OHS: Annual Meeting, 11.14 | Plum Beach Shop | Holiday Social / ‘Wide Awake’ / Artifacts ….

Save the Date

Oysterponds Historical Society Annual Meeting

Because OHS is a membership organization, every member gets a voice in its current work and its future.

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Not sure of your membership status?

Please call the OHS office at 631-323-2480 (press “2”)

or email office@ohsny.org to find out.

When: Saturday, November 14th @ 10:30am

Where: Poquatuck Hall, 1160 Skippers Lane, Orient

Beach Plum Holiday Shop opens Saturday, November 28th

There’ll be many new items in stock this year, including classic ornaments, festive holiday decorations, North Fork art, and unique, traditional crafts, as well as one-of-a-kind gifts for the entire family. There’s something for everyone!

Proceeds directly support the mission of Oysterponds Historical Society to bring people together to share and celebrate the unique history and culture of the North Fork hamlets of Orient and East Marion.

Days and hours of operation:

Sat. Nov. 28th – 12 noon to 4pm

Sun., Nov. 29th – 12 noon to 4pm

Sat., Dec. 5th – 12 noon to 4pm

Sun., Dec. 6th – 12 noon to 4pm

Fri., Dec. 11th – 10am to 2pm

Sat., Dec., 12th – 12 noon to 4pm

Sun., Dec. 13th – 12 noon to 4pm

Thu., Dec. 17th – 10am to 2pm

Fri., Dec. 18th – 10am to 2pm

Sat., Dec. 19th – 2 to 4pm

Old Point Schoolhouse, 1555 Village Lane, Orient

Special thanks to Sarah Olmstead for coordinating, curating, and setting up the shop!

Join friends, family, and neighbors at Village House for festive food

and drink, caroling & crafting, and shopping at the Beach Plum Holiday Shop!

Saturday, December 12, 2026, 3:00 – 5:00 pm

Village House, 1555 Village Lane, Orient

Spotlight on the OHS Collection

A Remarkable Civil War-era Artifact

Orient Wide Awakes Banner – before and after conservation.

The Orient Wide Awakes banner was carried by local supporters of the Republican Party during the 1860 presidential campaign. The Wide Awakes were a semi-military wing of the party that protected speakers at campaign rallies and helped control crowds, at a time when most communities had no police force. Members wore uniforms and marched in nighttime torchlight parades, with banners like this one at the front.

OHS hopes to exhibit the banner next year as part of a look at the “unfinished revolution” surrounding the Civil War. Nearly 90 years after the American Revolution proclaimed freedom for all, that promise was still unfulfilled for millions of Americans. The Wide Awakes marched for the party of Lincoln, but more than 150 years later building a truly free and equal nation remains a work in progress.

The expert conservation of the banner by the Textile Conservation Workshop in South Salem, NY was supported through the NYSCA/GHHN Conservation Treatment Grant administered by Greater Hudson Heritage Network. This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional support was provided from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. OHS is grateful for their generous support!

OHS Pleads Quilty!

Stitched into OHS’s numerous quilts are more than two centuries of Oysterponds stories.

The collection spans from a remarkable blue resist wholecloth quilt of about 1790 to a dazzling silk and cotton quilt made in 2004 by Sylvia Suzanne Newman, the only 21st-century quilt in our holdings. Between them lie bold pieced designs like Flying Geese and Log Cabin, a red-and-green Tulip quilt (pictured above), a rare New York Beauty, and a lavish 1880s crazy quilt embroidered with moths, flowers, and even a Japanese fan.

Many of these pieces came to OHS through families with deep roots here. Some also speak to one another across the generations: Hilda Mollineaux’s 1985 “Orient 1900,” the largest quilt in the collection, draws on her friend Rosalind Heitzman’s painted panels of village life, while Newman’s quilt was inspired by a 19th-century striped coverlet she first saw on display here. Together they reveal not only highly skilled needlework but the frugality, artistry, and community ties of the women who made them.

Click here to view highlights from OHS’s outstanding quilt collection.

Mission

Oysterponds Historical Society (OHS) brings people together to share and celebrate the unique history and culture of Orient and East Marion. By presenting shared experiences from the past, we connect our rich heritage to the present and pass it on to future generations.