A Maritime Lair
A Maritime Lair: The Royal Navy and Gardiner’s Bay
Gardiner’s Bay, a critical deep-water anchorage at the eastern end of Long Island, was the operational center for the Royal Navy throughout the American Revolution, serving as the indispensable staging ground for the British fleet. This talk will track the continuous flow of warships in and out of the bay, demonstrating its essential role in maintaining naval dominance over the approaches to New York and enabling major troop movements and coastal raids. By analyzing the Navy’s activity in this one location, we can fully appreciate how Gardiner’s Bay underpinned the entire British war effort in the northern theater.
Christopher F. Minty is project director of Naval Documents of the American Revolution at the Center for Digital Editing at the University of Virginia. He is author of Unfriendly to Liberty: Loyalist Networks and the Coming of the American Revolution in New York City, and serves as co-director of the Loyalist Institute at St. Thomas Aquinas College.
Returning to Our Roots
Returning to Our Roots: East Hampton’s New Farms
A panel discussion with beloved local farmers from Amber Waves and Balsam Farms, focused on our agricultural reawakening.
This panel discussion focuses on East Hampton’s new farms, and what’s inspired a new generation of farmers to work East Hampton’s soil. For years the narrative has focused on the forces of development eliminating local farms. This event focuses on what’s inspired a new generation of people to choose to go into farming, and to talk about the history of their farms, along with the challenges they deal with.
The panel will feature Ian Calder-Piedmonte from Balsam Farms and Amanda Merrow from Amber Waves, with Yvette Debow Salsedo from Peconic Land Trust moderating.
Ian Calder-Piedmonte: Ian was born and raised on a farm in Michigan. He studied philosophy at Cornell where he met his future business partner, Alex Balsam. Shortly after college, he moved to East Hampton where he helped Alex build Balsam Farms into a successful vegetable farm and market with deep community connections. Ian was appointed to the Planning Board in 2012 where he served for 12 years. In January of 2024, Ian was appointed to the East Hampton Town Board, and won reelection in 2025.
Amanda Merrow: Amanda Merrow co-founded Amber Waves Farm and helped grow its nonprofit organization into a model for modern sustainable agriculture, centered on new farmer training, soil health, and exceptional food. As a leading regenerative farmer and influential voice in the next generation of agriculturalists, she has been widely recognized in major media and serves on multiple regional boards, championing farmland preservation and community-rooted food systems.
The Convict Pastor
The Convict Pastor: Thomas James and the Puritan Roots of Christian Nationalism
The Rev. Thomas James: beloved minister of East Hampton’s first church – or Christian nationalist zealot? Between these extremes existed the man who came to the New World in search of religious freedom, but found that freedom was not enough. Friendly with his indigenous neighbors and at odds with the colonial authorities, Thomas James’ vision of Christian Nationalism challenges us to reject the narrative we’ve received and reconsider the man whose faith defined a community and ultimately landed him behind bars.
The Rev. Jon D. Rodriguez is the Pastor of The First Presbyterian Church of East Hampton. His love of history brought him to First Church, which was founded in 1648 as one of the oldest Presbyterian churches in the nation. When he isn’t serving the church, Jon is enrolled in a doctoral program through the University of Edinburgh and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary where his work focuses on the theology and worship of the Reformation.
Prosperous Bohemians
Prosperous Bohemians: The Rise and Fall of Weekend Utopia
Alastair Gordon’s talk will trace the history of the modern movement–both art and architecture–on eastern Long Island as chronicled in his groundbreaking book, Weekend Utopia: Modern Living in the Hamptons. An updated and expanded edition of the book is being republished by Princeton Architectural Press on this, the 25th anniversary of its original publication.
Alastair Gordon is an award-winning critic, curator, cultural historian and author who grew up summering in Amagansett. For more than twenty years, he wrote on art, architecture and the environment for the New York Times as well as many other publications. He has published more than 20 books.
“Gordon’s eye for the convergence of art, architecture and commerce is unerring.” – Publisher’s Weekly
Historic Gardens in East Hampton
Historic Gardens in East Hampton: with Blue Carreon
East Hampton and its surroundings have long been home to some of America’s most iconic gardens including Grey Gardens, The Creeks, and the many Woodhouse gardens. During this colorfully illustrated presentation, Blue Carreon will describe several of these historic properties and highlight the stewards who are caring for these gardens today.
