The Long Island Home Front, carried out as a partnership among the Long Island Radio & Television Historical Society (LIRTVHS), the Sayville Public Library, and the Sayville Historical Society, will feature oral histories from people who experienced the war years in and around Long Island, New York. The focus will be on gathering perspectives from as broad a spectrum as possible, with interviewees from Nassau and Suffolk counties as well as the New York City area, from varying ethnic groups and economic backgrounds.
We recognize the need to document the living memories of the World War II era while the people are still with us. This Greatest Generation played a large part in making Long Island was it is today and by participating in this project we can highlight that connection while sharing the Long Island story with a wider audience.
All three institutions in this partnership are dedicated to serving the public, promoting research and education through access to information, and preserving and promoting the history of Long Island. We each maintain and preserve carefully curated collections, whether their focus be the history of a specific area or a specific technology, or materials for the general enrichment of the local community and public at large. The Sayville Public Library will provide a central place to record most interviews and be the repository of record. LIRTVHS will lead the interviewing and recording process while Sayville Historical will provide networking and coordinating efforts to find interviewees. The memberships of all three organizations will be invited to participate at every level.
Interested in participating in The Long Island Home Front? Contact project coordinator Chris Kretz from the LIRTVHS Board with any questions: liradiotelevision@gmail.com.
