Crossroads of Rockland History

Broadcast originally aired December 21, 2015  The Antrim Playhouse in Wesley Hills, also known as the Little Theater in the Woods, has been providing entertainment to our community since since its first season in 1936. Thanks to four young history enthusiasts, the varied and interesting history of eight decades of performances at this theatre is now on display. Clare Sheridan interviews local Girl...

Broadcast originally aired November 16, 2015.  Clare Sheridan interviews Brenda Ross, the author of a new historical novel, Bibsy. The story takes a peek into a corner of Rockland history that has been little explored: "Up the Beach" in Haverstraw. Set in the 1950s, Bibsy captures a community being impacted by suburbanization and the importance and fragility of family. Crossroads of Rock...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, October 19, 2015 10:10 am The 1914 murder of Eugene Newman by William V. Cleary and the subsequent murder trial is one of the most intriguing murder cases in Rockland History.  Clare Sheridan interviews the grand-nephew of the murder victim Eugene Newman.  Now living in Chicago, IL, Gene Newman shared the story of what’s been called a major scandal involving poli...

Broadcast originally aired September 21, 2015 Clare Sheridan interviews Elizabeth Skrabonja, curator of the exhibition on view at the Orangetown Historical Museum and Archives "From Holland to Here."  The exhibition  examines the Dutch heritage of the Town of Orangetown through the collection of George Way, America's premier collector of 17th century Dutch art. We’ll discuss this, t...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, August 17, 2015 at 10:10 am.  The preservation of the John Green House in Nyack, NY This unique 2 1/2 -story sandstone structure is the oldest house in Nyack, and a group of grassroots volunteers called the John Green Preservation Coalition is working to preserve it.  Clare Sheridan interviewed Winston Perry, historian for the Village of Upper Nyack and president...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, July 20, 2015.   Topic:  Early Space Program and the Challenger Learning Center.  Clare Sheridan interviews John Huibregtse, director of the Town of Ramapo's Challenger Learning Center.  Mr. Huibregtse speaks about the early days of the space program, as well as the efforts of our local community to bring a Challenger Center to Rockland County.  The July 201...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, June 15, 2015, at 10:10 a.m., "One Person, One Vote." Although this powerful sentiment rings with the same distinctively American call for equality and individual empowerment as "All men are created equal," it did not become a core principle of local government until the 1960s, when the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Rockland to reapportion and re...

Broadcast originally aired May 18, 2015  The Effects of the Brink's Robbery on Rockland County. Clare Sheridan welcomes Bob Baird, who was managing editor of the Journal News on the day homegrown terrorists from the Weather Underground and Black Liberation Army attacked a Brink's truck in Nanuet, trying to finance their private revolution.  Baird will discuss the circumstances that led u...

Broadcast Originally Aired April 20, 2015 Clare Sheridan interviews Bill Batson to learn about the Bench by the Road Project, a memorial history and community outreach initiative of the Toni Morrison Society. Bill Batson, artist, author and Trustee of the Historical Society of the Nyacks, will return to the radio program to discuss the exciting news that Nyack has been selected as a location for i...

Broadcast originally aired 3/16/15.   Clare Sheridan interviews Robert C. Maher, Jr.  co-founder of the Friends of Rockland Lake and Hook Mountain, and the author of Rockland Lake, Hook Mountain and Nyack Beach (Arcadia, Images of America).  The commercial history of Rockland Lake dates back to the 18th century, when the area was known as Slaughter Landing because of the natural ravine in the Pali...

Originally aired February 16, 2015.   Clare Sheridan interviews Doug Carey, Spring Valley High School History Teacher and co-chair of the 3rd Annual High School Local History Conference.  This conference includes history honors students from all of Rockland County’s high schools. Mr. Carey is this year's conference co-chair, with HSRC Trustee Judge William Sherwood. To view a video of a past...

Broadcast originally aired January 19, 2015.  Clare Sheridan interviews James Cassetta about his new book "Pearl River" (Arcadia/Images of America).   Recently, the Images of America book series published a volume dedicated to Pearl River, the second-largest hamlet in New York State.  For the past eighteen years, James Cassetta, a member of the HSRC, has been the adult reference libraria...

Episode orginally aired Monday, December 15, 2014. Clare Sheridan spoke with special guest Bill Batson, artist and author of Nyack Sketchlog: An Artist and Writer Explores the History of a Hudson River Village. Through essays and sketches, Nyack Sketchlog captures the history of Nyack like never before. The book includes fifty-five of Batson’s sketches and essays which have previously been publish...

