A while back, a group of volunteers from the Hastings Public Library contacted the Historical Society and asked if we would like to collaborate on a podcast about small-town life. We eagerly agreed and made our archives available to them as source material. The result is the Yesteryear: Stories from Home series, produced by Hastings residents Edoardo Ballerini, Tim Donahue, and Melanie Hoopes. To date, most of the episodes have been based on the written recollections of and/or oral history interviews with former residents of our village.
All you need is a smartphone (or a computer with a speaker) to listen to these stories. Most are under 20 minutes long and “feature the first-hand reminiscences of the joys, challenges, and adventure of living in a small village on the Hudson, just up the river from New York City.”
In this installment, we explore the history of Quarry Park, a 5.5-acre parcel of land that has undergone a surprising number of very dramatic changes over the last 150 years – from a flourishing marble quarry to a majestic park to an unsightly landfill and back to a beautiful space for the public to enjoy. READ MORE
This episode features two accounts that center the vitality of the Hudson River. The first comes from Paul Hanak, a Hastings resident from 1925 to 1987, and known as one of the river’s most prolific swimmers. By the late 60s, though, pollutants from Zinsser Chemical and Anaconda Wire and Cable had turned the water purple, yellow, and green. READ MORE
This episode features excerpts from an interview with Kitty Rapoli Brown, given by Christine Hewitt. Brown was born in 1907 of Hungarian immigrants. Her father worked at the National Conduit and Cable Mill for 35 years, in 12-hour shifts, five-and-a-half days a week. Her mother worked as a laundress and a cleaning maid. READ MORE
S01 E03 – A Dissertation on Golf
In this episode, former Hastings-on-Hudson resident Erich Kothe reflects upon the summer of 1934, when he was nine and willing to get a little scrappy in the name of a dollar. After their travails selling baitfish to local crabbers, he and his friends come upon another money-making scheme at Saint Andrew’s Golf Club. READ MORE
This episode of Yesteryear features the jaunty wit of Patty Ziegfeld, who recalls her 1920s childhood at Burkeley Crest estate, in Hastings on Hudson, New York. READ MORE
S01 E01 – Magic of Christmas Past
In this episode, Hastings-on-Hudson neighbor and prolific audiobook narrator Edoardo Ballerini reads “Magic of Christmas Past,” by long-time Hastings resident Steve Zebrock. The piece appeared in the local paper in 1970, and it captures the spirit of the Holiday season in the village a full half-century earlier. READ MORE