Local History Takes Center Stage

A Town of Huntington history trivia game kept visitors guessing as they wandered from display to display at a celebration of the town's historical organizations at the Kissam House on Sunday.

What was the title of former Northport resident Jack Kerouac's most famous book? "On The Road." What jazz legend composed "A Love Supreme" while living in Dix Hills? John Coltrane. Where do you go to get a birth certificate? Town Hall. Who is Town Clerk? Jo-Ann Raia.

Seventeen organizations strutted their stuff as part of Archives Month, publicizing their resources and sharing local history stories and photos. Visitors also toured the Kissam House and Arsenal. Handouts were weighted down with rocks to survive wind gusts that blew cooler as the afternoon wore on.

Organizations on hand included the five libraries in the town, the Huntington and Northport historical societies, archivists for the town and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Walt Whitman Birthplace, the Huntington Harbor Lighthouse and the town historian.

Not all the groups knew what the others could offer, so there was a lot of networking. "It was a good thing just for that alone," said Antonia Mattheou, Huntington town archivist, who helped organize the event.

Members of the African American Historic Designation Council, which helps the town identify and research historic sites and people with ties to African American heritage, were recruiting. "We're reaching out to older African Americans to have them do oral histories and to share their diaries, old records in their homes and other documents," said member Charla Bolton. The council also sponsors two walking tours which focus on black history, one of the Old Burying Ground and another of The Village Green area.

Alfred Sforza, 96, known as 'Freddie the Shoemaker,' came to the event to listen to his son's efforts to interest people in the history of Huntington Station. He opened his first shop in 1934, across from the Huntington train station, and in 1967 moved downtown behind Canterbury Ales. He still goes to work on friends' shoes several days a week at his shop at 308 New York Ave. His son, Dr. Alfred Sforza, has written several books and is involved in a local history effort that ties in with schools in District 3. The group hopes to develop oral histories, create a walking tour and continue work on a website.

As Freddie moved into the heated car to listen to the Yankees game, the afternoon wound down. A final sweep of booths brought the answers to a few more trivia questions, all with much good-natured help from the staff pointing quiz takers in the right direction:

Who was principal of Cold Spring Harbor High School in 1965, courtesy of the yearbook? Francis Roberts. What is the name of the newspaper Walt Whitman founded that is still in existence? The Long-Islander. What is the name of one of the oldest vocational schools in the United States? The Huntington Sewing and Trade School. Name three Nobel Prize-winning scientists affiliated with the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the year they received the award. James D. Watson, 1962; Alfred Hershey, 1969; and Barbara McClintock, 1983.