Oyster Bay Historical Society Calendar of Events

The Annual Holiday Party will be held on Saturday, December 13, 2008 from 4:00-7:00 p.m., beginning with a program of Seasonal and Gospel Music> presented by Rev. Ken Nelson and the Choir at the Hood A.M.E. Zion Church on the corner of South and Summit Streets at 4:00 p.m. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the Seasonal Music Program. After the concert, the holiday celebration will continue at the Earle-Wightman House Museum, which will be decorated in old-fashioned candlelit fashion. With refreshments and music setting a festive mood, you'll ring in the holidays at this annual party for Society members and friends. Don't miss the opportunity to sing, see old friends, and view the current exhibit, The Roosevelts ... It Wasn't All Politics. Contributions appreciated. For additional information, call the Museum at 922-5032.

Franklin Hill Perrell, Chief Curator of the Nassau County Museum of Art, and a noted authority on Roosevelt era art, will present a slide lecture on TR and The Arts: Art in the Time of Theodore Roosevelt on Sunday, November 16, 2008 at 4:00 pm at 6 Cove Neck Road, Cove Neck, NY to an audience of invited guests.

Mr. Perrell's talk, in the ballroom of Mrs. Richard Storrs' historic Glen Cove home, is sure to be a highlight of TR's 150th birthday celebration. It will be followed by an auction of artworks created by present-day Roosevelts, also conducted by Mr. Perrell. Proceeds from the invitation-only event will benefit the Angela P. Koenig Research & Collections Center to be constructed adjacent to the Oyster Bay Historical Society's Earle-Wightman House headquarters.

To join art-lovers, friends of TR, and members of the Oyster Bay Historical Society for this memorable afternoon, please contact Society Director Thomas A. Kuehhas at 922-5032 or by email for information and an invitation.

Help Build the Center
You can contribute to the Oyster Bay Historical Society Building Fund for the Angela P. Koenig Research & Collections Center by calling the Society at 914-922-5032, mailing your donation to The Oyster Bay Historical Society, P.O. Box 297, Oyster Bay, NY 11771-0297, or by using the Make a Donation button to contribute using a major charge card or PayPal.

Additional information, including a floor plan and major categories of giving are available in the Angela P. Koenig Research & Collections Center Brochure (PDF: 15kb).

The Society's Fall Exhibition, featuring artwork by members of the Oyster Bay Roosevelts, will open in two Oyster Bay venues. Work by living artists in the Theodore Roosevelt family will be exhibited at the Theodore Roosevelt Association offices, 20 Audrey Avenue, with a grand opening on Friday, October 24, 2008 from 3:00-5:00 pm. Work by artists from past generations will be on display at the Society's Earle-Wightman House Museum beginning Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 1:00 pm.

The idea for the exhibition came from Elizabeth Roosevelt, a professional photographer, who is exhibiting her work along with that of the rest of the Roosevelt family. According to Oyster Bay Historical Society Curator Yvonne Noonan-Cifarelli, who worked on both parts, the exhibition offers a rare and intimate look inside a powerful and historic family.

The exhibition feature works in oil, lithographs, photography, jewelry designs by Elizabeth's mother, Elise Roosevelt, and metal and silver work. Four living and several historic Roosevelts are represented.

Please call the Society at 922-5032 or email for more information.

The Annual Holiday Party will be held on Saturday, December 8, 2007 from 4:00-6:30 p.m., beginning with a joyous holiday concert led by the Rev. Ken Nelson at the Hood AME Zion Church on the corner of South and Summit Streets at 4:00 p.m. After the concert, the holiday celebration will continue at the Earle-Wightman House Museum, which will be decorated in old-fashioned candlelit fashion. With refreshments and music setting a festive mood, you'll ring in the holidays at this annual party for Society members and friends. Contributions appreciated. For additional information, call the Museum at 922-5032.

The Society's Fall Exhibition on Oyster Bay's role in the Revolutionary War will open on Sunday, January 20, 2008 at 2:30 pm at its Earle-Wightman House Museum, one of only three Nassau County sites on the State's Revolutionary War Heritage Trail. The Exhibition includes rare artifacts and documents as well as the opportunity to try on a reproduction uniform and equipment.

The ground-breaking Exhibition will include a rare uniform coat worn by an Oyster Bay Loyalist during the war, a period musket and bayonet, an inscribed powder horn owned by another Oyster Bay Loyalist, period cannonballs, assorted documents, smaller objects, and period illustrations. This is a unique opportunity to learn the role played by Long Island Loyalists in general, and Oyster Bay and Queens County Loyalists in particular, while seeing rare artifacts and handling authentic reproductions of the items worn and carried by Revolutionary War soldiers.

Please call the Society at 922-5032 or email for more information.

NOTE: The Exhibition was originally scheduled, and announced in The Freeholder, for a November opening. A delay in obtaining signs and showcases necessitated rescheduling.

Labels: artifacts, bayonet, cannonballs, Earle-Wightman House, exhibition, Heritage Trail, Historical Society, Loyalists, Museum, musket, Oyster Bay, powder horn, Queens County, Revolutionary War, soldiers

Alexander Rose, author of the recently-published Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring, will be the featured speaker at the annual meeting of the Oyster Bay Historical Society on Thursday, June 21, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. at the Doubleday Babcock Senior Center at 45 East Main Street, Oyster Bay.

The Culper Spy ring, which delivered vital intelligence to George Washington during the Revolution, was centered in Setauket. The family of "Culper Jr" (Robert Townsend) lived in Raynham Hall, and Major Benjamin Tallmadge of Setauket was chief of Washington's intelligence service. Hear the inner workings of this clandestine network which worked in the shadows to secure America's independence.

This is a joint meeting of the Nassau County Historical Society and the Oyster Bay Historical Society, which will have a brief business meeting at 7:00 p.m.. Guests are welcome. Refreshments will be served following the presentation and copies of Washington's Spies will be available for sale. For more information, please contact the Oyster Bay Historical Society at 516-922-5032.

The long-running Spring 20/20 Lecture Series kicks off on Tuesday March 13 at 7:15 p.m. with Michelle Temares speaking on The Untold Story: WWI and WWII Poster Art at the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Public Library, 89 East Main Street, in Oyster Bay.

A member of the Society of Illustrators and the National Art League, Michelle Temares teaches and lectures on fine art at the Planting Fields Arboretum, at the Society of Decorative Painters, and at her own Bella Michelle Studios in Garden City, New York. The author of Painting Floral Botanicals and How to Design Your Own Painting Projects and over 40 illustrated articles, she has been called "a favorite author" by the The New York Times, an "engrossing speaker" by F & W Publications, and a "renowned artist" by the Decorative Artist's Book Club.