Westbury Library shines light on local history with its documentary ‘Dear Miss Overton’

“Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful video history of the Westbury Library,” said Marcia Griffin, daughter of Bill Delamar, who is featured in the film. “It meant a great deal to see my father, George William (Bill) Delamar, and our family included in such a thoughtful way. The stories and memories you captured bring the library’s past to life and honor the people who helped shape it over the years.”

The genesis of  “Dear Miss Overton” dates back to 2024, when for the library’s 100th anniversary it republished a 1949 Westbury Times article celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Robert Bacon Memorial Children’s Library. Written by Jacqueline Overton, the article contained excerpts of letters written to her by eight men who were once youths at the Westbury Library. 

Ian Bloomfield, a Westbury reference librarian who wrote and edited the documentary, became interested in what became of these men and started digging into library archives to see what he could find.

What he discovered was striking. Many of the men went on to become writers, scientists, educators, and pioneers in their fields. Others left only faint traces in public records, and some suffered personal tragedies.

“The spectrum of what these men did and experienced with their lives was really unusual,” Bloomfield said. “People come from your town and do all sorts of different things with their lives that you might never know about.”

The more details that Bloomfield unearthed, the more interested he grew and the more his research broadened. Ultimately, his project spanned a year and a half while he received research tips “from Texas to Australia” he said.

“A kind of research community formed,” Bloomfield explained. “I was able to track down some relatives of these men and various people who knew them, some lovely people who were really helpful in tracking down info.”

One such discovery involved Bill Delamar, who Bloomfield learned was the first African-American postmaster in Binghamton, NY. Bloomfield reached out to Delamar’s former church and connected with someone deeply influenced by Delamar who helped locate additional sources.

Bloomfield also traced the lives of Floyd Zulli Jr., a professor featured on the Emmy-winning Sunrise Semester televised college course, and Howard Griffin, a respected writer and advocate for racial equality. Griffin worked for the British-American poet W.H. Auden and palled around with other literary luminaries like Frank O’Hara, Marianne Moore, and Katherine Anne Porter. 

In fact, it was Overton’s mention of Griffin publishing in The Atlantic Monthly that first struck Bloomfield with the idea of digging deeper to see what he could learn about the former library patrons.

The film features narration by the library’s archivist Thom Hoffman and voiceovers from library staff and community members. Bloomfield said having staff participate in the project both honors their research contributions to the project and helps connect them with the community

Bloomfield, who also has a background in television production, said while he had never done either a media project or library research project of this scale, “it all came together” with the creation of the documentary film.

What began as a podcast concept expanded into a film as Bloomfield grew inspired both by a desire to promote the library’s resources—including the digitized Westbury Times newspaper, the Historical Society of the Westburys, the ancestry library, and the children’s historical collection—and to shine a light on the lives of these men.

“This is a wonderful documentary about local history on Long Island and it brings to light how important libraries are in the formative years in providing a foundation for success,” said Andrea Morale, the library’s cultural programming specialist, who also voices Jacqueline Overton in the film.

Viewer registration for future screenings of the documentary can be found at westburylibrary.org.