Bringing West Hempstead history to the library

The West Hempstead Library building may be one of the newest buildings on Hempstead Avenue, but it has recently become chock full of town history, thanks to the Historical Society of West Hempstead.

Last Wednesday, the Historical Society’s archive director Lesley McAvoy led an evening presentation in the community room of the library to showcase past newspaper clippings, photos, artifacts and films showing a West Hempstead and Lakeview of long ago. A room packed with residents of the area came to hear and see the presentation.

“It’s a family love – how deeply my family is entrenched in the town,” said McAvoy. “My involvement began years ago when my son Chris became intrigued with the town’s history and chose that topic as the focus of a community service project.”

Her son’s work was soon after placed in the West Hempstead post office, but didn’t seem to be getting much attention. Soon after, Historical Society President John Shaud appointed her as the organization’s archive director and McAvoy began to make things happen. Now, there is a permanent historical display in the West Hempstead library located between the video collection and young adult room. Several boards depicting historical news – like the first Long Island Railroad train to run through West Hempstead, and photos like the first line drawings of Hall’s Pond Park, will be available for all to view. The historical display will change every three months with new artifacts and information.

McAvoy strongly believes an education in the history of the towns will foster a sense of community spirit and unity and has been reaching out to many community leaders to help her in this effort. As a result, the Historical Society will be giving a presentation to the students at both the Cornwell Avenue School and the George Washington School and will have a showing at West Hempstead’s annual fall festival, to name a few upcoming projects. She also put together the organization’s Facebook page and updates it every Sunday night with additional pictures. She proudly reports that the page currently has 402 followers.

“These historical presentations are the result of over 2 and a half years worth of work,” said McAvoy.

If you would like to donate time, talent, money or historical artifacts to the Historical Society, the Historical Society of West Hempstead welcomes your contribution. Visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WestHempsteadHistoricalSociety