Preservation Long Island: L.I.’s Furniture Collection, Online | L.I. 250th Anniversary Tour ….

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Programming from Preservation Long Island in
The Winter Show at The Park Avenue Armory

Top (left to right): James Basker, Lauren Brincat, Harold Holzer, and Susan Fales-Hill.
Bottom left: Executive Director Jackie Powers.
Bottom right: The American Chair: 250 Years of Form

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Dear Friends of Preservation Long Island,

The new year is off to a busy start at Preservation Long Island, and I’m happy to update you on some recent milestone activities and several exciting events on the horizon.

The Winter Show
Earlier this week, we were thrilled to be asked to host a panel discussion at The Winter Show at The Park Avenue Armory. The lecture was entitled Polymaths of Early America: Art, Knowledge and the Preservation of History. Great thanks to go our expert moderator, Screenwriter and Producer Susan Fales-Hill, and to the panelists — our own Chief Curator and Director of Collections Lauren Brincat; James Basker, President and CEO of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History; and Harold Holzer, President of Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute. This group of esteemed scholars explored how portraits, art, and images have preserved the ideas, identity, and memory of three great polymaths of early America: Lemuel Haynes, Ephraim Byram, and Abraham Lincoln. Soon, we will have a recording of the lecture which I will circulate in my next monthly email.

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In addition, two of our historic chairs were included in a special exhibition at The Winter Show—The American Chair: 250 Years of Form. This exhibit showcases iconic examples of the evolution of chair design since our nation’s founding. (See photo, above.) We are also honored to have been named a Cultural Partner of The Winter Show.

This is the first time Preservation Long Island has had a presence at The Winter Show, which is America’s most prestigious art, antiques, and design fair. This builds awareness of Preservation Long Island among the many thousands of visitors to The Winter Show and positions us not just as a steward of local history, but as an important voice in the interpretation of American history. Great thanks go to Lauren Brincat for helping to plan both the lecture and our participation in The American Chair exhibit. We hope you will have the opportunity to visit The Winter Show, if you have not already, which runs through February 1.

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Preservation Long Island’s Furniture Collection – Now Online
As part of our ongoing efforts to make Preservation Long Island’s significant collections of Long Island artifacts and material culture more accessible to a wider audience through digitization, we are thrilled to announce that our entire furniture collection is now available to explore online. Over the past year, we have cataloged and photographed more than 230 pieces of furniture located across our five historic properties. This work was made possible through a generous digitization grant from the Long Island Library Resources Council. Click HERE to explore the collection.

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The Long Island Furniture Project
The launch of our digitized furniture collection is part of our multi-format initiative to increase knowledge and accessibility to furniture made on Long Island, ca. 1660–1860. Steven Baltsas, our Peggy N. Gerry Curatorial Fellow, who will be with us through 2027, reflects on his first six months working on this project.

Click HERE to read Steven’s blog post: The Lives Behind Long Island Furniture.

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The Brownstone Boys
Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of welcoming Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum—aka the Brownstone Boys—to our Cold Spring Harbor gallery for a presentation, lively conversation, and book signing that celebrated historic homes, modern living, and the art of thoughtful renovation. Thank you to all who joined us—a few photos from the evening are shared below.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Preservation Long Island’s Exhibition Gallery, January 10, 2026. Executive Director Jackie Powers and Preservation Director Tara Cubie with The Brownstone Boys.

Long Island 250th Anniversary Tour

The first of our special tours to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence will take place on February 21 at Joseph Lloyd Manor. Explore the British occupation of Lloyd Neck, the experiences of Loyalist and Patriot refugees, and the struggle for liberty of Jupiter Hammon and other enslaved Americans. Click HERE to reserve your spot.

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Lecture: Beyond Blue and White: The Hidden History of Delftware and the Women Behind the Iconic Ceramic

On March 7 from 3:00–4:30 PM, join us in our Cold Spring Harbor gallery for a lecture by decorative arts expert Genevieve Wheeler Brown, who will explore the pivotal yet often overlooked role women have played in the creation, collecting, and interpretation of ceramics worldwide. A book signing will follow. Click HERE to register.

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