Governors Island

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Life On Governors Island in 1890

Summer tours of Governors Island have resumed. My book The Governors Island Explorer’s Guide (Globe Pequot Press) continues to be the first and only guide to the Island. Here is a history story that I like to talk about when leading walking […]

Kevin FitzpatrickMay 22, 2025May 22, 2025

News Research

Governors Island Lawn Parties History, 1900-2025

The Jazz Age Lawn Party created by Michael Arenella carries on a long tradition on Governors Island going back more than 150 years to social events hosted by the U.S. Army. Just as Michael and his Dreamland Orchestra draw big crowds to […]

Kevin FitzpatrickApril 23, 2025

News

Secrets of Governors Island Tours Resume

My family and I were on Governors Island yesterday for the first time in a very long time, due to the pandemic. I did not do one tour last summer there, this was the first time since 2002 that this happened. I […]

Kevin FitzpatrickMay 3, 2021

News Research

Governors Island and the Confederacy

A story dominating the news this month is about how the U.S. Army has ten posts named for Confederate Generals. A second story is the only Army post in New York City, Fort Hamilton, has roads named for Robert E. Lee and […]

Kevin FitzpatrickJune 12, 2020

Exploring News

WWI Weekend on Governors Island Sept. 14-15

In 2016 I launched an annual event on Governors Island that’s I’m really proud to be a part of. This is World War I History Weekend, Camp Doughboy. We started with one day in 2016 with less than 20 living historians; last […]

Kevin FitzpatrickAugust 16, 2019

News Podcast

Episode 22: Ranger Joe Korber

The first uniformed guest we’ve had on the show is Ranger Joe Korber, however, due to the government shutdown the day we recorded the episode, Joe had no uniform or Smokey campaign hat on. Joe is a veteran of the national park […]

Kevin FitzpatrickJanuary 31, 2019

News

August 18 Governors Island Railroad Day

Celebrate the Centennial of the Governors Island Railroad, called the “shortest railway in the world.” Visit the Governors Island National Monument on Saturday, August 18, for free talks and tour of where the Railroad once ran from 1917-1931. The events will be […]

Kevin FitzpatrickJune 3, 2018

Exploring News

The 500 Confederates Buried in Brooklyn and the Bronx

I have paid my respects to the Confederate soldiers buried in Brooklyn. Oh, you didn’t know that more than 500 war dead who served in the Confederate States of America are interred there? There are more Confederate graves in New York City […]

Kevin FitzpatrickAugust 17, 2017

Exploring News

Centennial of General Pershing on Governors Island

One hundred years ago on Sunday, General John J. Pershing woke up in Times Square. He was in bed in the Astor Hotel, which once was on the corner of Broadway and W. 44th Street. I do not know how he got […]

Kevin FitzpatrickMay 26, 2017

News Research

Governors Island WWI Memorial Project Launches

Last summer I started work on a project that is small in scope but means a lot to me. Today I submitted the final grant application information to the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission for what I am calling the Governors […]

Kevin FitzpatrickFebruary 1, 2017February 3, 2017

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