By Ella Gardner

The Sea Cliff Village Museum will display its new exhibit, Stars Stripes and Sea Cliff, to celebrate the United States’ 250th anniversary. Local families and community members made personal donations from ancestors who were veterans along with historical artifacts including flags, medals and uniforms. 

The exhibit, which started May 23 and will continue through the fall, was curated by the museum’s executive director Courtney Chambers. She said the idea for this exhibit came a few years ago when the Hendrickson family donated a World War I uniform. 

The uniform was worn by a soldier named Royal Hendrickson. Chambers said she felt an obligation to display the uniform, which was in near-perfect condition.

“How can I not show this uniform?” Chambers remembered asking herself. “It’s very special.”

Chambers added the museum board wanted to present this item with other local artifacts in a responsible and intentional way. With the semiquincentennial coming up, they thought there wouldn’t be a better opportunity to display this uniform and other local artifacts while celebrating the connection between Long Island and American history. 

Local families and veterans from the Sea Cliff community contributed the donations and loans on display for the exhibit. Phil Como, a Vietnam War veteran and former village deputy mayor, decorated with the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (Combat Distinguishing Device), donated some of his uniforms from his time in the Marines. 

The items include some of his dress blues, which are the ceremonial military uniform worn by the U.S Marine Corps during formal events. Como also donated his father Philip’s tailor-made World War II uniform from his time serving in Normandy. 

Como provided some of the late Sea Cliff Mayor John J. Burn’s World War II uniforms and a World War I uniform from resident Elias Raff who, after returning home, ran and lost against Theodore Roosevelt Jr., eldest son of the eponymous president, for a seat in the New York State Assembly in 1919. 

One of the medals on display is Sea Cliff resident Gerald Gurley’s Purple Heart. The museum also has the sweater Gurley was wearing when he was shot. World War II Navy veteran Eugene Locke has his Medal of Honor on displayed in the exhibit.

The exhibit is showcasing Sea Cliff service men and women from the Civil War to Vietnam. Most of the hundreds of artifacts on display are from the World War II. There are historic flags on display such as a 13-star flag from 1777, and an 1876 centennial 38-star flag for the celebration of Colorado’s entry to the union as the 38th state. 

Chambers said the exhibit is especially meaningful as the enriching history about local Long Island heroes connects the community to a larger American history.

“History didn’t just stop with World War II,” Chambers remarked. “This exhibit is important for residents to look back at Sea Cliff history and see what the village was like throughout the past.” 

Chambers and Como are hoping the exhibit will give the community an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of local heroes and garner unified patriotism for the semiquincentennial. 

“We’re living in fraught times right now,” Chambers stated. “We should be proud of how far we’ve come as a community and as a nation and it should be appreciated what we’ve created since then because it required the sacrifice of these heroes to be where we are today.” “It took a lot more than flag waving to get us here,” Como added.

For more information about the exhibit and the work the museum does throughout the year, visit SeaCliffMuseum.org