Shelter Island Historical Society Founded November 18th, l922 / Celebrating 100 Years

November 18, 1922:

The “Shelter Island Historical Society” is formed

————–

The organizing members were:

Miss Cornelia Horsford

Mr. Elias Havens Payne (President)

Mr. & Mrs. A.A. Cartwright

Mr. & Mrs. Clarence Cartwright

Mrs. Stirling Wallace

Mrs. Moses Griffing (Vice President)

Mrs. Charles Bateman

Mr. C.H. Smith

Mrs. Russell Conklin

Mrs. Charles Thorne

Mrs. George Cook

Miss Lillian Loper (Secretary)

The group met monthly at various locations to share papers on the history of the Island and to begin the process of collecting and preserving important historical documents.

——————————–

Above is a page from the minutes of the first meeting from the Society’s Archives.

[Transcription]

On Sat. Nov. 18, 1922 at a meeting in Worthington Museum the Shelter Island Historical society was organized. At this time Miss Cornelia Horsford read a paper giving reasons for the formation of such a society. Many useful suggestions were given as to what material to collect and how to collect it. The following are some of the topics about which information should be collected.

Families – what they did for the community

Indian stories; slave stories

Sea stories; terrific storms

Severe winters; mild winters

There should be the following officers

President; vice president, secretary and librarian.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~