Semester by the Sea, Fall 2025

Spy Rings and Shipbuilding Communities in Long Island by Lawrence Pak Did you know that during the American revolution, there existed a spy ring that was led by Georgy Washington? This spy network was called the Culper Ring and was based in Setauket along with New York City. One of the many actions the spy ring has done included working with French Navy forces to fight the British by intercepting information of an attack on the French forces by Great Britain. Without the spy ring, the Revolutionary War’s conclusion might have turned out differently for America itself and its freedom.   Portrait of Austin Roe, painted by Anthony Grega in 1964.  Austin Roe was part of the Culper Ring. He owned a tavern in East Setauket in which he attended to British troops that were in the area. Talk is ever present in the world, even more so in taverns, and important information could slip up, Roe took advantage of this and delivered messages between Manhattan and Setauket on horseback across ...

Before Salem, There Was East Hampton by Lucy DeWitt On Friday, November 6th, just one week after Halloween, our MAR 355 class gathered in Duke Lecture Hall to discuss witches. While most people immediately think of the infamous Salem Witch Trials, Long Island has its own, lesser-known connection to witchcraft hysteria.   Thirty-five years before Salem, in the town of East Hampton, New York, a woman named Goody Garlick stood accused of witchcraft.   In February of 1657, sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Gardner Howell had just given birth to her first child. Shortly after, she fell into delirium, screaming, “A witch, a witch, now you’ve come to torture me!” Her behavior alarmed those around her so much so that they called her father, Lion Gardner, a well-known figure in the community. When he entered the birthing room (a space usually reserved only for women), Elizabeth named her tormentor: Goody Garlick. Soon after uttering the accusation, Elizabeth passed away, making things not loo...