I am very pleased to invite you to explore the second issue of the Long Island History Journal. We continue our mission to place Long Island’s history in a national as well as global context while taking full advantage of the resources of online publication to enhance some LIHJ features and introduce new ones as well.
This issue includes an article by Jonathan Bergman who has researched federal, state and local response to the impact of the Hurricane of 1938 on Long Island. He studies three area congregations confronting the devastation of their churches and seeking to rebuild in a changing environment. John Strong, a frequent contributor to the LIHJ in past years, provides a portrait of Catoneras, an Indian woman involved in an interracial liaison with a Dutch settler, and raises some important questions for future research. Ryan Shaffer explores the emergence of the German-American Bund on Long Island in the run-up to World War II and assesses the efforts of the group to blend Americanism with their fascist ideology.
Our reviews examine recent books on Levittown, Walt Whitman, Theodore Roosevelt, and hotels and inns on the North Fork. Additionally, reviews of a novel set in an African-American settlement in Sag Harbor and a recent exhibition at the Heckscher Museum, along with the accompanying catalogue, may be found in this section. Look for subsequent issues of the LIHJ to include regular reviews of exhibitions as well as motion pictures with Long Island as their setting.
Visitors to our eMuseum will find that with a click of the mouse the images displayed may be enlarged to fill the screen for more detailed examination. The eMuseum also features Associate Editor Joshua Ruff’s video tour of “Growing Up On Long Island,” an exhibition presented last year at the Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages. In future issues, history exhibitions and collections from area museums and historical societies will be captured on video for a lasting presence in the LIHJ.
Our Resources section continues to grow. Clicking on the Audio-Visual tab will bring you Stephen and Susan Sanfilippo introducing and performing a song based upon the words of a young Long Islander on a whale boat in the mid 19th-century. Historical Resources widens its electronic portal to include historical sites and organizations in Nassau County, joining those of Suffolk County, which appeared in our Fall 2009 issue. Look for Brooklyn and Queens to be added in our next issue.
We invite readers to share comments in our Letters section. To learn more about upcoming issues of the LIHJ, please go to the “subscribe” link on the home page and enter your free subscription.
Charles Backfish
Editor in Chief