Eel Catching in Setauket - An Oral History Collection

This collection of recorded oral histories was created in the late 1980s by Glenda Dickerson, a former theater professor at Stony Brook University. Professor Dickerson and her students conducted a series of interviews with Native and African American elders from the community now recognized as the Bethel-Christian Ave-Laurel Hill (BCALH) Historic District. Notably, BCALH is one of the few historic districts in New York State recognized for its surviving cultural, rather than its architectural, significance. These interviews preserve the voices of descendants from one of Long Island’s earliest historic communities of color, shedding light on a vital yet underrepresented aspect of New York State history.  This collection enriches the historical narrative of the Three Village area while contributing to the broader diversity and collective memory of New York State’s past.