A Postcard Tour of Long Island History

Every year, the Brentwood Public Library brings hundreds of new programs to our patrons. Although our building may be closed in the coming days, we would like to think that we can still bring something of this library experience to you. Perhaps even that most important and elusive quality of actually exploring the library: the chance to discover something new.

The following is a presentation by Noel Gish to the Brentwood Historical Society (http://www.brentwoodhis.org) which he gave this November. The society meets every month at the library and where they always host an interesting speaker. Among all the speakers for the society, Mr. Gish was certainly one of the most eagerly anticipated.

Mr. Gish is one of the most highly regarded experts on Long Island’s history. He was one of the first to develop a school curriculum in local history, is a writer, and an in-demand speaker at historical societies, libraries, and museums known for his witty and engaging talks. Really, though, the most obvious proof of the high regard in which he is held as a historian might be the impressive fact that he has an actual room at the Suffolk County Historical Society named after him! (https://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/2015/04/old-wing-gets-a-new-look-a…)

A Postcard Tour

At our November meeting Mr. Gish spoke about the history of postcards and his own collection. A history detective can discover unexpected details that capture what might be otherwise forgotten about people and places past.

Mr. Gish Speaking at the Brentwood Public Library

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqDEX1NGa8s

Our Postcards

If you want to see some of the postcards of Brentwood landmarks of our own, click and explore the link below.

https://nyheritage.org/collections/brentwood-postcards

Here you can view our collection of more than 100 historic postcards of Brentwood, NY, most produced in the early 20th century and showing some of our earliest local landmarks. If you have any questions about the places shown or have places you would like to learn more about in future blog posts, let us know!