Southold Students Unveil New Museum Quality Display of School's History

SOUTHOLD, NY - History came alive at Southold High School Friday as a new museum quality display, created and curated by students, was unveiled.

Students and staff, working with the Southold Historical Society, embarked upon the project, "The History of Us."

“The caliber of this exhibit is so professional, along with the workmanship of the display cases, you would think you were visiting an exhibition in any public museum,” Southold Schools Superintendent David Gamberg said. "Anyone who visits the gallery can readily see that this type of work could serve as a model for how we can engage students throughout our schools in real world projects and assignments. The display is breathtaking.”

At the event, Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell spoke. He told the crowd that he'd always loved history, and was an American Studies major in college. "I've always said that kids are the future. This is an opportunity for the past to come together with the future." Of the quality of the display, he said, "I'm astonished."

Angela Noncarrow brought a proclamation on behalf of New York State Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo.

Members of the Southold Historical Society were also in attendance.

The 78 artifacts, which were found in the superintendent's office, were divided into categories, including sports, construction, drama, and student life and included blueprints of the school's baseball field, a baseball bat, photographs and programs from plays, and yearbooks dating back to 1925.

Gamberg said additional cabinets will be constructed and congratulated the students on their work.

Funded by several sources, the project was primarily supported by The Southold School Educational Foundation, according to a release by Gamberg.

The foundation is dedicated to providing support to students and teachers of Southold in a variety of ways to enhance the educational experience. Additional support came from Senator Ken LaValle’s office and the Southold Faculty Association.

Consisting of more than 75 artifacts, some dating back to 1889, the display was catalogued and organized by the Advanced Placement, or AP, Government and Politics class under the supervision of social studies teacher Mike Carver.

Students worked together, poring over hundreds of documents, artifacts, journals, yearbooks and letters.

One interesting discovery made by the students is that Paul McCartney and world-renowned composer Andrew Lloyd Weber attended the Southold High School Drama Club performance of "Jesus Christ Superstar" in the school’s auditorium1971.

Museum quality mahogany cabinets were crafted to display the artifacts, created by a group of English Language Learner students under the supervision of technology teacher Matt Pfister.

The cabinets feature a laser embossed engraving of the Southold School Educational Foundation logo.

Foundation President Robert Boergesson lauded the students' work: “The collaborative effort to fund and support such an authentic and purposeful project is exactly what The Southold School Educational Foundation was set up to do.”

High school student Gabrielle Showalter shared her thoughts on the process. “As a student, this project has been really eye opening. To be able to look at documents from Southold’s unique history and see how students of the past spent their time has been an incredible experience.”