Living World Lecture

"Cultural and Natural History of Fire Island"

Dr. Frank Turano, Department of Ecology and Evolution

Stony Brook University

Friday, November 20

“100 Years: 1850 to 1950 or 100 Days: Memorial Day to Labor Day”

The program presents a pictorial history of Fire Island from mid-nineteenth century to mid-twentieth century. In this period, the island transitions from a seldom visited place of sorrow to a playground for the emerging middle class. Since most local people were called to the island to assist in the rescue of the shipwrecked, the image of sorrow was foremost in their minds. In the post-civil war period, an emerging middle class sought a place for their families to summer, away from the city. The shores of Long Island with their boarding houses provided this respite.

The foundations of the Fire Island of today were laid during this period. Small areas were settled or squatted by people from directly across Great South Bay. These became our contemporary communities. Government presence began with the Fire Island Lighthouse and morphed into Fire Island State Park. This set the stage for the conflict between the communities and the state that resulted in Fire Island National Seashore. The program will explore the origins of the complex combination of government and private interests, jealously guarded by both.