Librarian and baseball historian Fabio Montella returns to the podcast to bring us the story of Ralph “Sammy” Bunn. Bunn was a Setauket native who excelled at baseball all his life. A star athlete in high school in the 1930s, he went on to play for decades on a number of teams and leagues in the makeshift world of community baseball in Suffolk County. His short stint pitching for the Brookhaven Highway Department team (starting in 1939) makes Bunn, by Montella’s research, the first documented Black player to break the color barrier on Long Island. (Bunn was soon followed by his Brookhaven teammate Kenneth Sells.)

On today’s episode Montella describes Bunn’s storied career in baseball and his life as a dedicated family man and World War II veteran. Working with Sammy’s son, Ralph Jr., and his nephew Carlton Edwards (an accomplished player in his own right) Montella brought to light many details, including Ralph’s Shinnecock heritage, a fact not mentioned in contemporary accounts. You’ll also hear more about the world of community and semiprofessional baseball on the Island along with other teams like the Suffolk Giants and the Huntington Police Department who make it such an interesting glimpse into local history.

Further Research

• Fabio Montella
• “The Suffolk Giants of Setauket: From Segregation to Integration.“
• Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
• Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame
• Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
• Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
• Audio footnotes (past episodes with Fabio Montella):
  • The Arthur Murray Girls Baseball Team
  • Satchel Paige in Riverhead
  • The Cuban Giants of Long Island

Greig Stewart “Chubby” Jackson was a swinging sensation in his day. A child of vaudevillians, he was raised in an enclave of actors, musicians, and performers in Freeport, Long Island against the backdrop of Prohibition and a burgeoning club scene. Exposed to music at an early age, he jumped from high school to playing bass in swing bands in New York City and on the road, most notably with bandleader Woody Herman.

On today’s episode we trace the life of the man with three very special guests: Freeport Village historian Regina Feeney, jazz historian Scott Yanow, and Chubby’s daughter Jaijai Jackson. And thanks to Monk Rowe and the Fillius Jazz Archive at Hamilton College, we can add in the voice of Chubby himself.

Chubby was a colleague to Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and other jazz greats (you’ll see him near the top of the steps in A Great Day in Harlem). His career spans the height of the swing era and the rise of bop with a side trip into headlining several kiddie TV shows in Chicago and New York. Through it all the constants in his life remained the love of family, of performing, and of Freeport.

Further Research

• Chubby Jackson oral history (Fillius Jazz Archive at Hamilton College)
• Freeport History Encyclopedia (Freeport Memorial Library)
• Jazz Network Worldwide
• Not Just Jazz Network
• Scott Yanow, journalist and historian
• Music credits from Freesound.org
  • Jazz Bass B 1.OGG by gregstermatic. License: Creative Commons 0
  • Double bass Jazz loop by elzozo. License: Creative Commons 0
  • Jazz loop.wav by FrankyBoomer. License: Creative Commons 0

The Long Island-born, Yale-educated Benjamin Tallmadge seized his moment to shine in the American Revolution. Whether fighting the British on horseback with the 2nd Continental Dragoons or uncovering their secrets through his agents in the Culper Spy Ring, Tallmadge kept up a hectic pace. You can also throw in maritime battles on the Long Island Sound and daring raids behind enemy lines.

Historian Richard Welch documented Tallmadge's eventful life in his 2014 book General Washington's Commando: Benjamin Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War. On today's episode he explains the significance of this important figure in Long Island and American history. He also helps illustrate the nature of British activity in the New York region, the documentary trail he followed, and what questions were left unanswered.

Further Research

• General Washington's Commando: Benjamin Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War by Richard Welch (find in a library via WorldCat)
• Memoir of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge (Google Books)
• The Battle of Brooklyn/Long Island (American Battlefield Trust)
• The Death of John André (William Clements library)
• Audio Footnotes
  • All episodes on the American Revolution