Historical Society hosts authors

History is made each day in the villages of East Rockaway and Lynbrook, and each village has its own unique historical significance. On June 12, residents got a chance to hear from a few people who know about that history inside and out.
The Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook hosted a lecture on local history that featured informational speeches from authors who have published books on the topic.
Art Mattson, Lynbrook’s historian and author of “History of Lynbrook” and “Water and Ice,” and Patricia Sympson, who wrote the Arcadia Book on the history of East Rockaway, addressed the crowd of about 20 people at the Lynbrook Public Library. The night also featured a discussion led by Betsy Davison, who shared a portion of her cousin’s memoir about growing up in East Rockaway years ago.
Mattson spoke about the untimely death of his sister in 1972 after a shipwreck off the coast of France. Shortly after, he noticed a big monument in the cemetery located on the corner of Merrick Road and Ocean Avenue with an inscription describing two shipwrecks that took place in the 19th century. He started researching the shipwrecks, but information was scarce. After Mattson retired, he traveled to Europe to find out as much information as possible about the wrecks and published Water and Ice. “to find one of the most important stories in United States maritime history right before our eyes in that corner cemetery that no one knew about for 150 to 170 years was just remarkable,” Mattson said.
Sympson showcased her book, which gives a detailed account of East Rockaway’s history, and thanked all of the people who helped put it together, including Davison and John Bishop, a teacher at East Rockaway High School. While working on the book she received a wealth of information, pictures and artifacts from current and former residents. Sympson told the crowd the importance of holding onto one’s history. “Don’t throw them out,” she said of people’s pictures and possessions, “because your children and your grandchildren may ultimately come to really and truly enjoy them.”

The night concluded with Davison sharing her cousin, Alma Nix Saunders’, memoir with the audience. The memoir focused on Alma’s memories while growing up in East Rockaway during early 1900s. Davison said Alma has since inspired her to write her own memoir—she currently has 80 pages written. “Be inspired,” Davison told the crowd. “History is a beautiful thing, a lot of times we forget what a gift it is.”
The discussion was a part of the Historical Retrospective, which features dozens of pictures and artifacts from Lynbrook and East Rockaway that date back centuries. Fourth grade classes from Lynbrook and East Rockaway schools take trips to the library to see the large display each year in June.

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