The 30th Annual Long Island Archives Conference Monday, March 16, 2026 at Farmingdale State College, SUNY EMBRACING CHANGE Change is here, and the annual Long Island Archives Conference has permanently moved to the month of March! As this conference turns thirty, we look back on how far we've come, and forward to the journey ahead. What does it mean to embrace change? Do we actively embrace it? Is it scary, met with resistance, or flat-out rejected by ourselves, our colleagues, or the organizations we work for? Perhaps it is an overload of change; too much too fast, that has us concerned. Perhaps you are ready for change and eager to see what’s ahead. Change may be inevitable: we research the archives to flesh out a long held narrative, follow the evidence to find untold stories and new perspectives, or revisit past goals and missions to forge a new direction. It may mean using technology to forge into a new tomorrow, or creating unlikely partnerships that broaden your outreach in unexpected ways. We want to hear all about it! Call for Presenters: 2026 Annual Long Island Archives Conference This year the conference is looking for speakers to tell us about their archival materials and how they have been using a new approach, a new technology, or assigning new duties to embrace the change we want to see. Embracing a change that allows more interest and exposure to our timeless Long Island history. Presentations are scheduled for 45 minutes followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. We are interested in topics that may include but not limited to: How create new meaning to stories we have us relied on for decades Has your site used AR or VR successfully and what were the pros and cons Was there a recent change in staff, mission, location that impacted the organization and the archives? If you are interested in presenting or would like to discuss it further, please email Nicole Menchise at nmenchise@lilrc.org. We hope to see you there. One ticket price for all - open to non-members! Students receive special pricing with proof of current enrollment. 3.5 CEUs will be offered. Register at LILRC.org/events or go directly to: https://lilrc.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=2009677&group=
Featured image: "Fall Harvest Festival", courtesy of the Merrick Library. This image can be found in the Merrick History Collection on the New York Heritage Digital Collections website. Accessed 10-28-25: https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16694coll72/id/4677/rec/2
Long island Archives
Transcending Barriers: Opening Archives, Opening Minds
November/December 2025 Volume 32 Issue 6
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Hello everyone, As the year comes to a close, so do my projects with the Accessing Archives Program. Back in September, I digitized a small collection of oral histories at the Merrick Library which can be found here (https://nyheritage.org/collections/merrick-library-oral-histories). This small but mighty collection documents the history of Merrick through the voices of its residents. Once that project was completed, I moved onto the Jericho Public Library where I am currently working with their local history librarian, Betsey Murphy. The goal of this project is to reorganize the collections as best as we can and select content for New York Heritage. I have already digitized and uploaded two collections for the library. Jericho Films and Videos can be found here (https://nyheritage.org/collections/jericho-films-and-videos). The collection contains six videos of events in Jericho that were captured on film or video dating from the 1920s to the 1990s. The second collection, Herbert S. Pratt’s "Old Long Island Houses" can be found here (https://nyheritage.org/collections/herbert-s-pratts-old-long-island-houses). Herbert Sidney Pratt (1892-1978) documented and painted old Long Island houses that date from 1637-1850. The three volumes of paintings and documentation come complete with locations and floor plans related to each house and is now word searchable and may prove to be a great resource for Long Island. There are also additional documents and photographs related to the project that can be found in the collection as well. I also intend to upload an oral history collection as well as a matchbook collection. The Jericho Public Library’s local history library is packed full of great content and I am determined to cull from it before the project is finished. See photos of myself, Nicole Menchise from LILRC offering some part-time assistance, and Betsey Murphy, the Local History Librarian, processing and rehousing many of the collections at JPL. I will round out this year of the Accessing Archives Program with a final project with the Seaford Public Library. Stay tuned and I’ll see you in 2026.
LATEST FROM THE ACCESSING ARCHIVES PROGRAM By Robert Anen
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America at 250! The celebration of our nation's 250th birthday is being covered by national, state and local resources. Here are some websites that will keep you in the latest news of exhibits, lectures, reenactments and house tours all celebrating this milestone. As new sources come, this newsletter will keep you posted!
Reprinted from a press release dated October 31, 2025. CHICAGO - The Society of American Archivists is launching a profession-wide effort to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—250 for the 250th—and we want you to join us! We invite archival repositories across the United States, including all states, territories, and the District of Columbia, to submit one digital/digitized document that showcases the nation’s rich, diverse, and challenging history through the materials we care for in our repositories. Interest Form American stories are those of courage, violence, idealism, extraction, revolution, solidarity, and transformation. As archivists, we steward and share these stories; we work to broaden the voices and perspectives represented in our collections; we work with our communities to document and care for their own histories. In bringing these archival objects into conversation with each other, we hope to inspire discussions—including difficult ones—about our nation’s history, our values, and our shared future. Submissions can be in a variety of text, document, photo, or A/V formats. All submissions will be brought together in one publicly accessible and searchable platform that will be live in early 2026. Our goal is to include at least 250 documents in the portal. Please complete this form with your name, institution, and contact information. When our submission portal is live, we will send you an e-mail with guidelines and a link to upload your document and the related metadata to the portal.
