Damnation Island is the title of a new book by author Stacy Horn

about the history of our home here on Roosevelt Island. You can tell by the book’s title that the story is of a Roosevelt Island before luxury condos, Cornell Tech and tourists coming to visit. Ms Horn will be giving a talk about her book at the NYPL Roosevelt Island branch (524 Main Street) tomorrow evening. Ms Horn’s talk about Damnation Island is presented by the Roosevelt Island Historical Society (RIHS) and is the second program of its free Fall Lecture series. According to the RIHS:

In the 19th century, New York confined the poor, the insane, the criminal and the sick to Blackwells Island. Here, nestled between the teeming shores of Manhattan and the rural farms of Queens, these unfortunates were warehoused in deplorable conditions, squalor and neglect.

Author Stacy Horn will describe the notorious history of Damnation Island at a lecture presented by the Roosevelt Island Historical Society at the New York Public Library Branch on Roosevelt Island, on Thursday, December 6, 2018 at 6:30 p.m.

The event is FREE and open to the public. It is the second in the Societys annual series of fall lectures, which is supported by funds provided by Roosevelt Island Operating Corporations Public Purpose Fund and New York City Council Member Ben Kallos, with funding from the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development.

DIRECTIONS: Take the Tram at 59 th Street and Second Avenue or the F train to Roosevelt Island. Take the red bus (no charge) or walk eight minutes north to 524 Main Street.

The Roosevelt Island Historical Society promotes awareness of the Islands unique story and pursues preservation of its landmarks and artifacts.

For more information, please visit www.rihs.us.

Listen to this June 5, 2018 NY Public Library podcast interview with Ms. Horn discussing the dark history of Blackwell’s, then Welfare and now Roosevelt Island.

Roosevelt Islander