Edward Lange was a German artist who started his career on Long Island in the late 19th century. He meticulously captured the landscape and built environment across the island from Flushing to Sag Harbor in water color paintings rich in detail and charm.

Preservation Long Island has just published Promoting Long Island: The Art of Edward Lange, 1870-1889 by chief curator and director of collections Lauren Brincat and former curatorial fellow Peter Fedoryk. The book features over 100 color reproductions of Lange’s work along with essays from Brincat, Fedoryk, and contributors Jennifer L. Anderson, Thomas Busciglio-Ritter, and Joshua M. Ruff.

On today’s episode, Brincat and Fedoryk discuss their work on the book including the new research that fills in the gaps of Lange’s family and education. We also talk about his entrepreneurial drive, his love of photography, and the life of a landscape painter on a Long Island that was rapidly turning from bucolic farmland to a vacation destination.

Further Research

• Order the book
• Authors Talk and Book Signing 11/16/24
• Edward Lange exhibition
• The Art of Edward Lange
• “The Tile Club at Play“, Scribner’s Monthly, February 1879 (Google Books)
• William Sidney Mount (National Gallery of Art)
• Music
  • Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
  • Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0

The Association of Public Historians of New York State held their annual conference at Danford’s in Port Jefferson this year, gathering public historians from all corners of the state to discuss resources, projects, and to provide a great opportunity for people to talk history.

The Long Island History Project was there to hold a workshop, “How to Be a Podcast Guest.” Today’s episode features the brave individuals who sat down at the mics and told us a little bit about their work, the challenges they face, and where exactly “upstate” begins.

Further Research

• Association of Public Historians of New York State
• Ross Lumpkin
  • North Hempstead Town Historian
  • Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society
• Marilyn Hayden
  • Greenwood Lake Village Historian
• Amy Folk
  • Southold Town Historian
  • Oyster Pond Historical Society
  • Southold Historical Museum
• Debra Allen
  • Oswego County Historian
• Gabrielle
  • Brightwaters Historical Society
• John Tracy
• Robert Finnegan
  • Historical Society of Islip Hamlet
• Regina Feeney
  • Freeport Village Historian
  • Freeport Memorial Library
• Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
• Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0

Robert Moses had a vision for Jones Beach in the 1920s that included a theater to bring high quality entertainment to the people. That theater on Zachs Bay went through a number of iterations but reached its height from 1954-1977 when it was under the direction of Guy Lombardo. Along with his brothers Carmen and Lebert, the Canadian-born band leader/impresario brought Broadway shows and original productions to the beach. Their stage was an 8,200-seat amphitheater with a host of spectacular additions including icebergs, waterfalls, showboats, and floating mansions.

Richard Arnold Beattie got more than a front row seat, performing as a child actor in The Sound of Music and The King and I at Zachs Bay in the early 1970s. Although he went on to a career that included journalism, songwriting, and audio production, he never forgot his time at the Jones Beach Theater. He has captured the experience in a new audio documentary called From Broadway to Jones Beach, streaming now on Spotify and planned to be repackaged as an audiobook.

Hear more on today’s episode about the development of the Jones Beach Marine Theater and its connections to Broadway history and the Lombardo family who lived in nearby Freeport. You’ll also get a preview of Richard’s documentary through interviews with actors Connie Towers and June Angela.

If you like your Broadway big – including Nazis in speedboats and sharks circling the stage – then you’ll love this story.

Further Research

• From Broadway to Jones Beach (Spotify)
• Louis Armstrong “Mardi Gras” with Guy Lombardo
• List of Jones Beach Theater productions (OVRTUR)
• Sound effect
  • Overture and Fanfare.wav by Anapwodicn - License: Creative Commons 0
• Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
• Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0