East Hampton Library: Long Island Collection

The East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection is a special collection and archive dedicated to the history and people of Long Island. What was once a room specially built in 1930 to house the personal collection of historian Morton Pennypacker, is currently a 5-room research and study area, containing a vast array of original, historic, as well as contemporary, materials that chronicle life on Long Island from the seventeenth century to the present day.

Among its more than 100,000 items, the Long Island Collection’s holdings include photographs, postcards, whaling logs, diaries, account books, deeds, wills, genealogies, maps, architectural drawings, oral histories, and newspapers. Various items of note include early Native American documents and artifacts, the 1599 Gardiner family bible, the original deed to Shelter Island, the Captain Kidd “cloth of gold,” and materials relating to the Culper Spy Ring.

The Thomas Moran Biographical Art Collection is also represented here with many original pen-and-ink and pencil sketches, etchings, lithographs, engravings, and several watercolor sketches by artist Thomas Moran (1837-1926) and members of his artistic family. The collection also contains manuscript biographical material, correspondence, books, pamphlets, personal memorabilia, and exhibition catalogs.

Collections Hours: Monday-Tuesday & Thursday-Saturday: 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Other hours by appointment only.

Address: 159 Main Street, East Hampton, NY 11937

Website: https://easthamptonlibrary.org/long-island-history/

Contact: 631-324-0222

Andrea Meyer, Head of Long Island Collection

email: andrea@easthamptonlibrary.org

phone: 631-324-0222 ext. 4

Mayra Scanlon, Librarian/Archivist

email: mayra@easthamptonlibrary.org

phone: 631-324-0222 ext. 4