Voices of the North Fork

The Southold Historical Society is pleased to announce that it will open its summer exhibition, Voices of the North Fork, on Saturday, July 14, 2012.  The exhibition will feature audio selections from the many oral histories the Society has gathered, and will be on display beginning in mid-July.

“We are very excited to be making use of these interviews beyond their use in our archives,” stated Geoffrey K. Fleming, Director of the Society.  “The stories many of the people tell are intimate, often very revealing, and provide a fascinating look into a type of history that cannot be found in books,” he continued.

Beginning in the 1990s, the Southold Historical Society organized a series of oral interviews with long-time residents of the North Fork.  Using their memories, the interviewee’s discuss tidbits of information about what Southold was like from the turn of the century to just after the Second World War.  

Items such as how the accent of the locals have changed over the years, where the local sawmill was on the North Road, and that during World War II there was a German Prisoner of War camp, are just a few of the facts revealed.  Some of the more interesting stories from the interviews have been combined into categories that visitors can listen to, such as farms, crimes, recreation, and disasters.  Rounding out the exhibition will be original photographs of the many people interviewed which will be placed alongside objects relating to their stories. 

The Exhibition will be on display at the Mayne Memorial Gallery in the Ann Currie-Bell House at the Society’s Museum Complex from 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesdays beginning July 14. The exhibit will remain open to the public through Columbus Day.

For further information, please call (631) 765-5500 or visit the Society’s website atwww.southoldhistoricalsociety.org.