Talking Hart Island

Episode 39 “The Orphan Trains and Charles Loring Brace”: Michael T. KeeneIn 1848 Ireland was gripped by famine. Nearly a million people would die of starvation and typhoid Fever. Desperate for survival a million more Irish would abandon their homeland and come to America. Many settled in the Five Points section of lower Manhattan infamous for its squalor, violence and diseaseBy the end of the Civil War, an estimated 30,000 orphaned and homeless children roamed the streets of New York City. They survived by resorting to petty crime, by begging, and by selling newspapers for a nickel a piece.In response to this crisis the age of orphan asylums began, culminating in one of the most improbable and audacious episodes in American history. Inspired by Charles Loring Brace, it was called the Orphan Train Movement. It endeavored to save these children by heroes who fought for their liberation. Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/ 

Episode 38 “Lloyd “The Whistler” Threlkeld”: with Douglass Fraser,Professor and Musicologist.Lloyd Buford Threlkeld, also known as “The Whistler” for his ability to make sweet melodious sounds emerge from his practiced nose flute, also played the guitar and sang. “Whistler and his Band” was one of the most famous jug bands of its time.Threlkeld was born in Kentucky and in 1932 moved to Harlem in New York City. He continued performing, but had stopped recording. In May of 1935 he was admitted to Bellevue Hospital with tuberculosis where he died, later that year. He was without family or friends and, like thousands before and since in similar circumstances, was buried on Hart Island.Listen to Professor Douglass Fraser as he takes us on a musical tour of not only jug band music, but also jazz and rock in-roll, which incredibly owed their very origins to this pioneering music.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 37 “AIDS-The First Five Years”: with Jean Ashton,Director, New York Historical Society Resources & Programs.It is estimated that during the AIDS epidemic thousands of AIDS victims were buried on Hart Island. Many because they had become disowned by their family and died unclaimed, and many more because there was no one left to take charge of their burials.AIDS was particularly cruel and terrifying during the first few years of its existence, because of the lack of knowledge of what it actually was. Even the medical community was at a loss to explain this new contagion. The book, “AIDS The First Five Years”, is an attempt to explain what happened and why.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 36 “Burial Grounds in a Segregated City”: with Tom Angotti,Professor Emertis, Hunter College.During the period of Dutch and English settlement, New York City was one of the nation’s largest urban centers for the slave trade and served as a financial patron, of the plantation economy, in the South. In the Dutch colony, as many as 40 percent of the population were slaves.Slaves had no choice of residence, were treated like a commodity, and even in burial were denied equal access. At the end of the 17th century, Trinity Church formally banned blacks from its cemetery in lower Manhattan as land in the fortified city became scarce. The African Burial Grounds in lower Manhattan were a result of this process. And perhaps most shocking of all, it even limited their access to New York City’s Potters Field, Hart Island. Even in death their discrimination persisted.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 35 “AIDS”: with Michael Bronsky,Professor, Harvard University.On a hot midsummer night in June of 1969, a group of police officers stormed into Greenwich Village’s tiny Stonewall Inn, one of Manhattans early gay and lesbian bars. The patrons of Stonewall revolted. For many this confrontation would eventually become known as the Gay Liberation Movement.   As a result, New York City became the rallying place for gay men throughout the country.Beginning in the early 1980’s a terrifying and mysterious disease appeared. For the next twenty years the disease known as AIDS, would eventually take the lives of over 100,000 people in New York City alone. Many would end up on Hart Island.This is their story.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 34 “Grave Yard of Strangers”: with Norma Jean Gradsky.Leo Birinski was a playwright, screenwriter and director. He worked in Austria-Hungary, Germany and in the United States.Birinski was the screenwriter of many Hollywood productions including, “Song of Song”s starring Marlene Dietrich, “The Lady Has Plans”, starring Paulette Goddard, and perhaps his most famous, “Mata Hari” starring the screen legend Greta Garbo.Until recently, only a minimal amount of information about his life was available. In addition there were many legends and rumors concerning Birinski’s person, some of them even spread by himself. For example, the false report of his “suicide” in 1920 even found its way from the newspaper obituaries into encyclopedias. But it wouldn’t be until 1951 that Birininski actually died. At the time he was alone and penniless, interred for all eternity on Hart Island.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 33 “Angels of Mercy”: with William Seraile,Professor Emeritus, Lehman College, City University of New York.The Colored Orphan Asylum was founded, in New York City in 1836, as the nation’s first orphanage for African American children. The agency weathered three wars, two major financial panics, a devastating fire during the 1863 Draft Riots (in which over 120 people died and 2,000 injured), several epidemics, waves of racial prejudice, and severe financial difficulties, to care for orphaned, neglected and delinquent children. Incredibly, although African Americans inmates from Rikers Jail are the primary “grave diggers” on Hart Island, there is no evidence that there was, until very recently, any African Americans actually buried on Hart Island.