‘Thankful Thursday’ – Free Planetarium Show
The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum and Reichert Planetarium are proud to present another Thankful Thursday on September 12, at 7:00 pm. Funding for this series is generously provided by BAE Systems. The event is FREE, but registration is required.
Vanderbilt’s Whale Shark & The Sunrise Fish Company
Ron Schaper will give a lecture at the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum on Vanderbilt’s Whale Shark and the Island Life of the Last East Coast Ocean Pound Trap Fishermen – on Thursday, September 19, from 7:00 to 8:30 pm.
Tickets: $10 | Members Free
Schaper, whose uncles caught the16,000-pound, 32-foot whale shark displayed in the Vanderbilt Museum’s Habitat, will speak about his family and the hundreds of others that made their living as fishermen, and the fascinating history of commercial fishing on Long Island.
Schaper is the author of Setting Leaders: The Island Life of the Last East Coast Ocean Pound Trap Fishermen (2024). He will examine how a decision made by the influential urban planner Robert Moses changed the course of the fishing industry on Long Island forever.
In 1935, the State Boat Channel was dredged, and the sand was deposited on the north side of the channel, creating Havemeyer Point Island – where Moses relocated the Schaper family’s Sunrise Fish Company, and the Short Beach and other fishing businesses. The fishermen built large boardwalks on their section of land, which had been divided into distinct areas for the fish companies. Revered by the locals who fished, labored, and dwelt there, this new Island became known as Fisherman’s Island. This reconfiguration of land, coupled with hard labor, left a legacy for generations of families that to this day cherish the bounty of the ocean.
That same year, the Schaper brothers caught the huge whale shark off Fire Island. William K. Vanderbilt II purchased it from the Schaper brothers to be featured amidst his other natural history specimens and dioramas. The northernmost catch on record at that time, the shark is reportedly the world’s largest example of fish taxidermy.
Schaper will reveal details of this story and other intriguing tales and experiences of his family’s Sunrise Fish Company.
This intriguing lecture will take place in the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum’s Charles and Helen Reichert Planetarium Theater. Copies of Schaper’s book, Setting Leaders: The Island Life of the Last East Coast Ocean Pound Trap Fishermen, will be available for purchase and inscription.
Tours Explore Vanderbilt Architecture and Collections
Take an intriguing walking tour of the Vanderbilt Estate with knowledgeable Museum educators. Learn about the history of the Eagle’s Nest estate; Warren & Wetmore’s design and exterior architectural details of the 24-room Spanish Revival mansion; and the striking ironwork of Samuel Yellin, considered the greatest iron artisan of the early 20th century, and visit the marine, natural history, and cultural artifact collections
Created by the Vanderbilt Museum Education Department, the next tour will be offered on Saturday, September 28, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm. The final tour is scheduled for Sunday, October 20.
Tickets, which include general admission, are available for purchase ONLY at the door: Adults $16; seniors/students $15; children under 12, $14; and members free.
Beth Laxer-Limmer, Associate Director of Education, said, “The grounds are beautiful during the summer and the walking tour is a perfect way to be introduced to the history of the estate. There is an abundance of beauty in the eclectic architecture and the unique details that reflect William Vanderbilt’s interests.”
William K. Vanderbilt II (1878-1944) spent summers at his Eagle’s Nest estate and mansion on Northport Bay between 1910 and 1944. He and his wife, Rosamond, hosted intimate gatherings and entertained well-known guests, such as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Pierre Cartier, Conde Nast, Charles Lindbergh, and the Tiffanys. Eagle’s Nest is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Take a Nature Walk on the Vanderbilt Estate with a Biologist-Ranger
Join CEED wildlife biologist-ranger Eric Powers on Wednesday, September 18, from 10:00 to 11:30 am for an interpretive nature walk on the museum grounds. (CEED is the Center for Environmental Education and Discovery.)
“I enjoy taking a slow easy walk through the woods as I look for tracks and listen to bird calls, Powers said. “I feel that animals often get a little closer when we are appreciating the beauty in nature.”
Please bring water and wear sturdy footwear. Bring binoculars if you have them, and your sense of adventure!
