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“Making Long Island: A History of Growth and the American Dream” with Lawrence R. Samuel

May 30 @ 1:00 pm

Join author, cultural historian, and Long Island native Lawrence R. Samuel for a fascinating talk that charts how Long Island evolved throughout the 20th Century and largely detached itself from New York City, becoming a self-sustaining entity with its own challenges, exclusions, and triumphs. Based on Samuel’s 2023 book of the same title. 

About the Book: With its natural beauty, wide-open spaces, and cheap land, Long Island emerged as a prime site of suburban development in the Roaring Twenties. Millions of New Yorkers left crowded, small, rented apartments to own their own home, complete with a backyard and front lawn. While the Great Depression and World War II slowed the phenomenal growth, the postwar years proved to be a golden age for developers as hordes of city folk chased their American dream. However, discrimination against people of color was the norm in real estate circles, and by the late 1960s, the country’s economic engine was running out of steam. Although the boom times were over, Long Island remains a desirable place to live, work or visit. Author Lawrence R. Samuel reveals the roller-coaster ride of Long Island’s growth and how it is much more than just sprawl, traffic jams and Hampton shares.

About the Author: Lawrence R. Samuel is a Miami- and New York City–based independent scholar and author. He holds a PhD in American studies from the University of Minnesota and was a Smithsonian Institution Fellow. Larry blogs for Psychologytoday.com, where he has received over two million hits, and is often quoted in the media. His previous books include The End of the Innocence: The 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair; Tudor City: Manhattan’s Historic Residential Enclave; and Queens: A History of the Most Diverse Place on Earth. He grew up in Woodmere, Long Island.


This program will take place in the Gillespie Room located in the Carriage Museum.

REGISTRATION

This program is included with museum admission. Space is limited, so registration is requested.