Episode 205: Long Beach Oral Histories

We continue our tour of Long Island-based oral history collections. This time out, Robert Anen (LILRC Project Archivist) and I sat down with the Long Beach Historical & Preservation Society. Robert helped digitize their extensive oral history collection. The recordings cover a wide range of memories and experiences from residents of the City by The Sea. You’ll hear about the father of Long Beach, developer, politician, and consummate self-promoter William H. Reynolds. You’ll also hear about the highlights of the city’s Roaring 20s golden age, the political intrigues of a growing city, and the transformations brought on by World War II.

In the room with us are Phyllis Ginsberg, Dan Moran, Joanne Belli, Kathi Lismore, and current society president Jeanne Browne. But the real special guests are the people on the tapes, expertly interviewed by Florence Reich First. Florence was a founding member of the society and undertook this oral history project in the early 1980s.

Oral history recordings from the podcast (by order of appearance):

• Florence Reich (w Helen Smith Hart)
• Andrew Carlo
• Foster Vogel
• Daphne Mulligan Schlaich
• Mary Hoff Katris
• William McGovern
• William Schwartz (w Roberta Fiore)
• Amy Rabinowitz Cohen nee Schloss
• Peggy Wood Lieberman

Further Research

• Long Beach Oral History Collection (NY Heritage)
• Long Beach Historical and Preservation Society
• The Lido Club Hotel
• Dreamland Postcards (Coney Island History Project)
• Music
  • Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
  • Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0