The Long Ago Literary Corner Recently released and upcoming books about Long Island history
Q&A with Christopher Verga, author of Nazis of Long Island: Sedition, Espionage and the Plot Against America How did you find the research experience to be, and where did you look? The research was based on FBI files related to the German American Bund/ Fritz Kuhn, and their connections to Nazi spy rings and the McCormack-Dickstein Committee Congressional Report (1934-1937). Additional archives I used were the Thomas Dewey papers (district attorney files and early governor papers), the Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia Papers, and the ProQuest historic newspaper search. What were your unexpected finds? The unexpected findings were how ingrained the Nazi government was in influencing political platforms. The Nazi government spent an estimated three million dollars a year to influence elected officials' campaigns, publish positive stories about Nazi Germany in Reader's Digest, and, in general, create doubt in our political system in the United States. This propaganda almost broke us as a country. Additional findings that surprised me were the significant effort to beat back the Nazi influence- it was done on a non-governmental grassroots level before we entered the war. When reading your book I marveled at how, though exclusive and extremely private, the German American Bund (federation) was not in hiding. The organization had a following before the Second World War that would surprise people, and recruitment targeted areas in America with deep German roots. Longwood Public Library's Thomas R. Bayles Local History Room has a collection of items from various donors, and you used many images from their collection. Do you think that there are more surviving archival collections on Long Island to be discovered outside of Yaphank? I am sure there are plenty of undiscovered archival collections related to the German American Bund. After the war, the Bund did not disappear; it evolved into other movements and groups, such as the Manhattan-based neo-fascist group the National Renaissance Party, which operated until 1979. Locally, the German Gardens community in Yaphank (former Camp Siegfried), which settled a 2017 New York State lawsuit over racially restrictive bylaws, could still have important archival records. Additional records, such as Bund newsletters or affiliated groups' newspapers, can sometimes be found in estate sales. This book is very well researched, as one can see by the extensive citations you offer at the end of the book. You relied heavily on newspaper archives and I wonder if you were able to locate an archive of German propaganda and newspapers/newsletters? I found German Propaganda newspapers in various public collections, but they are written in German. The Christian Front, a pro-fascist militia group that worked with the Bund, had the magazine/ newspaper Social Justice. The circulation for Social Justice was wide-reaching, and I found many editions in local estate sales. Continued on next page What were your frustrations? My frustration is that this history has been forgotten. Forgetting this history leaves us vulnerable to repeating it, with no blueprint for combating it. The vast majority of the Nazi influence started with crazy conspiracy theories that shook our trust in American institutions and radicalized their believers to embrace fascism. Last year, a short documentary titled Nazi Town, USA: The untold story of Nazi sympathizers on American soil was available to stream through PBS affiliates. As you say, this history has been lost to time and a new generation is starting to unearth the truth. Were there any stories that couldn't be told fully because there was little or no archival evidence to follow up? While writing and researching the book, it grew from my original idea of just Camp Siegfried to the entire Nazi propaganda apparatus in New York. Many archives, documents, records, and other collections have yet to be discovered. My expectation with this book is to generate discussion, and hopefully, someone can build on my research. Nazis of Long Island: Sedition, Espionage and the Plot Against America is available now through Arcadia Publishing (The History Press), Amazon Books, or ask for it wherever you purchase your books on local history.
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Are you planning a grant project? NEDCC can help! Several agencies across the U.S. offer funding to support the conservation and preservation of cultural heritage collections. With the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approaching, many of these opportunities will be highly competitive. We encourage organizations to start planning as soon as possible to ensure projects are completed before July 2026. How can NEDCC help? NEDCC provides free guidance with proposal development and narrative writing. We encourage you to reach out well before deadlines to learn how we can support your grant-funded activities, including: Audio reformatting Book, paper, and photograph conservation Conservation assessments and consultations Digital imaging Digital preservation assessments Wallpaper conservation and much more. National Endowment for the Humanities Rediscovering Our Revolutionary Tradition supports digital imaging, book and paper conservation, and audio reformatting. All the info you need can be found at; https://www.neh.gov/program/rediscovering-our-revolutionary-tradition Application available now. Application deadline: 01/15/2026 Maximum award amount Individual institution: up to $350,000 Expected Output: conserved or rehoused documents and objects; catalog records, finding aids, and metadata; digital surrogates of humanities collections; advanced images; transcriptions and translations; indexes, databases, or digital resources.
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Welcome to the LILRC's GOVERNMENT RESOURCES AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE page. Sharing online portals and forums for government agency and publication information; whether the resource is local, state-wide or national. These government resources are worth checking out!
Want to join? Go to LILRC.org/government-information-committee
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Long Island Archives - November/December 2025 Editor: Nicole Menchise, Digitization and Archives Coordinator LILRC - 627 N. Sunrise Service Rd., Bellport, NY 11713, www.lilrc.org.
AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION https://www.abmc.gov/ The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is an agency of the executive branch of the federal government, honoring the service, achievements and sacrifices of the U.S. armed forces abroad since 1917. The ABMC maintains 26 permanent American military cemeteries, 31 federal memorials, monuments, and markers, in 17 foreign countries. You can plan your trip or take a quick search through their records to locate more than 200,000 fallen service members who are honored at an ABMC site. Per the website, the ABMC offers several services for veterans and family members. "In an effort to commemorate the service, achievements, and sacrifice of the members of the U.S. armed forces buried or memorialized at our sites world-wide, we offer a number of services to the public." Artifact Collections: ABMC is dedicated to ensuring intellectual access to artifact collections such as historic furnishings and decorative items, rare books, and historic flags. Due to the fragile nature of many items and the geographic scope of the agency, physical access may be limited as ABMC identifies, evaluates, and catalogs collection items into the public facing electronic database under development. Questions about accessing collections items can be sent to our Collections & Preservation staff. Education Program: ABMC is committed to developing quality resources across disciplines for teachers to use in classrooms. These materials illuminate the service, experiences and sacrifice of those honored at ABMC cemeteries and memorials. Family Assistance: Receive assistance from an ABMC staff member upon your arrival at the cemetery. Staff members are available to escort family to gravesite locations, assist with photographs, and give a guided personal tour of the site. Visit our cemetery pages for specific cemetery contact information. Korean War Honor Roll Certificates: Honor an individual who lost their life during the Korean War by searching the Korean War Veterans Memorial Honor Roll and printing a commemorative certificate.