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Huntington Historical Society

Winter break camps on the North Shore

by Heidi Sutton - February 16, 2020

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WMHO puppet making — Photo courtesy of WMHO

Here are some fun and educational ways for your kids to enjoy winter break:

Benner’s Farm

Ever wonder what it’s like to be on a real working farm in the winter? Kids ages 7 to 14 can enjoy winter break at Benner’s Farm, 56 Gnarled Hollow Road, E. Setauket on Feb. 17 and 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Learn how to make maple syrup, help care for the animals and more. Snacks provided. Bring lunch. $60 per day, $100 for both days. To register, call 631-689-8172 or visit www.bennersfarm.com.

Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery

Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery, 1660 Route 25A, Cold Spring Harbor will hold several winter break events from Feb. 17 to 21 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Make snow that won’t melt, make homemade ice cream and create slippery, sticky slime. Admission is $7 adults, $6 seniors, $5 kids ages 3 to 12. Call 516-692-6768.

Huntington Historical Society

Kids in grades 1 to 6 can join the Huntington Historical Society at the Conklin Barn, 2 High St., Huntington for a variety of hands-on history activities, including learning traditional weaving techniques and Presidents Day-themed crafts, games and activities on Feb. 17 and 18 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Campers will go home with a piece of their very own hand-woven fabric. Fee is $35 per day. Call 631-427-7045.

Smithtown Historical Society

Enjoy February break with the Smithtown Historical Society, 239 E. Main St., Smithtown from Feb. 18 to 21 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Enjoy a different theme each day including Kaleidoscope Fun, Mid Week Mardi Gras, Snow Day and National Biscuit Day. Fee is $30 per day. To register, call 631-265-6768.

Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum

From Feb. 17 to 20 from 10 a.m. to noon children in grades K through 3 can take part in several workshops at the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum’s Learning Center, 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport. Participants will take tours of the museum’s collections and then create a related craft including an owl diorama, animal portrait and a mixed-media deep-sea collage. $20 per child. To register, call 631-843-5539.

Ward Melville Heritage Organization

On Feb. 18 to 20 from 10 to 11:30 a.m., the WMHO’s Educational & Cultural Center, 97P Main St., Stony Brook hosts a Puppet Making workshop for ages 6 to 11 with acclaimed artist Liz Joyce ($100 for all three days) and Music Mornings with Johnny Cuomo for ages 3 to 5 ($85 for all three days, $30 per day). To register, call 631-751-2244.

Holiday house tour returns to Huntington

by Heidi Sutton - November 29, 2018

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HuntingtonHouseTour — The society’s Conklin House is decked out for the Historical Holiday House Tour on Dec. 2. Photo from Huntington Historical Society

By Heidi Sutton

A beloved tradition returns to the Town of Huntington as the Huntington Historical Society gears up for its 13th annual Historical Holiday House Tour this weekend. Five gracious homeowners from Huntington Village, Lloyd Neck, Cold Spring Harbor and Lloyd Harbor will open their festively decorated homes on Sunday, Dec. 2, from noon to 4 p.m.

The yearly fundraiser “helps us with our mission of preserving Huntington’s history for future generations,” said Huntington Historical Society’s Executive Director Tracy Pfaff Smith in a recent interview.

After visiting the private homes, Pfaff Smith encourages ticketholders to visit the historical society’s 1795 Dr. Daniel Kissam House Museum at 434 Park Ave., featuring a gorgeous lace exhibit titled Poetry in Thread, and the 1750 David Conklin Farmhouse Museum at 2 High St. Both properties will be decorated for the season.

“The Conklin Barn will have its usual scrumptious array of refreshments, and the much-loved Antiques and Collectibles Shop on the Kissam property will be open and fully stocked with unique gift items,” said Pfaff Smith, adding that the Arsenal (1740), located directly across the street from the Kissam property, will also be open for tours. Managed by the Town of Huntington, “The Arsenal is rarely open [to visitors] so this is a special occasion,” she said.