“Angels of Mercy” not only weaves together African American history of an unsung institution, but also offers a unique window onto complex racial dynamics, during a period when many failed to recognize equality among all citizens, as a worthy purpose.William Seraile is a professor emeritus at Lehman College, City University of New York, where he taught African American history for 36 years. His most recent books are “New York’s Black Regiments During the Civil War” and “Bruce Grit: The Black Nationalist Writings of John Edward Bruce”.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 32 “Boroughs of the Dead”: with Marie Carter,Editor, writer, teacher, and tour guide.When detectives and forensic scientists were called to investigate the Hart Island human remains, found littering its beach, none of them could have known they had been probably treading on additional mass graves, hidden beneath New York City’s parks, buildings, and sidewalks.Hart island might be New York City’s largest mass grave, but it wasn’t the first. Join us on a tour of perhaps lesser known burial sites that stand quietly and nearly forgotten just beneath the crushing grind of growth and change.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 31 “Potters Field(s)”: with Andrew Berman,Executive Director, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.By the early 1800’s New York City boasted a population of over 200,000, qualifying it as the largest city in the Western Hemisphere. As New York City’s population grew, so did its number of dead. The fact that the number of interred, in Trinity Church’s graveyard in 1822, was estimated at 120,000 was just that, an estimate!New York City was facing an unprecedented crisis at an unprecedented speed. Existing accommodations in the city’s burial grounds could not keep up with the staggering number of people dying. Other grounds in the city faced the same problem; among them were the North Dutch Church and St. Paul’s, all within a close radius to Trinity Church. The solution to the burial dilemma would of course become the purchase of Hart Island in 1869.Join us as Andrew Berman takes us on a tour of some of Greenwich Villages more notable cemeteries as well as other iconic landmarks of New York City.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 30 “Six to Celebrate” Simeon Bankoff,Executive Director of Historic District Council.In 2017 the annual “Six to Celebrate” initiative from the Historic Districts Council, highlighted six neighborhoods in New York City, in need of preservation attention: Hart Island, the city’s potter’s field which contains the mass grave of over one million people, was an unexpected addition to the list.“The Hart Island facility is incredibly important to the history and social responsibility in America and we look forward to promoting public awareness about, and access to, this fascinating historic site”, said Simeon Bankoff.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 29 “Hebrew Free Burial Society”: with Amy Koplow, Executive Director.While many of the young women and men who perished in the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory Fire could be identified, many could not. As unclaimed or identified deaths, according to New York City policy, bodies were traditionally shipped to the City Morgue at Bellevue and later passed on to potter’s field at Hart Island.It was certain that the 22 identified victims of the Triangle Shirt Waist fire would be laid to rest there, as well, except for the extraordinary intervention of the Hebrew Free Burial Society.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 28 “Louisa Van Slyke”: with Author Gail Jarrow.The ship lurched in the heavy North Atlantic swell, its bow plunging deep in the troughs as it pitched sharply, its seasick passengers crammed into its small hold. The young lady, dressed simply, was just another anonymous face in the crowded ship. She kept to herself, as she’d always done. But the new world beckoned, and she tried to think about what awaited her. Her name was Louisa Van Slyke, and little did she know how short her stay would be.Louisa, would die of Yellow Fever in 1869 like thousands before her and after, from a multitude of diseases that swept through New York City, in the 19th century. With no friends or relatives to claim her, she would become the first of almost a million to be laid to rest in the Potters Field on Hart Island.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 27 “Greta Garbo”: with Lois Banner,Professor (ret) USC.Leo Birinski was a playwright, screenwriter and director. He worked in Austria-Hungary, Germany and in the United States.Birinski was the screenwriter of many Hollywood productions including, “Song of Song”s staring Marlene Dietrich, “The Lady Has Plans”, staring Paulette Goddard, and perhaps his most famous, “Mata Hari” staring the screen legend Greta Garbo.