EDITOR'S MESSAGE, 2024

     The first fifteen years of Nassau County’s establishment (1899-1914) were exciting and optimistic years, both for Long Island and the nation.  New technology, from cars to airplanes, was everywhere.  The County was growing rapidly in wealth and population, and the first wave of suburbanization was underway.  The terrible World Wars still lay in the future.

     The articles in this year’s Journal have their beginnings in this early period of growth and change.  Gary Monti’s “Patience and Persistence: The Cradle of Aviation Museum, Eighty Years in the Making” focuses on the beginnings of aviation on Long Island in the early twentieth century, its subsequent growth, and the long quest to develop the Cradle of Aviation Museum.  The Cradle of Aviation Museum is a national treasure, and any visit to the Museum confirms its status as a monumental achievement.  Monti’s article is rich in detail and chronicles the remarkable story of how the Museum was developed over a period of eight decades.  We learn that the project required vision, deeply committed individuals who remained committed for the long term, governmental support, incredibly talented and dedicated volunteers, and a good bit of political acumen and luck.  One of the lessons is that important projects are seldom realized quickly, and dedicated historians must be persistent in their work of collecting, preserving, and exhibiting our history.

     In the early twentieth century, Nassau County was drawn more and more into the orbit of metropolitan New York.  The completion of the East River tunnels brought Nassau County within easy commuting distance of Manhattan, and conversely helped bring Manhattan industry to Nassau County.  Such was the case with Doubleday and Company, which established their Country Life Press in Garden City in 1910.  Constantine E. Theodosiou documents the story of Doubleday in Garden City in his article, “The Country Life Press Campus: F.N. Doubleday’s Progressive-Era Vision.”  Mr. Theodosiou emphasizes the Progressive ideas behind the relocation to Garden City and its effects on the business, the employees, and the surrounding community.  It is no coincidence that the future Progressive Party candidate for president in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt, laid the cornerstone for Country Life Press in 1910.

     And speaking of TR, this year’s Journal includes Roosevelt’s words at an auspicious event in the history of Nassau County, “Laying the Cornerstone of Nassau County’s Courthouse, July 13, 1900.”  Roosevelt was then Governor of New York, though in four months he would be elected Vice-President, and in little more than a year he would be President of the United States.

     The presidential theme is continued in Bill Bleyer’s account on “The Museum of Democracy Finds a Nassau County Location,” an unparalleled collection of presidential election memorabilia, part of which is exhibited at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.  The Museum of Democracy is another welcome addition to the rich historical resources of our region.

— Paul D. van Wie