Advance tickets are $35 for members and $40 for nonmembers. A tour map with house locations will be available at the society’s Trade School building at 209 Main St. If available, remaining tickets will be sold the day of the event at the Conklin Barn for $40 for members and $45 for nonmembers.

For more information or to purchase tickets call 631-427-7045, ext. 401, or visit www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org.

Stamp sought to honor 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote

by Sara-Megan Walsh - November 8, 2018

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Suozzi Suffragists_Suozzi's office 2 — U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, third from right, is joined Nov. 5 by members of the Long Island Women’s Suffragist Association and Huntington Historical Society in calling for a postal stamp to commemorate the 19th Amendment on the steps of Ida Bunce Sammis’ former home. Photo from Suozzi's office

The image of Huntington suffragist Ida Bunce Sammis may soon be traveling across the nation as the face of a postage stamp.

U.S. Representative Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) backed by members of the Long Island Women’s Suffrage Association called for the United State Postal Service’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee to consider putting out a commemorative stamp honoring the upcoming 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in federal elections.

“It’s really important we recognize women voting, as it’s something we all take for granted,” Suozzi said. “This year, more women than ever are running for political office in the United States of America for Congress. It’s really remarkable.”

“It’s really important we recognize women voting, as it’s something we all take for granted.”

— Tom Suozzi

New York was a leader in the women’s suffrage movement as it granted women the right to vote in local and state elections Nov. 6, 1917, three years prior to national passage of the 19th Amendment, according to Suozzi.

Huntington resident Sammis was a well-known suffragist who hosted meetings and rallies promoting women’s right to vote outside her home at 70 Main Street, according to Toby Kissam, treasurer of the Huntington Historical Society. Sammis became one of the first two women to be elected to the New York State Assembly in a “landslide victory” the following year, Nov. 5, 1918, alongside Mary Lilly, of New York City.

“Ida Bunce Sammis is one of the most influential women on Long island,” said Antonia Petrash, president and founder of the LI Women’s Suffrage Association. “We’re very proud of her.”

Sammis managed to get 10 of the 14 pieces of legislation she proposed passed during her single term in the state Assembly, according to Suozzi. During his research, the congressman said he also discovered a little-known story that alleges when the female legislator was given a brass spittoon when entering office, as was issued to each member of the state Assembly at the time, she polished it and turned it into a flower vase.

“Ida Bunce Sammis is one of the most influential women on Long Island. We’re very proud of her. ”

— Antonia Petrash

In honor of Sammis and famous suffragists, such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Suozzi requested a postage stamp recognizing the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s passage be issued in 2020.

“A commemorative stamp honoring the centennial anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment would honor all of the pioneers of the women’s suffrage movement and inspire us to rededicate ourselves to equality,” reads the Nov. 5 letter sent to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee.

The federal committee meets quarterly throughout the year to accept and recommend ideas for postage stamps “that celebrate the American experience,” according to its website. All suggestions are weighed based on 11 criteria that include whether the subject had a significant and positive impact on American history, culture, or life and events of historical significance are eligible to be considered on anniversaries in multiples of 100 years.

On a local level, Kissam said there will be a blue-and-yellow historical marker erected in the upcoming weeks outside Sammis’ former home to mark the location and serve as a reminder to future generations.

Huntington Historical Society hosts a delicious Apple Festival

by Heidi Sutton - October 18, 2018

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A HISTORICAL TRADITION:

The Huntington Historical Society hosted its annual Apple Festival on the grounds of the Dr. Daniel W. Kissam House Museum Sunday, Oct. 14. The event, which drew more than 800 visitors, featured live music by the Huntingtonians, craft demonstrations, old-fashioned kids games, pumpkin and face painting, a haunted tractor ride and, of course, apples. The museum’s latest exhibit, Poetry in Thread, which explores the history and technique of lace making, was also open for tours

Photos by Heidi Sutton

Wine and dine with the Huntington Historical Society

by TBR Staff - August 24, 2018

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By Sabrina Petroski

Eat, drink and be merry at An Evening of Wine Under the Stars! Hosted by the Huntington Historical Society, the 28th annual celebration will be held on Thursday, Sept. 6 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the grounds of the Dr. Daniel W. Kissam House Museum (1795), located at 434 Park Ave. in Huntington Village. With delicious food and drink from local restaurants, wineries and breweries, live music from the band Ladies Drink Free (a blend of gritty funk, R&B/soul, pop rock and modern jazz) along with a silent auction and raffles, guests are sure to have a night full of fun.