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 26 “Ghosts of St Vincents”: with Tom Eubanks.Founded in 1849 to care for indigent immigrants in Greenwich Village, St. Vincent’s Hospital was sold in 2010 to create multi-million-dollar homes. In its 161 years of existence, the legendary institution treated survivors of the Titanic, tended to victims of both World Trade Center attacks, and served as Ground Zero of the AIDS Crisis.With honesty, humor, and flights of historical fancy, GHOSTS OF ST. VINCENT’S tells the hospital’s story through the eyes of a man who spent a winter on its 7th floor AIDS ward and who survived just in time for the drug “cocktail” that saved so many lives, but which also witnessed the deaths of over a thousand people subsequently buried on Hart Island.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 25 “The Tenement Museum”: with Kevin Jennings, Director.The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, located at 97 and 103 Orchard Street, in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, is a National Historic Site. The Museum’s two historical tenement buildings were home to an estimated 15,000 people, from over 20 nations, between 1863 and 2011.The museum’s exhibits and programs include restored apartments and shops open daily for public tours, depicting the lives of immigrants who lived at 97 Orchard Street between 1869 and 1935 and 103 Orchard Street from the 1950s to the 1980s. The museum also provides a documentary film and offers tours, with costumed interpreters portraying the building’s former residents, tastings of their communities’ typical foods, and neighborhood walks.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 24 “Still Born”: with MJ Adams.Fifteen years after a Manhattan hospital sent her stillborn baby to New York City’s potter’s field for burial, MJ Adams heard the name Hart Island for the first time.Adams, then living in New York City, learned the full-term baby boy she was carrying had died in utero. Devastated by grief and seeking a medical explanation, Adams agreed to an autopsy and was told it would take four to six weeks to get the results. She didn’t have money for a funeral, so she signed paperwork to have the baby buried, at public expense in what Adams was told, was a “city cemetery”.When Adams returned to the hospital six weeks later, she inquired about the results of the autopsy. She learned it was never performed. Her baby had already been buried in a mass grave on Hart Island.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 23 “Leo Birinski”: with Barbara Kosta,Professor, University of Arizona.For a man with a little known history, no legitimate records to prove his place of birth, or even his date of birth, and who would eventually be buried in a mass grave on Hart Island, Leo Birinski became a known  playwright, , screenwriter, and film director.Perhaps the best measure of a man is his work and for Birinski that included the German silent film masterpieces, “Waxworks” and “Tragedy of Love”.Join us as Professor Kosta, head of the Department of German Studies at the University of Arizona and affiliated member of Gender and Women’s Studies in Film, as she explores Birinski’s career and the film legend, Marlene Dietrich.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 22 “The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Greatest Plague in History”: by John Barry,Author and historian.The influenza pandemic is believed to have killed somewhere between 50-100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in twenty-four weeks than AIDS killed in twenty-four years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. In New York City alone, more than 33,000 people died in a matter of weeks. The gaping maw of the common trench on Hart Island waited solemnly prepared to accept its new denizens.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 21 “The Bowery”; Dr. Robert Aronowitz,Physician and medical historian, University of Pennsylvania.“The Bowery is one of the oldest stretches of land in Manhattan, and was once a footpath used by members of the Lenape tribe to transverse Manhattan Island.  Once the home of the most affluent members of New York social circles, by the mid 1900’s its streets were occupied by low-brow concert halls, German beer gardens, dime museums, gambling parlors, and brothels.By the early 1920’s, Bowery neighborhoods became known as the infamous “Skid Row” and whose inhabitants were primarily alcoholic and homeless men. A notorious ‘medical experiment’ was then conducted on hundreds of these men, which came to define how expendable this segment of society had become. Hart Island became the eternal home for many.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 20 “Ruth Proskauer Smith”: with Ian Dowbiggin,Professor at University of Prince Edward Island.Ruth Proskauer Smith, or Ruth P. Smith as she became more commonly known as, was a historic pro-choice reproductive rights, and pro-right to die advocate. Even after she was over one hundred years old, she spent much of her time teaching other senior citizens about the Supreme Court, as she wanted to pass on her knowledge to others before she died.In her directive before death, she willed that her remains would be donated to NYU Medical Center for cadaver research, and once NYU was done with her body, she was to be cremated and her remains to be given to her family for a dignified burial. But contrary to her wishes she was interred in a mass grave on Hart Island. A representative from NYU called it a mistake.Join us as professor Dowbiggin recounts Ruth P. Smith’s incredible life and death.