FREE FOR TVHS MEMBERS. $5 GENERAL ADMISSION/DONATION.
Virtual Lecture Series
2021 Virtual Lecture Series Brings Renowned Speakers to Living Rooms Near and Far
The Three Village Historical Society lecture series hosts prominent and emerging historians, authors, genealogists, archeologists and storytellers from around the nation and presents topics related to local history, heritage conservation, social justice, art history, and more. For decades, TVHS public programming has provided a stimulating environment for the exploration of history and ideas that permeate the culture and community of the Three Village area, and beyond.
In early 2020, when the world went on “lock-down”, TVHS shifted gears and began hosting this treasured event virtually via Zoom on a monthly basis and the Society will continue to do so for 2021. Unless otherwise noted, all lectures begin at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and will be held on Zoom and moderated by Mari Irizarry, TVHS Creative Services Director. The Virtual Lecture Series is open to public, with a $5 general admission suggested donation and is free for TVHS members, though registration is required.
A Struggle For Heritage: Archaeology and Civil Rights in a Long Island Community
Monday, September 20th, 2021 - 7pm
Based on ten years of collaborative, community-based research, this book examines race and racism in a mixed-heritage Native American and African American community on Long Island's north shore. Through excavations of the Silas Tobias and Jacob and Hannah Hart houses in the village of Setauket, Christopher Matthews explores how the families who lived here struggled to survive and preserve their culture despite consistent efforts to marginalize and displace them over the course of more than 200 years. He discusses these forgotten people and the artifacts of their daily lives within the larger context of race, labor, and industrialization from the early nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century.
A Struggle for Heritage draws on extensive archaeological, archival, and oral historical research and sets a remarkable standard for projects that engage a descendant community left out of the dominant narrative. Matthews demonstrates how archaeology can be an activist voice for a vulnerable population's civil rights as he brings attention to the continuous, gradual, and effective economic assault on people of color living in a traditional neighborhood amid gentrification. Providing examples of multiple approaches to documenting hidden histories and silenced pasts, this study is a model for public and professional efforts to include and support the preservation of historic communities of color.
With Archaeologist
Christopher Matthews
The Devil in New York: The Withcraft Trial of Goody Garlick
Monday, October 18th, 2021 - 7pm
The most famous American witch-hunt began in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. Yet, more than three decades before that notorious event, Long Island had its very own witchcraft trial – the trial of Goody Garlick! Accusations of flying on poles and cavorting with the Devil ran rampant in the colonies during the 17th century and led to hundreds of accusations of witchcraft. To understand what happened during these trials, we must first understand the stresses of ordinary 17th century life in New York and why the fear of witches existed. The trial of Goody Garlick will act as a lens to understand the hysteria associated with these accusations.
With Lecturer
Tara Rider
Green-Wood Cemetery’s Civil War Project
Monday, November 15th, 2021 - 7pm
In August of 2002, The Green-Wood Historic Fund rededicated New York City’s Civil War Soldiers’ Monument after a year of restoration. It was originally dedicated in 1876 on the Cemetery’s Battle Hill. The Historic Fund’s Civil War Project, an effort to identify and remember Civil War veterans buried at Green-Wood, was born of the enthusiasm felt at the rededication ceremony.
With Author and Historian
Jeff Richman