This year’s event will honor The Paramount and its owners, Jim Condron, Dominick Catoggio, Stephen Ubertini and Brian Doyle. “We are thankful to them for restoring the Huntington Theater, built in 1927,” said Lorraine Kelley, the chairperson for the event. “The Huntington Theater is an important part of our history. The Founder’s Room at The Paramount is also part of the walking tour and pub crawl led by town historian Robert Hughes.”

Participating restaurants as of press time include Mr. Sausage, Culinary Studio, California Pizza Kitchen, Crew Kitchen, Babalu NY, IMC, Shamrock Pub, Christopher’s Pub, Kerber’s Farms, The Sandbar, Miko, Black and Blue, Crabtree’s, Duck Island Bakery, Copenhagen Bakery, Jeff’s Surf & Turf and Red Restaurant. Wine will be provided by Bottles and Cases, Joanina and Millbrook Wines, a Hudson Valley winery; and three local breweries will be present — Blind Bat Brewery, Oyster Bay Brewing Company and HopWins Brewery.

One of the highlights of the evening will be the silent auction and raffle in the historic Kissam Barn. Auction items will include a shed from Burt Lumber, a fishing trip with Skip Hartmann, a wine tasting at Total Wine in Westbury for 20 people (wine included), a reproduction handmade dining room table and chairs and a reproduction handmade queen size bed. Baseball memorabilia items will also be auctioned, as well as an original piece of artwork from “The Lockhorns” that has been generously donated by cartoonist Bunny Hoest.

This year the society will be using Bidpal/OneCause for the first time to allow participants to bid on auction items while also purchasing their tickets online. For those who cannot attend, but wish to bid on the auction items or contribute to the society, it will be possible to register and bid from home. Participants do not need to attend or buy a ticket to bid.

Donations of approximately 40 raffle baskets have been received from merchants in Huntington, Greenlawn, Cold Spring Harbor and Northport, filled to the brim with restaurant gift cards, spa and beauty salon gift cards, baskets of wine, free passes for Pilates and dance lessons and various books.

“This event is our most important fundraiser of the year,” said Kelley. “The money we raise allows us to offer free programs to the community such as the Sheep to Shawl Festival in May and Apple Festival in October. It also gives us the funding to restore and maintain our four historic properties. We are so grateful to all the restaurants and businesses who are donating food, wine and gifts to help us reach our goal.”

Tickets for An Evening of Wine Under the Stars are $75 for members and $90 for nonmembers. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door for $100. For further information, please call 631-427-7045, ext. 401, or visit www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org.

Whaling Museum to host screening of ‘The Great Gatsby’

by Heidi Sutton - July 5, 2018

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REVISITING AN OLD SPORT

As part of the Museum Movies in Huntington series, the Huntington Historical Society will present a special screening of ‘The Great Gatsby’ (1974) starring Robert Redford, Mia Farrow and Sam Waterston at the Whaling Museum, 301 Main St., in Cold Spring Harbor on Wednesday, July 11 at 7 p.m. $5 per person. Reservations are required (no walk-ins) by calling 631-427-7045.

Huntington Historical society kicks off the holidays with house tour

by TBR Staff - November 29, 2017

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By Kevin Redding

There’s no place like a historic home for the holidays.

On Sunday, Dec. 3, the Huntington Historical Society will host its 12th annual Historic Houses at the Holidays driving tour, giving residents the opportunity to explore five private historic homes and two house museums in the area from Huntington Village to Cold Spring Harbor.

