Skip to main content

Allison McGovern on the Origins of Freetown

Fri, 03/31/2023 - 15:05

Allison McGovern, an anthropological archaeologist and a lecturer in anthropology at Columbia University, will discuss her research on the origins of East Hampton's Freetown neighborhood “and its evolution into the late-20th century” on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Calvary Baptist Church.

Like her other work, Dr. McGovern’s ongoing Mapping Memories of Freetown Project “highlights the experiences of historically marginalized and underrepresented groups through archaeology, oral history, and ethnographic mapping.”

In 2020 she was a recipient of an inaugural Robert D.L. Gardiner Writing the History of Greater New York fellowship at the Gotham Center for New York City History to work on her book “Long Island Dirt: Recovering Our Buried Past Through Historical Archaeologies.” According to the center, the book “explores how Long Island residents crafted their own identity and culture, including the ‘forgotten and silenced ’ past of Native American villages, slave and free black communities, working-class neighborhoods, and planned communities that existed alongside the well-known estates, farms, and suburbs.”

Villages

L.I.R.R. Strike Settled in Time for the Onslaught

New York City residents who plan to spend Memorial Day weekend on the South Fork and commuters who rely on the train to cut through the eastbound morning traffic were breathing easier as of Monday night, when a strike called by a coalition of five Long Island Rail Road unions was settled.

May 21, 2026

One Step Away From Eagle Scout, He’s Aiming High

Only 4 percent of Boy Scouts become Eagle Scouts, and Calogero Sferrazza, a junior at Pierson High School, is about to become one of them. As a scout, he has earned almost 21 merit badges, and plans to earn his final credentials with a project honoring veterans in his hometown of Sag Harbor. 

May 21, 2026

Marine Museum Shuttered During Renovation

The East Hampton Town Marine Museum on Bluff Road in Amagansett will be closed to the public through the summer as the town and the East Hampton Historical Society plan a comprehensive, multiyear renovation after a burst pipe damaged the building over the winter.

May 21, 2026

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.