Shortly after receiving our charter in 1971, the Society began conducting interviews and recording oral histories with Hastings residents. Some have been part of projects directed at specific segments of our population, such as World War II veterans or former residents of the Pinecrest neighborhood. Others have been with notable people with a connection to our village. Quite a few are discussions with residents recounting what it was like to grow up here in years gone by. These interviews are ongoing, and we add many to our collection each year.

In earlier decades these were audio recordings but more recently the interviews have been done on video. A grant from the Museum Association of New York (MANY) enabled us to digitize the oral histories and make them available to the public. Click on the links below to access the recordings. Please note that, while we have cleaned up the recordings as much as possible, some of the older oral histories may still have flaws in the audio. Regardless, we hope you enjoy these personal recollections of our village’s past.

The Historical Society would like to thank the students in one of Larry Cerretani’s classes at Farragut Middle School. During the Spring of 2023, the class helped put together descriptions for many of our audio files. We appreciate their work and diligence on this project.