Each stop on the self-guided tour will be decorated to the nines for the season; equipped with a volunteer from the historical society to answer any and all questions about the background of each location; and provide a firsthand glimpse at the original architectural styles and designs within these homes, which were built between the early 1800s and early 1900s. Visitors will be able to view bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens and even some attics of these colonial-style residences.

Approximately 300 to 400 people are expected to attend the event this year.

“The Holiday Historic Houses Tour is a real treat,” said Claudia Fortunato-Napolitano, executive director at Huntington Historical Society. “The houses on the tour are all decorated for Christmas and the refreshments are overwhelming. Come and enjoy a day out!”

The theme of this year’s tour is also the mantra of the historical society: Huntington Lives Here.

“Huntington’s history goes back to the mid-17th century and the people that came to live here were interested in building a meaningful town and leaving their imprint on it. This tour serves to highlight that,” said Toby Kissam, a trustee at the historical society and one of the tour’s chief researchers, whose ancestral home — the Dr. Daniel W. Kissam House Museum on Park Avenue — is among the afternoon’s seven stops. “Each year I find people that come on our tours know there’s going to be a great historical story with each house and I enjoy researching and telling that story. It’s always fun.”

Kissam said the oldest private home on the tour is also the one he’s most excited about: the 1820s-built Cold Spring Harbor birthplace of leading suffragette Ida Bunce Sammis, who organized the first women’s suffrage club in Suffolk County and became one of the first two women elected to the New York State Legislature in 1919. The home’s inclusion on this year’s tour correlates with the 100th anniversary of the passing of the constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote in the state of New York, Kissam added.

Also on full display is a house built in Huntington Harbor for a local sea captain in 1902; the grand 1914 Georgian-style home of New York City attorney-turned- Suffolk County representative in the New York State Assembly John J. Robinson, who was elected in 1912 and built his house on West Main Street in 1914; and a farm house constructed in the village in 1917 by Henry Willets of Dix Hills.

The most modern stop on the tour is a 1935-built summer estate in Greenlawn previously owned by a wealthy manufacturer named Walter Beh and his wife Margaret. Beh acquired the large, 110-acre property so he and his a wife, an equestrian, could raise and train horses there.

“Most of these were part-time residents, but they have contributed meaningfully to the town over years and has contributed to the place that Huntington holds today in Suffolk County and Long Island as one of the premiere towns in the region,” Kissam said.

The historical society-owned museums — both the Kissam House and the David Conklin Farm House, built in 1750 — will also be decorated for the tour. Visitors to the Kissam House will be treated to an exhibit entitled Promenade and Parasols, showcasing outfits and umbrellas from the 19th century and Victorian era, and the Conklin Barn will provide an array of refreshments from noon to 4 p.m.

Kissam, who is the great-great-great-grandson of Dr. Daniel Kissam, has naturally had a deep fascination with history his whole life, both general and Huntington-specific, and has occupied the role of genealogist in his family. This past summer, he and the rest of the Huntington Holiday House Tour Committee began their search and research of local private properties to feature.

“That’s always the challenge,” Kissam said on choosing homes to showcase during the tour. “We have to get people to agree, but we know of houses with a history and sometimes we just knock on doors and explain who we are and what we’d like to do. Usually we can talk people into it, particularly if they’re interested in what the history of their own house is. Once we run out of houses and can’t find houses maybe the tour has to stop, but we’ve been able to keep it going for the past 12 years.”

Historical society and committee member Patricia Ernst said the tours are beneficial to both those who take them and those who host them. “At the end of the day, everybody has such a good time,” she said. “The homeowners have a great afternoon having people exclaim over their houses, both the historical aspects of them and otherwise. The tour highlights these old houses and I think that’s a big draw for people who are deciding on what town they want to live in.”

Ernst continued, “Huntington has homes that have been here since the mid-1600s and that isn’t true in too many places. These houses are lovingly taken care of and are being guarded, and people in Huntington appreciate that.”

The Huntington Historical Society’s 2017 Holiday House Tour will be held on Sunday, Dec. 3 from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets are $40 for the general public and $35 for members. For more information or to order tickets, please call 631-427-7045, ext. 401 or visit www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org.

