November 2010

Louis Armstrong was certainly wealthy enough to live just about anywhere in the world. Yet in 1943, he and his wife, Lucille, settled in a modest house in Corona, Queens, where they lived for the remainder of their lives. In her will, Lucille left the house (which had already been declared a National Historic Landmark) to the City of New York to be made into museum. The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs assumed ownership of the house, and provided for Queens College to administer it.

On October 15, 2003, the House opened to the public as a historic house museum, and since then visitors have come from all over the world to "visit" Louis and Lucille. No one has lived in the house since the Armstrongs, and the house and its furnishings remain very much as they were during Louis and Lucille's lifetime.

The c.1814 Rippleton Schoolhouse operated as the District No. Seven school in the town of Cazenovia until 1931 when it was closed due to the centralization of the school district. In 1996, the Rippleton Schoolhouse was accepted as a gift from local community activist and patron, Sarah Auchincloss, after she had spent 10 years seeking a suitable option for preserving this historic landmark. As a caveat of the acceptance, former New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Bernadette Castro pledged start-up capital and construction crew support for the relocation and restoration of the schoolhouse, but asked that most of the money for the balance of the project be privately raised. The Friends of Lorenzo stepped forward and accepted this challenge, forming a successful fundraising committee to support the project.

On December 16, 1966 a group of concerned citizens founded the Suffolk Marine Museum dedicated to the collection and preservation of artifacts of the maritime history of Long Island, New York. Long Island, 120 miles long and 14 miles wide, bounded by the Long Island Sound to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the south and New York City to the west has, since our nation's beginning, been deeply involved in its maritime history. Native Americans, followed by settlers from New England, immigrants from Europe and suburbanites from New York City have fished, harvested shellfish, gone whaling and built ships and boats on its shores. Today, pleasure boating is one of Long Island's largest industries. With this rich heritage as a foundation, the museum, located in West Sayville, on the Great South Bay, opened its doors to the public on May 1, 1968. It has been open on a regular schedule ever since.

The Lewiston Museum was built as St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the cornerstone being laid in 1835.  The first rector of this historic church was the Reverend Rufus Murray, posted to Lewiston as a missionary in 1838. He remained in Lewiston for nine years, keeping detailed records.  During this time, he documented that he provided burial services for at least three "strangers", the euphemism for passengers on the Underground Railroad. The two adults and one "child of a stranger" were buried in unmarked graves in the Lewiston Cemetery, presumably to foil slave-catching agents and prevent exposure of the abolitionist activities of the minister and his congregation.  The Reverend Murray was later sent all across Western New York providing services to Jamestown and Westfield churches, among others. He then moved on to Michigan serving the Mariners' Church in Detroit, famous for its mission to seamen, and the church at Adrian, Michigan. All his churches were known to support the Underground Railroad and freedom from slavery.

When those interested in forming an historical society came together in the early 1960’s they did so with the common goal of saving the Old Warren County Court House from the “wrecking ball.” Located at Canada and Amherst Streets in Lake George Village this 1845 brick structure became the perfect home for the Lake George Historical Association and its collection of historical artifacts - and with that LGHA established the Lake George Historical Association Museum.

One of the exhibits at the history center is “Those Who Served,” which showcases pictures, testimonies, uniforms, and artifacts from the War of Independence to the present.

The museum develops and presents exhibitions and sponsors activities to educate Irish Americans about their unique heritage and to illustrate to other Americans the impact the Irish have had in our society.

Main Street has the oldest concentration of privately owned Stone Houses in the United States, dating back to 1680.

The Huntington Historical Society began as an exclusively female organization in the early 20th century. Spawned by the success of the Town's 250th birthday celebration in 1903, the society's inception was due, in part, to the changing role of American women in the home. This change was just one of several trends which evolved as the economy of Long Island switched from an agricultural to a more industrial base.

In 1678, a small but brave group of French-speaking Huguenot refugees from what is today southern Belgium and northern France set out to create a community of their own … and so began an American Story that continues today.

Their search led them to the Esopus Indians, with whom they negotiated the purchase of 40,000 acres in what we know as New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley. This final stop on their journey they named New Paltz. Here on the banks of the Wallkill River in the shadow of the Shawangunk Mountains, they toiled and their families thrived. Around the community they started, a special and diverse village grew.