Generous grants from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation are enabling the Palmer School of Library and Information Science at Long Island University to digitize local history materials in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The initial $1.5 million in grants awarded in 2016 and 2017 provides fellowships for master’s and doctoral students to assist with the project. In December 2022, the Robert David Lion Gardiner established an additional $1 million endowment for “Digitizing Local History Sources.”
We are pleased to provide public access to materials we have digitized to date:
- 50 historical organizations
- 83,000 images
- 5,500 gigabytes of data
On this public site, you will be able to access and download low-resolution JPEG images. Each organization has access to high-resolution uncompressed TIFF images through a non-public site. Please contact the originating organization with questions about TIFF images as well as copyright and usage information.
We will continue to add new historical materials, highlight particular collections, and enhance the search functionality of the site. Please visit often to explore primary sources documenting the people of Long Island!
For additional information, please contact the Project Director, Dr. Gregory S. Hunter, at the Palmer School of Library and Information Science: greg.hunter@liu.edu.
Media Coverage
On January 30, 2023, Newsday published an article, “William Vanderbilt II Photos are Latest Digitizing Project at LIU Post’s Palmer School in Brookville.” https://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/liu-digitize-history-project-vanderbilt-photos-uj9wloe7
On November 2, 2022 Fox 5 New York reporter Jodi Goldberg covered the digitization of Walt Whitman’s Family Bible. The full video is available at: https://www.fox5ny.com/video/1138375
On June 13, 2022 the Project Director was interviewed by WHRU Radio, the Hofstra University Station. We discussed “Digitizing Local History Sources” and the Culper Spy Ring. The recording is available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DgTUTRZYM6a94jNb0VY3vI4AW3sF6YYz/view
On May 9, 2022, WCBS New York aired a feature story about DLHS. Carolyn Gusoff visited the on-campus Digitization Lab and interviewed a Palmer School student. The full video is available at: https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/liu-post-digitizing-local-history-sources/?intcid=CNM-00-10abd1h
On April 17, 2022, Newsday published a six-page feature story about the project. The full article and a video are available at: https://www.newsday.com/long-island/grant-helps-liu-post-preserve-li-history-ic0x4sol
On November 26, 2021, Dan’s Papers published a story about the Bert Morgan Collection at the Southampton History Museum: https://en.calameo.com/read/0036300935eb8a11af1e8?page=34
On November 17, 2021, a similar story was published in The Island Now. https://theislandnow.com/community-news/liu-digitizes-southampton-history-museum-photo-collection/
On November 12, 2021, The Patch published a story about the Bert Morgan Collection: https://patch.com/new-york/longisland/liu-announces-digital-collection-historical-documents
Preservica highlights the project as a “Customer Success Story.” https://preservica.com/resources/customer-stories/long-island-university-1
Library Journal honored DLHS as one of the “best free resources of 2021.” https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/best-free-resources-2021
DLHS is included as a “best practices example” on the Website of the Roadmap for Participatory Archiving: https://ropa.umb.edu/preserving-collection
