January 2025

History Matters

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Letter from the Director

Dear Friend, 

It’s been a busy couple of months. After breaking ground in November, I’m delighted to report that thanks to the great work of BK Builder, CMH Site Development, and Blue Harbor Stone & Masonry, we have made excellent progress on the new Collections Storage Center at Mulford Farm. The previous storage barn was taken down, and we completed the excavation by the beginning of December. During the past month, concrete was poured for the basement foundation. We anticipate finishing the building envelope by this May in time for all the tours, programs, and special events that take place at Mulford Farm during the summer and fall. 

While we’ve raised all the funds necessary to construct the Collections Storage Center, we currently need to outfit it with state-of-the-art compact mobile storage equipment so we’ll have room to grow our collections in the future. If you’re interested in learning more about the Campaign for Collections Stewardship, please email Steve Long, Executive Director, or call 631.324.6850, x3.

 

Sincerely,

Steve Long, Executive Director

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Signs of Springs: The Springs Artists’ Exhibition Posters

Exhibit at Clinton Academy, 151 Main Street, East Hampton

Opening January 24, 4 PM – 6 PM

Join us for the the opening of Signs of Springs featuring exhibit posters publicizing the Springs Improvement Society’s annual artist invitational on Friday, January 24 from 4 PM to 6 PM at Clinton Academy. The exhibit is on view from January 21 to February 28. Private tours and school programs are also available.

The Springs Improvement Society held its first annual “Artists of the Springs” invitational exhibition in 1968 on the grounds of Ashawagh Hall coinciding with the annual Fisherman’s Fair. It started as an outdoor exhibit to raise money for local scholarships and the construction of a gallery wing. Works were contributed by “just about every well-known artist in the Springs” reported the East Hampton Star that opening year. The first exhibit was kindled by a decades-long relationship between The Springs Improvement Society and artists that flocked to the area in the mid-1940s and 1950s, most notably Lee Krasner, James Brooks, Willem de Kooning, and John Little. 

The posters in the exhibition, which was curated by Stacy Myers, Director of Education at the Historical Society and Aimee Lusty from the Springs Improvement Society, demonstrate a range of artists, printing processes, and styles from 1971 to 2024 while highlighting the contribution of women artists to the Springs community. 

The posters are on loan from the Springs Historical Society and The Springs Improvement Society.

Register to attend the opening
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Marine Explorers

Summer Program at the Marine Museum

Registration now Open!

Marine Explorers is a hands-on educational program for children ages 6 to 12 interested to study maritime history, environmental studies, and water safety. Children will explore cultural and maritime history and traditional craftsmanship using woodworking tools, textiles and paint to create their own works of art. Over the course of the week, they’ll discover the commitment and excitement of taking a creative idea from concept to fully executed artistic expression in multiple mediums.   

Students spend the morning investigating art, science, woodworking, touring the East Hampton Town Marine Museum and the Amagansett Life Saving Station. They then enjoy the water and beach activities in the afternoon at Atlantic Avenue Beach, learning about marine science, whales and water safety. 

The program operates from 9 AM – 2 PM Monday through Friday at the Marine Museum, 301 Bluff Road in Amagansett. The following weeks are available:

  • Week 1: July 14 – 18 for Ages 6-8
  • Week 2: July 21 – 25 for Ages 9-12
  • Week 3: July 28 – 1 for Ages 6-8
  • Week 4: August 4 – 8 for Ages 9-12

The cost is $900 per week. To register, please email Diane Merritt or call 631.324.6850, x2 or Space is limited so act today!

The Historical Society is also offering a Junior Marine Explorers program for families with children ages 4 and 5, which will take place at the Marine Museum on June 23 & June 24 from 10 AM to 11 AM. The cost is $25 for the child/adult combination and a parent or guardian must be present at all times.

For more information, please email Diane Merritt or call 631.324.6850, x2.

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Join us for our Winter Lecture Series!

