In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, “women’s holiday houses” were large homes located in bucolic destinations where working women could take an affordable summer vacation in a natural setting. The single-gender aspect of these establishments ... Read More
Women's History
Mary Frances Pearsall Lynch: Bryant Library’s First Paid Librarian
March 21, 2024
Born in 1877 in the old Roslyn Hotel that stood on the southeast corner of East Broadway and Old Northern Boulevard, Mary Pearsall Lynch (1877-1943) was a lifelong resident of Roslyn Village and served as the Bryant Library’s first paid librarian. ... Read More
RHS Girls Basketball: 1923-1924 Season
September 8, 2023
While the members of the Roslyn High School Girls Basketball Team for the 2023 - 2024 season will likely don modern sportswear for their yearbook photo, 100 years ago, the girls of the 1923 - 1924 season wore very different attire: Inspired by ... Read More
No Longer Forgotten: A Research Journey by Carolyn Brown
August 9, 2023
The following post was written by Carolyn Brown, a frequent researcher at the Local History Collection who has also produced several programs for the Bryant Library. Life’s journey is filled with so many zigs and zags, twists and turns. Every day ... Read More
Juneteenth Celebration with Carolyn Brown
June 16, 2023
Over the past several years, Carolyn Brown, an accomplished theatrical performer who is native to Long Island, has shared her genealogical research journey with the Local History Collection. The descendent of Roslyn residents of Black and Indigenous ... Read More
Marion Willetts Brower: Exemplar of Civic Service
March 21, 2023
Marion Willetts Brower (1888 -1974) played a major role in many of the civic improvements undertaken by Roslynites in the early twentieth century. She and her first husband, Ernest Cuyler Brower, came to Roslyn in 1910. Shortly after moving into ... Read More
Translation as Poetry: Langston Hughs and Gabriela Mistral
February 27, 2023
As February morphs quickly into March, and Women’s History Month follows in the wake of Black History Month, it seems appropriate to note a little-known connection between American poet Langston Hughes (1902-1967) and Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral ... Read More
Spotlight on Educators: Keturah A. Townsend
October 22, 2022
For fourteen years, between 1899 and 1913, Keturah (Kate) Townsend taught Roslyn’s African American children in the segregated one-room “Colored School” annex operated by School District #3 in a frame building on Tower Street. Recalled by a peer as ... Read More
Spotlight on Educators: Hazel Monestel
September 16, 2022
Born, raised, and educated in Roslyn, Hazel (Woodin) Monestel (1892-1986) taught three generations of Roslynites during her 48-year teaching career in Roslyn Public Schools. A kindergarten teacher at the Heights School between 1920 and 1950, Hazel ... Read More
Five Generations: The Helms-Robinson Family of Roslyn
June 18, 2022
This year, in observance of Juneteenth, the Local History Collection celebrates a local family with deep roots in the Roslyn community. Thanks to Ms. Margie D. Robinson, a longtime Bryant Library patron, we recently learned that her family’s past in ... Read More