Photos courtesy of Huntington Historical Society

Spring Festival of Gardens returns to Huntington

by Heidi Sutton - May 30, 2017

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GT '13 - 7 — A koi pond featured during last year's garden tour. Photo from HHS

A rose garden featured in last year’s garden tour. Photo from HHS

The Huntington Historical Society will present its 2017 Spring Festival of Gardens on Sunday, June 4 from noon to 4 p.m. Six elegant and eclectic local gardens will be on view, with harbor views, backyard getaways, wandering woodland trails and serene Asian influences. Take a break at the Garden Boutique and refresh with sweet confections and cool drinks. Shop for garden plants, bouquets of gift certificates and unexpected treasures.

Tickets are $35, $30 members. To order, call 631-427-7045, ext. 401. If still available, tickets will be on sale for $40 at the Kissam House, 434 Park Ave., Huntington. For more information, visit www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org.

Holiday House Tour returns to Huntington

by TBR Staff - November 25, 2016

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By Nicole Geddes

Whether you’re driving or walking through a neighborhood of custom-built homes, it’s human nature to slow down and take in the scenery. From craftsman and Victorian-styled homes to Cape Cod, colonial and Dutch colonial, the architecture and history behind them piques interest.

The same can be said of the historical homes in the town of Huntington.

To “perpetuate an interest in things historic … in fact all historic relics relating to the Town of Huntington since 1653,” was the reason a group of women, some from Huntington’s founding families met at the home of Mrs. Frederic B. Sammis — known to her friends as Lizbeth — to form the Huntington Historical Society in September of 1903.

Visit seven historic homes this festive season.

Every December, the Huntington Historical Society collaborates with local owners of historical homes, offering tours that display the history of each home and their eclectic and architectural designs, as a service to the community. This year’s event will be held on Dec. 4.

Those who take part in the tour can exploit the chance to not just have something to do on a Sunday afternoon but also to see distinctive design styles.

“It’s a great way to spend the afternoon and to get some inspiration for your own house as far as decorating ideas. Typically, when we ask our homeowners to open up their homes, we do ask that they do some type of holiday decorating,” said Claudia Fortunato-Napolitano, executive director at Huntington Historical Society.

Each year the tour is presented with a different theme. This year’s theme, Huntington’s History Lives Here, will feature five decorated homes along with the Dr. Daniel W. Kissam House Museum (circa 1795) and the David Conklin Farm House Museum (circa 1750).

“At the Kissam house we do have an exhibit called Wedding Days and Wedding Nights. Basically, it’s wedding attire from the late 1800s through the 1950s,” said Fortunato-Napolitano. “It’s not just gowns, it’s night wear as well. There’s other things too, like accessories, clothing that men wore, and information about weddings during that time.”

The homes on this year’s tour roster are not in walking distance of each other. “It is a driving tour,” said Fortunato-Napolitano. “After you purchase your tickets, you get the addresses and the map, and then you can view them in any order you want.”

Visitors of the tour can take a break from the tour or end the tour by visiting the Conklin Barn, where they can enjoy an array of scrumptious refreshments. Participants can expect to walk away with a good demonstration of the colonial lifestyle throughout America’s history. Fortunato-Napolitano said, “They’re all historic houses. They have a good story to them. They all cover different periods of Huntington’s history. And then of course too, there’s a snapshot of Huntington’s history through the architecture.”

The Huntington Historical Society’s 2016 Holiday House Tour will be held Sunday, Dec. 4 from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets are $40 for the general public and $35 for members through Dec. 2. For more information, please call 631-427-7045, ext. 401 or visit www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org.

Take a bite out of Huntington’s Apple Festival

by Victoria Espinoza - October 17, 2016

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The Huntington Historical Society hosted it’s annual Apple Festival at the Kissam House on Park Avenue in Huntington this past Sunday, Oct. 16. Residents enjoyed hayrides, scarecrow making, bobbing for apples, militia demonstrations and more.

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