The Long Island Studies Institute at Hofstra University has been awarded a $459,000 federal grant to digitize historic and contemporary regional materials. The grant will expand public access to documents chronicling the history of Nassau and Suffolk counties and the people who shaped them, according to a university statement.
The three-year grant will support major infrastructure enhancements. These upgrades include implementing advanced archival technologies and best practices in digital preservation. The goal is to ensure the preservation and accessibility of the institute’s collections for researchers, students, educators, and the general public.
The institute holds thousands of photographs, letters, diaries, and other primary source materials documenting daily life on Long Island from the early 1700s to the present. Many of these items are fragile and have remained mostly inaccessible until now, the university stated.
Notable collections going online include:
- Battle of Long Island Collection, featuring an August 29, 1776, proclamation by British General William Erskine calling on Long Island rebels to surrender
- African Americans on Long Island Collection, documenting the lives of free and enslaved individuals during the 18th and 19th centuries
- Hart Nichols Collection (1730–1930), chronicling two Long Island families and providing insight into agricultural life and major moments in American history
- Camp Mills Collection, including photographs of Mineola’s World War I–era Camp Mills, home to the U.S. Army’s 42nd Infantry Division, the famed “Rainbow Division”
Hofstra plans to release the newly digitized materials to the public on a rolling basis, starting with historical photographs from Camp Mills.
The grant, championed by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer through the Financial Services and General Government appropriations process, will facilitate several key initiatives.
The funding will also be used to create a new specialist position focused on archival and digital initiatives. Additionally, the grant will finance upgrades such as new furnishings and equipment for reading rooms and digitization spaces, as well as enhancements to cloud-based content management services.
“We are grateful to Senator Schumer for his dedication to improving public access to the Long Island Studies Institute’s priceless collections,” Hofstra University President Susan Poser said in a statement. “This investment ensures that the stories of Long Island’s communities are preserved and shared for generations to come.”
Lorrie McAllister, dean of Hofstra’s Axinn Library, which houses the institute, added, “This extraordinary investment celebrates the importance of Long Island’s history and the communities whose stories we are privileged to steward.”
Established in 1985, The Long Island Studies Institute serves as a repository for local history research with approximately 2,500 books and printed materials, including photographs, maps, census records, genealogies, government documents, and manuscripts, as well as audiovisual materials and more than 200 local newspapers on microfilm. The institute also sponsors meetings, exhibits, and conferences.