Broadcast originally aired on November 17, 2014. Clare Sheridan interviewed Bob LeMoullec, author of The Newsroom Confessions (Page Publishing) and Steve Possell about Rockland County Radio. Among his many assignments during his long career, Bob LeMoullec was news director at WRKL in Rockland County, NY. The broadcast included reminiscing with Bob LeMoullec and Steve Possell about what it was like...

Broadcast originally aired on October 20, 2014.  Clare Sheridan interviews Linda Zimmermann about the haunted history of Rockland County, NY. Topics include the Last Witch of Rockland (Jane "Naut" Kanniff), the Legend of Spook Rock, the Goblin of Donder Berg, Bosco and more. "Crossroads of Rockland History," a program of the Historical Society of Rockland County, airs on the th...

Broadcast originally aired 9/15/2014. Clare Sheridan interviews Thano Schoppel (former school teacher and teaching supervisor and past President of the Tappantown Historical Society) on the subject of the Treason of the Revolution. On September 22, 1780, Benedict Arnold and Major John Andre met in the woods along the Hudson shoreline in Rockland County and there began an act of treason that would...

Broadcast orginally aired August 18, 2014 Two hundred years ago, the Reverend Stephen Goetschius left his home in New Paltz, New York, to move to the Saddle River Valley to serve the Old Stone Church as minister. The families who worshiped there came from the Ramapo region of Rockland and northern Bergen counties. The Shared History of the Saddle River Valley is the feature of the 2014 Historical...

Program originally aired 07/21/14. Kerry Potter (sitting in for Clare Sheridan) interviews Brian Jennings (History Librarian from the New City LIbrary) about books that include Rockland County History. Crossroads of Rockland History, a program of the Historical Society of Rockland County, airs on the third Monday of each month at 10:10 am on WRCR radio 1300 AM (live streaming at www. WRCR.com ). w...

Program originally aired Monday, June 16, 2014. Clare Sheridan interviewed Rockland County Legislator Harriet Cornell, and Allan Beers, (Rockland County’s Division of Environmental Resources). They discussed the past, present and future of the Dutch Garden in New City. See a photo essay of the Dutch Garden here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C5KppgMimw This little-known “secret” garden was a Works Prog...

Program originally aired 5/19/2014 Cathy Quinn and Clare Sheridan talk about all of the Historical Society of Rockland County’s upcoming 2014 historical day trips and an overnight excursion. Discussion includes the following 2014 trips: The “History in Your Own Backyard” series, which will focus on the Town of Ramapo, with outings to historic Houses of Worship, Cemeteries and Pipe Organs; A revisi...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, April 21, 2014 Peter Dedel, joined Clare Sheridan to discuss the origins of the Rockland County Silk Industry. This fascinating piece of Rockland County History began with the John Dunlop family. Peter Dedel is a direct descendant of John Dunlop. Mr. Dedel will share his insights about his family’s history with the silk industry and much more. This episode of Cro...

Original Broadcast Date: March 17, 2014 The HSRC will mount a new exhibition entitled “Lincoln and New York” opening April 6th. This panel exhibition on loan from the New-York Historical Society probes the myths and controversies surrounding Abraham Lincoln and explores New York’s influence on the Civil War. The panels will be displayed together with artifacts from the HSRC’s permanent collection...

Broadcast originally aired 2/17/14.   To celebrate February as African American History Month,  The African American Historical Society (AAHS) of Rockland County is teaming up with Rockland Community College to present the special program “A Glimpse of the Harlem Renaissance.” Clare Sheridan's special guest will be AAHS Trustee Dana Stilley, who will talk about this special theatrical experie...

Broadcast originally aired January 20, 2014. Remembering a Unique Talent and a Life Cut Short. Norbert Stern, a Jew in Nazi-held Belgium, was a young pianist acclaimed in the press as brilliant and full of promise. In 1942, as conditions worsened for the Jews, Norbert was compelled to leave the Brussels Conservatory of Music where he had been a premier student winning a series of prestigious compe...

Broadcast originally aired December, 2013 Clare Sheridan interviewed guests including Ned Kelly, guest curator of the holiday exhibition; Joy Hoerner Rich and Karen Tolley, co-authors of Berta and Elmer Hader: A Lifetime of Art and Jack Geist, son of Lucy Geist who was the creator of the popular LUCY doll. This episode shed light on the HSRC's 38th annual holiday exhibition. For the first tim...