A journey into Bellmore’s past at the library

Cracked, sepia-toned photos, banged-up, rusty crowns, century-old handmade dresses. These are just a few of the many items stored in the Bellmore Memorial Library. The treasure trove of historical relics sheds light on Bellmorites’ lives long before the age of digital records — some remnants date back as far as the late 1800s.

The collection — which was adopted by the library after the Historical Society of the Bellmores went under in 2015 — has been catalogued by library staff in recent years. It can now be accessed by anyone interested in Bellmore’s history, and it still has room to grow, Head of Community Engagement Martha DiVittorio said.

“We’re shouting it from a mountaintop: Give us your stuff!” said DiVittorio, who helped establish a collection policy for residents’ donations that aligns with the library’s mission as a center for information. “We’re all about access,” she said. “We don’t own this stuff. We’re just stewards. The community owns it.”

Now the historical society is being reconstituted, and is gaining momentum, thanks to the leadership of DiVittorio and volunteers Ameer Benno and Joanne Johnson. After a meeting earlier this year, the new Bellmore Historical Society now has social media pages, and another meeting is scheduled for April 6 at 7 p.m. at the library.

“Part of being in a community is knowing where that community came from,” Benno told the Herald Life. “It’ll strengthen the community and help people connect with previous generations. Having a place to keep artifacts and treasures is just fantastic.”

Some items in the collection show how different the lives of Long Islanders were decades ago. A monthly Long Island Rail Road pass was once a pocket-sized ticket book, with tickets no larger than those won from arcade machines. In 1895, $14.50 bought 30 days of rides between Bellmore and Long Island City or Brooklyn. Another small card was used to claim war-time fuel oil rations at one, five or 25 gallons per ticket in 1945.

Other items offer more a personal glimpse into the past. Handmade dresses from the early 1910s — one for a wedding and another for a Christening — were from the Whittemann family. A menu of a nearby German beer hall, shaped like a beer stein, showcases many of the festivities in 1936. Mock weddings involving Bellmore children were also popular, and the ceremonies were accompanied by a booklet filled with ads from local businesses.

If you count the stars on the collection’s American flag, you’ll only find 48 — it was made sometime between 1912 and 1959, the year that Alaska and Hawaii joined the union.

The most mysterious part of the collection, perhaps, are artifacts referring to the Bellmore Merry Makers, a group with seemingly hundreds of members, but whose history has been lost to time. While the purpose and origins of the group are unknown, the collection houses a handful of photographs of the Merry Makers, one showing a formal gathering, another an “Annual Outing” circa 1929.

Any resident is welcome to set up an appointment to view the materials. A spreadsheet with descriptions of each item in the collection makes it simple to sort through the archive’s offerings.

The Bellmore Historical Society now has a mailing list. You can join it by emailing to info@bellmorehistory.org.