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 19 “Ship Ablaze”: with Edward T. O’Donnell,Professor Holy Cross University.There were few experienced swimmers, among the over 1,300 Lower East Side residents, who boarded the General Slocum on June 15, 1904. It shouldn’t have mattered since the steamship was chartered, only for a languid excursion, from Manhattan to Long Island Sound. But a fire erupted minutes into the trip, forcing hundreds of terrified passengers into the water. By the time the captain found a safe shore for landing, 1021 had perished. It was the worst disaster ever to occur in New York City, until the terrorist attacks, nearly one-hundred years later, on 9/11.In his book, “Ship Ablaze”, Professor Edward T. O’Donnell draws on firsthand accounts to examine why the death toll was so high and how the city responded.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 18 “Leonard Melfi”: with Edward Berkeley,Professor, The Julliard School.Leonard Melfi was revered by his peers as one of the most respected and creative playwrights of his generation. He is most associated with the offbeat La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, on East 4th Street in New York’s East Village, which produced twenty-two of his plays.Struggling with alcoholism for many years, Melfi died of congestive heart failure in 2001. It was later reported that his body had been “misplaced” by hospital staff and ended up being buried on Hart Island!Join us as Professor Berkeley recounts his collaborations with Melfi and his remarkable work.Watch the film adaption of Leonard Melfi’s most famous play, “Bird Bath” starring Lila French.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSOrder a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 17 “The Great Arrival”: with Diane Vecchio,Professor, Furman University.Most of this generation of Italian immigrants took their first steps on U.S. soil in a place that has now become a legend—Ellis Island. In the 1880s, they numbered 300,000; in the 1890s, 600,000; in the decade after that, more than two million. By 1920, more than 4 million Italians had come to the United States, and represented more than 10 percent of the nation’s foreign-born population.What brought about this dramatic surge in immigration? Decades of internal strife had left a legacy of violence, social chaos, and widespread poverty in Italy. As transatlantic transportation became more affordable, and as word of American prosperity came, via returning immigrants and U.S. recruiters, Italians found it increasingly difficult to resist the call of “L’America”.This new generation of Italian immigrants was distinctly different in makeup from those that had come before. The vast majority were poor farmers and laborers looking for a steady source of work—any work. There were a significant number of single men among these immigrants and when they died from disease or violence some found their way to Hart Island.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSPre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 16 “Shelia Terry”: with Larry Powell,Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham.American film actress Shelia Terry was a true Hollywood starlet of the 1930’s, starring in among other films, three with John Wayne before she ended her life, with an overdose of sleeping pills in 1947.Described as one of films first glamour stars, her stunning good looks would eventually fade, as did her film roles. Although married three times and divorced, she was without family and friends to intervene. She died alone and penniless; so alone she was buried on Hart Island.Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSPre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 15 “The Manly Arts”: with Elliott J. Gorn,Professor, Purdue University.Well before Hart island became New York City’s potters field, Hart Island, or Hart’s Island as it was then called, became a prime tourist destination for every rogue and scoundrel in town, when City officials banned boxing. Overnight, the ban turned the island into one of New York’s premier pugilism venues.On April 20, 1842, James Yankee Sullivan and Englishman Billy Bell slugged it out for 24 bloody bare-knuckle rounds. Over 6,000 fans, including Yankee Sullivan’s pal Bill the Butcher Poole, sailed to the island to cheer on Sullivan. One newspaper joked that the city’s crime rate went down that day, by half !By the time of the Civil War, fighters regularly battled on this desolate stretch of land, but the Union spoiled the fun when they realized the island’s usefulness as a prisoner of war camp, for Confederate troops. But for a brief moment in time, Hart Island reigned supreme as the Mecca for bare knuckle fighting !Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSPre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 14 “The Triangle Shirt Waist Factory Fire”: with Hasia Diner,Professor New York University.As historian Robert Hughes notes, “The Tenth Ward of Lower Manhattan—the Lower East Side—had by the 1890’s, the highest concentration of people in the world: 344,000 people packed into one square mile, or nine square yards each, including street and pavement space.” There were, it was thought, 11,000 sweatshops turning out clothing, cigars, furniture, and tin ware. One of those sweatshops was the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory.The events that unfolded on March 25, 1911 resulted in the worst industrial disaster in New York City. Called the “Triangle Shirt Waist Factory Fire”, It would also become the catalyst for an extraordinary intervention and the addition of another bizarre chapter in the history of Hart Island!Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book, NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERSPre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 13 “Leola Dickerson”: with Peter Strauss,Senior Partner at Pierro, Connor, and Strauss.She lay on the floor for three days. A slip and fall had rendered her helpless, at the mercy of fate as neighbors came and went just feet from her door. Ii was the mailman who became concerned, she had not been picking up mail, who finally called 911.So began Leola Dickerson’s journey of hospitals, nursing homes, and a court appointed guardian that would eventually end on Hart Island.  Join us as Attorney Peter Strauss helps us navigate the complex world of Guardianship Law. Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 12 “Bellevue”: with Dr. Danielle OfriEssayist, editor, and practicing internist in New York City.How exactly did bodies end up on Hart Island? Their first stop use to be the Bellevue Hospital Morgue.During the 19th century, the Bellevue Morgue had become the first official repository of deceased New Yorkers. If a body was not claimed by family or friends within twenty-four hours from the time of notification of death, the New York City Department of Hospitals was authorized to allow burial on Hart Island.But what is it like to work at Bellevue Hospital and the Morgue today?For the answer to that question we ask Dr. Danielle Ofri. She is attending physician at Bellevue Hospital and Clinical Professor of Medicine at New York University. She is also the author of, “Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue”. Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 11 “Dawn Powell”: with Tim Page,Professor, Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic, writer, and editor.Does the name Dawn Powell mean anything to you? I thought so. But you’re not alone.Just as millions of people knew nothing about Hart Island, millions of people never heard of Dawn Powell, perhaps the greatest writer no-one has ever read!It’s rather startling, in a humorous dark way, when one learns about the circumstances surrounding her demise and her burial in a mass grave on Hart Island.Join Professor Tim Page as we learn of the remarkable life and death of novelist Dawn Powell. Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 10 “Damnation Island”: with Stacy Horn, Author.Purchased by the city in 1828, the island soon harbored an almshouse, an insane asylum, a hospital, a prison and a workhouse along its narrow two-mile strip. Heating and ventilation were nonexistent, disease ran rampant. Over the next 100 years, mayhem ensued, with wrongly admitted patients, death by murder and disease, inedible food and unspeakably dirty water.The boundaries between the four classes of people on the island (the poor, the mad, the sick and the criminal) are, in the public imagination, as blurred as ever. Blackwell Island would become another gateway leading to wide deep pits on Hart Island. Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 9 “A Pickpockets Tale”: with Timothy J. Gilfoyle,Professor, Loyola University.In George Appo’s world, child pickpockets swarmed the crowded streets, addicts drifted in furtive opium dens, and expert swindlers worked the lucrative green-goods game. On a good night, Appo made as much as a skilled laborer made in a year. Bad nights left him with more than a dozen scars and over a decade in prisons, from the Tombs and Sing Sing, to the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where he reunited with another inmate, his father.The child of Irish and Chinese immigrants, Appo grew up in the notorious Five Points and Chinatown neighborhoods. He rose as an exemplar of the “good fellow,” a criminal who relied on wile, who followed a code of loyalty even in his world of deception. Here is the underworld of New York that gave us Edith Wharton, Boss Tweed, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, and ultimately Hart Island Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 8 “Inside Rikers: Stories From the World’s Largest Penal Colony”: with Jennifer Wynn,Professor, City University of New York.Wynn teaches a writing class to male inmates at Rikers Prison, as part of a rehabilitation program known as Fresh Start, and is the editor of Rikers Review, an illustrated magazine featuring short stories, profiles, true confessions, poetry, and humor written and illustrated by inmates.Most of the men in Rikers, whom she profiles, are either drug addicts or drug dealers, come from dysfunctional families in the city’s “dead zones,” are poorly educated, and have been in jail or prison before. Selections from the writings include her observations of secret section C-76 known as Rikers “grave diggers squad” and its connection with the infamous history of Hart Island’s mass graves. Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 7 “Hart Island A Musical”: by Michelle Elliot and Danny Larsen.“Hart Island”, is the story of two people on the fringe of society. Their lives intersect on Hart Island, New York City’s public burial ground. Although marginalized by the rest of society, they come to appreciate each other’s humanity-a powerful action in a world that elevates division and isolation over compassion and respect.Join us as we learn about this powerful story and listen to its wonderful music. Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 6 “Forgotten Ellis island”: with Lorie Conway.The lost story  the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital saved tens of thousands of lives, as immigrants flooded onto Ellis Island over a century ago. It was here that the germs of the world converged.The hospital was both welcoming and foreboding to those too sick to enter the country. Those nursed to health were allowed to become citizens. Those deemed feeble of body, or mind were deported. Many of those who died were penniless and buried in mass graves on Hart Island. Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 5 “Five Points”: with Professor Tyler Anbinder.By the late 1820’s the Five Points had already been considered a slum where poor immigrant and African American’s came to live and toil amid filthy tenements and converted industrial dwellings.Author Charles Dickens visited Five Points in 1842 and noted, “So far, nearly every house is a low tavern; what place is this, to which the squalid streets conducts us. What lies beyond this tottering flight of steps that creak beneath our tread?”Join our discussion with Professor Anbinder as we explore the rich and notorious history of Five Points, its street gangs, its violence and squalor. How many ended up on Hart Island? We can only imagine. Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 4 “Bobby Driscoll”: with Dave Bossert,Director/producer Disney Animation Studios.The clean cut child star with an impish, upturned nose, and beguiling expression was handpicked for an acting career by Walt Disney, himself—Of all the roles he played, Peter Pan seemed most like his alter-ego. He grew up—and worked—in Hollywood, but it might have been his Never-Never land. His is a story in a make-believe world; a world he could never leave behind. He would even go on to win the first Academy Award for a child.But it would be his downfall….In 1968, Bobby Driscoll’s dead body was found by two boys exploring the ruins of an abandoned tenement in New York’s Greenwich Village. The cause of his death was later determined to have been brought on by his addiction to heroin. He was just 31 years of age. Because, there was no one to claim his body, he was buried in a mass grave on Hart Island. Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 3 “Superstorm”: with Dr. David A. Robinson,Professor at Rutgers University and the New Jersey Climatologist.What would become the largest Atlantic storm on record swirled violently from the Caribbean creating a devastating oceanic force that, at its zenith reached 900 miles across and 1000 miles long. It was called Super-storm Sandy.Sandy would eventually cause billions of dollars in damages, kill 225 people and reveal deep flaws in one of the world’s greatest metropolises. And perhaps most shocking of all, it would reveal a secret kept hidden for over 150 years!Join Dr. Robinson as we chart the course of Super-storm Sandy and the shocking revelations of Hart Island. Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

 Episode 2 “The Treasure of Hart Island”: A Novel, by Mike Monahan.Hart Island is haunted by the spirits of the dead. It is used as a potter’s field for indigenous peoples. Each grave is dug by the convicts on nearby Rikers Island. Underneath its sandy shores lie bones and death….. It also holds a secret.Centuries ago, Captain Kidd himself hid his treasure on Hart Island. When a group of Rikers convicts stumbles on the first clue to its location, they find themselves in a dangerous race for the gold. The prison guards aren’t exempt from the lure of the fortune, and as these disparate groups start competing for the gold, even more death, danger, and mayhem will come to the cursed island. Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019 Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/ Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/ Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

Episode 1 “The Island at the Center of the World”: with Russell, ShortoAuthor, Historian, and Journalist.Before there was a Hart Island, even before there was a New York City, there was, “The Island at the Center of the World”.Join us as we explore the epic story of Dutch Manhattan and the forgotten colony that shaped America. The New York Times said, “A book that will permanently alter the way we regard our collective past” Michael T. Keene is the author of Folklore and Legends of Rochester, Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Mad~House, Question of Sanity, and now his new book,  NEW YORK CITY’S HART ISLAND: A CEMETERY OF STRANGERS Pre-Order a signed, soft cover copy of the book: New York City's Hart Island, directly from the Authorhttps://michaeltkeene.com/hart-island-soft-cover-book/*Orders will ship on or after Oct 14, 2019Learn more about Author / Host / Filmmaker Michael T. Keenehttps://michaeltkeene.com/about/Send questions / comments / suggestions to:https://michaeltkeene.com/contact/Connect with Michael T. Keene on Social MediaTwitter https://twitter.com/talkhartislandFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHartIsland/

TALKING HART ISLAND“Talking Hart Island” is a half hour weekly podcast that explores the history of Hart Island, America’s largest mass graveyard.Hart Island has been used as New York City’s potter’s field since 1869. It is estimated there are over 1,000,000 people buried there.Because of recent advances in DNA and fingerprint technology though, we now have learned who some of these previously forgotten and anonymous people were. The results are truly shocking.“Talking Hart Island” will interview a special guest each week selected from an extraordinary assembly of scholars, authors, and scientists in the fields of history, law, medicine and the arts as we unravel a secret kept hidden for over 150 years.