Grant boosts museum plans

Richard Tedesco

A project to establish a New Hyde Park Museum online and in the basement of Village Hall is quickly moving from concept to reality as a result of a recent $17,000 grant secured by Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello.

“We’re close now to having them cut a check for us,” said Donald Barbieri, the Village of New Hyde Park trustee who is a liaison between the New Hyde Park Museum and the village board.

The money from the grant will go toward start-up costs of the project, including the purchase of recording equipment that will be used to create an oral history which will be a part of the museum online. The museum will eventually have a permanent space in the basement of New Hyde Park Village Hall, where photos and other memorabilia will be displayed.

Nicolello said he was pleased to have arranged the grant that will initially support the oral history effort.

“I’m excited by the fact that this group will be doing what they’re doing to preserve the oral history of the area. Unless something will be done to be preserve that, it will be lost,” he said.

The museum group is seeking more volunteers to help with the project, with establishment of the physical museum as the final goal.

“It takes a lot of time, time, money and a lot of effort behind it,” said village historian Carol Nowakowski. “We want to accomplish this within the next two years. And of course, we have to do things according to the law.”

The legal steps include establishing a charter for the museum. The volunteers who comprise the New Hyde Park Museum are in the process of completing an application for a charter for submission to the state Department of Education.

The New Hyde Park Museum must also arrange insurance coverage for the historic photographs and other material it is in the process of collecting. The museum must also indemnify itself against potential libel actions that result from the oral history it has begun collecting from residents, Nowakowski said.

Some interviews were conducted at the 50th reunion of the New Hyde Park Memorial High School Class of 1961.

Barbieri said the group has asked members of local veterans organizations for interviews and has reached out to community organizations for support. He said it will be asking individuals and organizations for historic materials and for help in the process of obtaining interviews with longtime residents.

“We need people to step forward and to help us,” Barbieri said. “We need people to point us to people who’ve been here for a long time. Let’s get it recorded while we can. The time is now.”

The New Hyde Park Museum has a Facebook page where some material is currently displayed and where the oral history entries will initially be archived as they’re digitized.

“A lot of this is going to be virtual,” said Neil Brogan, New Hyde Park Museum treasurer.

The museum resonates in a deeply personal way for Nowakowski, who has lived in the village since 1959. Her late husband, Frank Nowakowski, was a longtime volunteer and former chief of the New Hyde Park Fire Department.

“It’s a heart-felt thing for me. I worked here and I got married and I’ve lived here ever since,” Nowakowski said. “It’s the history of New Hyde Park and we want this in place for people to see for years to come.”

Residents can contact Nowakowski by phone at 516-437-3726, and can also connect with the project through the Facebook page.

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