching him grow as a museum professional.”

 

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Preservation Long Island in Cold Spring Harbor has announced the gift of a group of important early American portraits from descendants of the Nelson and Lloyd families of Boston and Long Island. 

For over three hundred years, portraits of Elizabeth Tailer Nelson (1667–1734), John Nelson (1654–1734), Henry Lloyd I (1685–1763), and James Lloyd III (1769–1831) remained in the possession of the same family that commissioned them centuries ago. The artworks, an extraordinary gift from the collection of Orme Wilson III and Elsie Wilson Thompson, in memory of Alice Borland Wilson, have joined Preservation Long Island’s collection and are now available for the public to view in a new digital exhibition titled Facing Slavery: The Lloyd Family Portraits in Context.

“We are honored to be the new stewards of these important pieces of American history and to make them available to the public for the first time,” said Alexandra Wolfe, Preservation Long Island Executive Director. 

In gifting the paintings, the donors wrote, “After being in family care all these years, we believe that these portraits are going to the right place with you and your colleagues at Preservation Long Island, where we hope that they will be useful in your development of a deeper historical understanding and contextualization of the issues and events that swirled around the Long Island area in colonial times and later”.

This gift coincided with the launch of the first phase of the Jupiter Hammon Project, a long-term initiative that will transform how Preservation Long Island engages future visitors to Joseph Lloyd Manor (1767) with the entangled stories of the Lloyd family and the individuals they enslaved for more than a century at the Manor of Queens Village on Long Island (Lloyd Neck today), among them, Jupiter Hammon (1711–before 1806) one of our nation’s first published Black American writers.

This multi-generational collection of portraits is a visual reminder of the region’s colonial and early national history, but the individuals they represent reflect only a fraction of the people, both enslaved and free, who lived, formed families, and established communities on Long Island and New England during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.

“We are grateful to the descendants for recognizing the important work of the Jupiter Hammon Project and for giving the portraits a new, permanent home with Preservation Long Island,” said Lauren Brincat, Curator, Preservation Long Island. 

“There are no known portraits of Jupiter Hammon or any of the men, women, and children the Lloyds enslaved. By interrogating the hidden history behind these painted surfaces, however, we can uncover a complex story of one family forcibly bound to another across generations,” she said.

Facing Slavery: The Lloyd Family Portraits in Context is now on view at www.preservationlongisland.org. For more information, call 631-692-4664.

In photo, from left:

Elizabeth Tailer Nelson (1667–1734) by an unknown American artist, ca. 1685. Oil on canvas. Preservation Long Island, 2020.5.2.

John Nelson (1654–1734) attributed to James Frothingham (1786–1685) after John Smibert (1688–1751), before 1824. Oil on panel. Preservation Long Island, 2020.5.3.

Henry Lloyd I (1685–1763) by John Mare (1739–ca. 1803) after John Wollaston (active ca. 1742–1775), 1767. Oil on canvas. Preservation Long Island, 2020.5.1.

James Lloyd III (1769–1831) by an unknown American artist, 1800-50. Oil on canvas. Preservation Long Island. 2020.5.4.

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Big Bill the Tory at the Sherwood-Jayne Farm in East Setauket. Photo by Darren St. George, Preservation Long Island

Preservation Long Island, a regional preservation advocacy group, was awarded a $2,000 reimbursement grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. The announcement was made in a press release on Jan. 28. The grant has helped Preservation Long Island to preserve valuable operating funds and redirect a portion of funding towards improving online programming capacity.

“We are so grateful for the continued support from the Gardiner Foundation, especially during this challenging time”, said Alexandra Wolfe, Executive Director of Preservation Long Island. “In light of the pandemic, Preservation Long Island, like most of its institutional colleagues, has had to swiftly transition to online platforms to implement our educational and advocacy programs. Relief funds from the Gardiner Foundation have supported technology upgrades and the purchase of video production equipment to improve the quality of programs that have been reformatted for online engagement and feature prominently at our website and Vimeo channel”.

Preservation Long Island initiatives with expanded virtual offerings and enhanced online components include the Jupiter Hammon Project (which now incorporates a growing collection of virtual discussions about salient topics related to the study of enslavement in the north); “Historian’s Stories” where town historians present local history; virtual exhibitions and events with regional partner organizations; and tutorial presentations to help communities and individuals navigate our many preservation advocacy tools including the new Local Landmark Law Locator that provides an easy way to explore local landmark laws in our region.

“The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation hopes that these funds will alleviate at least a small part of Preservation Long Island’s financial burden during these extraordinary times,” said Kathryn M. Curran, Executive Director of the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. 