Author of The Gardens of the Hamptons, Blue Carreon is a former international fashion editor who is currently a freelance writer covering topics on lifestyle, fashion, and interior design. He’s also the creative director of his eponymous home décor collection, and is the author of Conversations: Up Close and Personal With Icons of Fashion, Interior Design, and Art, as well as the best-selling Equestrian Life in the Hamptons. He is an avid equestrian, and has been voted by Hamptons Magazine as one of the best-dressed personalities and top hosts in the East End.
History of East Hampton New York in the Revolution
History of East Hampton New York in the Revolution
Leah K. Lebec will present her late father’s groundbreaking research about what happened in East Hampton during the American Revolution.
American history books have largely marginalized the role that Long Islanders played during the American Revolution. Leah K. Lebec will present her late father’s groundbreaking research, elucidating what happened in East Hampton during the revolutionary era; recounting the patriot fervor in East Hampton leading up to the Americans’ defeat at the Battle of Long Island in 1776, followed by the years of hardship during the British occupation. Her father, Lawrence Jamieson Koncelik Sr. earned a master’s in American history and a PhD in Medieval history at New York University. His scholarly work provides a unique perspective on East Hampton’s struggles during the nation’s war for independence.
Leah K. Lebec, a native of East Hampton, earned a B.A. in Modern Languages at Fordham University and a PhD in French Literature from New York University. She taught at the university level for several years before devoting her time to motherhood, writing, and advocacy work for children with developmental disabilities. Together with her husband Alain Lebec, she co-founded the literacy program Read Alliance. She has served as a trustee for the East Hampton Historical Society as well as several other not for profit organizations.
Valedictory Orations, Songs and Speeches, Harangues and Dialogues, Clinton Academy 1821-1921
Valedictory Orations, Songs and Speeches, Harangues and Dialogues, Clinton Academy 1821-1921
Hosted by Town Crier Hugh R. King. With appearances by silver tongued orator and humorist John H. Hector, The Montague Light Opera Singers, local legend Samuel H. Miller, musical accompaniment by Herman Hans Wetzler.
For over 100 years Clinton Hall was the center of entertainment not only for East Hampton but for the surrounding area. Theater events including dramas, tragedies and musicals as well as concerts and tableaus were performed not only by local thespians but citizens from locales as far away as Smithtown. The lecture will bring to life examples of this theatrical history. It was the forerunner of Guild Hall.
Hugh R. King is both the East Hampton Town and Village Historians, the Town Crier, and the Historic Site Director for the three Village Windmills and Home Sweet Home Museum. In addition to teaching for 33 years, Hugh was active in local theater productions from 1963-1999.
Uncovering the Past: Archaeology at Sylvester Manor
Uncovering the Past: Archaeology at Sylvester Manor
with Dr. Nedra Lee
At historic Sylvester Manor, a non-profit in Shelter Island, New York, archaeology has been used to highlight and preserve the rich history of Black and Indigenous people in the state over roughly 400 years. This work has done more than make history visible on the landscape; it shows how Africans, Europeans, and Native people have transformed the world around them and created a complex and interconnected history that still shapes our lives today.
Nedra Lee examines the intersection of race, class, sex, and gender in the lives of African Americans in the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. She has previously studied freed Black landowners in Texas but has recently partnered with the Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research to oversee archaeological excavations of the historic Boston-Higginbotham House on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts and Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island, New York. Dr. Lee has received funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Texas Historical Commission and previously worked for the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and the City Museum of Washington, DC.
Landmarks & Legends: East Hampton Unveiled
Landmarks & Legends: East Hampton Unveiled
Unearth the Secrets of East Hampton. Step beyond the familiar names of beloved landmarks with David Cataletto!
Unearth the Secrets of East Hampton. Step beyond the familiar names of beloved landmarks and the quiet charm of hidden backroads.This isn’t just a lecture; it’s an unveiling of the profound history etched into the very names of the places and roads of East Hampton. Discover how the Native Americans, the Africans, and the Europeans all came to define the place names of our town. Your familiar landscape will never look the same.
David Cataletto is an East Hampton native and a dedicated educator, teaching History and English at East Hampton Middle School. There, he channels student energy into local causes by running two community service clubs: Surfrider and Do Good Be Good.
Beyond the classroom, David is engaged in the preservation and stewardship of East Hampton. He currently serves as an East Hampton Town Trustee, chairs the Education Committee at the historic Amagansett Life-Saving Station Museum, and is a Trustee for the East Hampton Town Nature Preserve Committee.