Starting Friday, January 31

Meeting the last Friday of each month at 7PM

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On January 31, Bob Hefner, Project Director of the Dominy Shops Museum, kicks off our Winter Lecture Series with his long awaited presentation entitled, The Dominy Shops & House: A New Story. As part of his talk, Bob will describe what happened to the Dominy Shops in the 1940s and the serendipity that returned them to North Main Street. 

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Upcoming Lectures 

Friday, February 28: The Encyclopedia of East Hampton Place Names

Presented by Rick Whalen, who will introduce his research on the thousands of places in the Town of East Hampton, which he will make available in a forthcoming encyclopedia.

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Friday, March 28: Historic Houses of Worship in East Hampton

Presented by David Cataletto.

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Friday, April 25: The Fowler House

Presented by Hugh King, East Hampton Town Historian, this lecture highlights the history of what is believed to be the only surviving Montaukett home in East Hampton Town.

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All lectures start at 7PM at St. Luke’s Church, 18 James Lane, East Hampton
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For more information, please email or call us at 631-324-6850

Register to join us

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FOUND: A Series of Collections from our Beaches

Marine Museum, 301 Bluff Road, Amagansett

Closing Reception

January 17, 4 PM – 6 PM

You’re invited to attend the closing reception for Found: A Series of Collections from Our Beaches, the exhibition features objects that eight-year-old Ryder Nadel discovered on East End beaches. Since he was a preschooler, he and his dad, Lee, have fished, hiked, and walked our beaches, finding trash and treasure everywhere. These jaunts sparked Ryder’s interest in conservation and at age four, he decided he didn’t want to have balloons at his birthday again. The “Marine Explorers” summer program also played an important role in spurring Ryder’s appreciation for marine life and the East End’s beaches.

Picking up trash also led to the discovery of beautiful things in neglected places. This dichotomy is the essence of this show: from trash to treasure, from new to old and new again, from waste to conservation, from lost to found.

During the reception at the Marine Museum on January 17, Ryder will encourage visitors (like Peter Topping, the Peconic Baykeeper shown here) to take a closer look at some of the marine organisms that call the intertidal zone home in the winter and present a brief talk about marine debris.

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It’s our 4th Annual Golf Outing Benefit

May 21, 2025

Maidstone Golf Club

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Play golf on one of the premier courses in America

while helping to support the work of the East Hampton Historical Society.

Check-in and lunch begin at 11:30am when the putting green and driving range will be open. The Shotgun Start is between 1 and 1:30pm with a reception and awards ceremony on the veranda following your round of golf.

  • $5,000 per Foursome
  • $1,300 per Individual Player

Register Now!

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Curatorial News

One of the newest objects on display at the Thomas and Mary Nimmo Moran Home & Studio at 229 Main Street is the bow back Windsor chair shown here. On loan from the Home Sweet Home Museum, which is operated by the Village of East Hampton, the chair illustrates the deep connection between Gustave Buek and Thomas Moran. Their friendship lasted over fifty years, which Buek referenced in a letter to Moran wishing him a happy birthday in 1924. In addition to being an artist and an art collector, Buek was a lithographer who reproduced several of Moran’s paintings as color lithographs for a mass market. The two men also traveled together to Arizona’s Grand Canyon, a trip that was documented in two matching photo albums currently in the Long Island Collection at the East Hampton Library.

In 1908, Gustave and his wife, Hannah purchased Home Sweet Home at 16 James Lane. While the building is one of East Hampton’s jewels serving as a museum today, it was dilapidated and in danger of being torn down before the Bueks saved it. According to an article that appeared in the magazine Country Life in America in October 1914, the colonial-era chair was a gift to Gustave Buek from Thomas Moran. It’s possible that Moran’s gift was intended to help furnish and celebrate the Bueks’ restoration of Home Sweet Home.

In addition to being part of schools programming, the Moran Home & Studio is open to visit this winter by appointment. Please email or call 631.324.6850, x2 to schedule a tour.

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East Hampton Historical Society 

www.easthamptonhistory.org

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East Hampton Historical Society | 151 Main Street | East Hampton, NY 11937 US

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