Preservation Long Island maintains and interprets historic sites and collections that embody various aspects of Long Island’s history including:

Joseph Lloyd Manor, Lloyd Harbor http://preservationlongisland.org/joseph-lloyd-manor/

Custom House, Sag Harbor http://preservationlongisland.org/custom-house/

Sherwood-Jayne Farm, Setauket http://preservationlongisland.org/sherwood-jayne-farm/

Old Methodist Church and Exhibition Gallery http://preservationlongisland.org/methodist-church/

 For more information, visit www.preservationlongisland.org.

 

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The Joseph Lloyd Manor property will serve as a pilot site for the grant project.

Preservation Long Island, a regional preservation advocacy nonprofit based in Cold Spring Harbor, is pleased to announce the United for Libraries Literary LandmarkTM designation for one of its historic properties, Joseph Lloyd Manor, an 18th -century manor house in Lloyd Harbor, NY, and a site of Black enslavement. The designation honors Jupiter Hammon (1711– ca.1806), one of the earliest published African American writers who composed his most well- known works while enslaved at the manor.

The Literary LandmarkTM plaque unveiling and virtual celebration will take place at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 17, which recognizes Hammon’s 309th birthday as well as Black Poetry Day. This will mark the first Literary Landmark dedication to be livestreamed.

Jupiter Hammon’s life and writings offer an exceptionally nuanced view of slavery and freedom on Long Island before and after the American Revolution. His works are especially significant because most literature and historical documents from the eighteenth century were not written from an enslaved person’s point of view.

Hammon’s known works include at least six poems and three essays published during his lifetime. At Joseph Lloyd Manor in 1786, he penned “An Address to the Negroes of the State of New-York” and “An Essay on Slavery.”

“As one of the significant early examples of African American literature before the republic, Jupiter Hammon’s work is a masterful ethical critique on slavery, religion, and humane relationship,” said Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Eastville Community Historical Society and a member of the Jupiter Hammon Project Advisory Council.

“The designation by United for Libraries validates what we recognized from the beginning, that Jupiter Hammon is a nationally significant individual in history but not many people know about him,” said Lauren Brincat, Curator at Preservation Long Island.

“The Literary Landmark designation complements the work of our multi-year Jupiter Hammon Project that aims to engage the site more fully to reflect the multiple events, perspectives, and people that shaped the house’s history, including elevating the voice and history of Jupiter Hammon”, said Alexandra Wolfe, Preservation Long Island’s Executive Director.

The unveiling event will feature remarks by Rocco Staino, United for Libraries Board Member and Director of Empire State Center for the Book and Irene Moore, Chair, Huntington African American Historic Designation Council. Actor/writer, Malik Work will perform his poem, “An Aria of Pain”. The winners of the Jupiter Hammon Essay/Poetry Contest from Silas Wood Sixth Grade Center, South Huntington Union Free School District, will recite their winning entries. Closing remarks will be delivered by Joye Brown, Columnist/Associate Editor, Newsday.

“One of the advantages of a virtual event and livestreaming of the designation ceremony is that it will be accessible to a much larger audience. We will also have recorded documentation of this celebration of Hammon’s significant accomplishments and contributions to American history and literature that will endure digitally on our website”, said Wolfe.

To register for the virtual event via Zoom visit:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jupiter-hammon-literary-landmark-virtual-celebration-tickets- 91899358455

To view the event via Facebook Live (no registration required), visit Preservation Long Island’s Facebook page on October 17th at 2 p.m.:
https://www.facebook.com/preservationlongisland/

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'Mandush, Shinnecock Sachem of the 17th century' by David Bunn Martine

Preservation Long Island will launch a new virtual exhibition, Indigenous History & Art at Good Little Water Place, beginning Sept. 3. Artwork from nine contemporary Indigenous artists centers the exhibit. Offering an inquisitive look at the history and on-going relations between Indigenous people and land, the show reminds viewers of a shared responsibility to recognize our common histories and know how they impact our connections to place.

Organized by Preservation Long Island with guest curators, Jeremy Dennis, artist and a tribal member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in Southampton, and Dr. Gwendolyn Saul, Curator of Ethnography, New York State Museum, the exhibition features objects from the collections of Preservation Long Island, the New York State Museum, and the Southold Indian Museum.

“We are thrilled this important exhibition, that began as a collaborative endeavor with the New York State Museum in the Fall of 2019, could be reimagined in the virtual realm,” said Alexandra Wolfe, Preservation Long Island’s Executive Director. “Thanks to the efforts of the project curators, partner museums, and artists, the provocative insights that Long Island Indigenous art offers about history and environment, and the future of our relations to both is now accessible to a wider audience online.”

“The exhibit features indigenous presence and expression from 10,000 years ago to the present — and I am proud and excited to be a part of representing this collective,” said Dennis. “I’m honored to be part of a project that directs attention to the diligent, on-going, and talented work of Indigenous artists and intellectuals of what is now known as Long Island,” added Saul.

Sponsored by an Action Grant from Humanities New York, the exhibition will open with a special Curator Conversations virtual event on Sept. 3 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Visit www.preservationlongisland.org to register for this free program.

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