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The Richard H. Handley Collection of Long Island Americana

Richard H. Handley (1848-1914) was a wealthy businessman and resident of Hauppauge. In 1921 his widow, Mary Osborn Handley, loaned his extensive book collection, containing many rare and valuable items, to the Smithtown Library, and in 1926 the collection was given to the library outright, along with a fund for its maintenance. For many years, the collection was available only to researchers, but was finally made available to the public in 1957.

Through the years, the collection has been preserved and augmented and, in January 2000, relocated into its present quarters in a new reading room and climate-controlled vault. It has grown to include over 8000 books and pamphlets on Long Island history and genealogy;  over 750 maps;  nearly 100 archival boxes;  many historical account books (including whaling logs);  an extensive vertical file;  photos;  scrapbooks;  audio and video tapes;  and a collection of newspapers and other periodicals.

The Library now has access to the Long Island Historical Journal: Digital Edition through SUNY Stony Brook.

The Smithtown Patch (www.smithtown.patch.com) published an interview between editor Amanda Fiscina and Long Island Room librarians Cathy Ball and Caren Zatyk about the Long Island Room collection and their work, including a five-minute video clip on Tuesday, September 14, 2010. Click here to read the article and view the video.

Be sure to see the exhibits in the Long Island Room display cases, which feature highlights of our holdings related to the programs.

The collection is open to the public during all library hours. Come in, sign our register, and take advantage of our unusual collection.


Historic Smithtown Images
Images of Smithtown from long ago. View our online exhibit of historic photographs from the Long Island Room collection..

 
Suffolk Historic Newspapers
Suffolk Historic Newspapers is a centralized, searchable collection of Suffolk's newspaper heritage available to you online.

Voices of Smithtown
An mp3 Podcast of memories of Smithtown in the past.

 




Page Updated :  09/09/2011
Long Island Room Librarians : Cathy Ball and Caren Zatyk.
Send Comments to - Cathy Ball
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