This is an advanced hiking trail with many steep climbs and descents along a variety of mixed terrain with an elevation gain of nearly 300 feet. There will be two opportunities to cut your hike short and head back to the parking lot if you feel you or your party cannot finish the entire loop. The signs will show you the way out.
Ticks are active in the woods all year long when temperatures are above freezing. To avoid ticks, please stay on the trail.
Purchase Tickets
Shakespeare Festival: ‘King Lear’ through September 13
Now playing in the Vanderbilt Museum’s thirty-fifth annual festival Shakespeare in the Courtyard is King Lear, through September 15. The festival is presented by the Carriage House Players and sponsored by Farrell Fritz.
One of Shakespeare’s most moving tragedies focuses on a king who divides the kingdom between the daughters who are flattering, rather than the one who shows genuine love for Lear. Rejected by the two daughters, King Lear goes on a harrowing journey of self-discovery in the rain-swept countryside. Focusing on themes of authority vs. chaos and containing some of Shakespeare’s most poetic verses, King Lear is a thrilling evening at the theater.
Journey Through Space? Step Right This Way.
The Reichert Planetarium – with full-dome video, surround sound, and 197 comfortable new seats – will take you on enthralling, immersive journeys through the Solar System.
On Friday and Saturday nights, you can enjoy two amazing astronomy shows and very popular laser music shows.
The Planetarium offers great daytime programming for children and adults Friday through Sunday
On Friday from 9:00 to 10:00 pm, it’s FREE to observe the night sky in the Observatory (weather permitting).
Name a New Chair in the Reichert Planetarium
When you name a new chair in the Vanderbilt Reichert Planetarium chair, you support innovative planetarium education and entertainment programming.
Observe a milestone, honor a loved one, or name a chair for your family or organization.
Dedicate | Celebrate | Recognize | Memorialize
Your nameplate will remain in place for the life of the seat. (It does not reserve the use of the seat.)
Give a Unique Gift That Will Last a Lifetime
Looking for a fresh, unique, everlasting gift for a loved one?
Purchase and engrave a brick that will become a permanent part of the Vanderbilt Museum.
Your donation will help the Vanderbilt to bring outstanding science, history, and art education to more than 25,000 students annually.
Your brick will be installed and displayed in your favorite brick walkway around the Vanderbilt Mansion and Terrace, or on the 43-acre grounds of the beautiful waterfront Estate.
For more information, email jaimie@vanderbiltmuseum.org.
‘Laser Taylor Swift’ Extended through December 29
Showings of the Vanderbilt Reichert Planetarium‘s wildly popular show, Laser Taylor Swift, have been extended again through December 29. If you were not able to see one of her shows on the Eras tour, Laser Taylor Swift is the next best thing!
With more than 200 million records sold, a shelf full of Grammys, and an army of fans, Taylor Swift is an inspiration for generations. This dynamic show takes her biggest hits and brings them to life in dazzling laser light.
Tickets: $18. (Free for Museum members.)
Setlist: You Need To Calm Down, Love Story, Anti-Hero Exile, Look What You Made Me Do, Willow, Lavender Haze, I Knew You Were Trouble, Blank Space, You Belong With Me, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Shake It Off.
‘Haunting Menagerie’, Museum’s First Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition
Wendy Klemperer
On Earth Day, April 22, 2023, the Vanderbilt Museum debuted Wendy Klemperer: Wrought Taxonomies, the first exhibition of outdoor sculpture at the historic summer estate of William Kissam Vanderbilt II.
Wendy Klemperer’s sculptures—a haunting assemblage of animal forms that span imaginary, endangered, familiar, and exotic species—celebrate natural history and the nonhuman world through evocative interactions with the surrounding environment.
Using materials salvaged from scrapyards, she composes ecological narratives that respond to the history and collections of Suffolk County’s first public park and museum. Her brilliant use of gestural lines captures the spectator’s attention and invites museumgoers to reflect on the relationship between an interest in animal life and the incessant push of human industry.
Wrought Taxonomies is the inaugural exhibition in the Vanderbilt Museum’s outdoor sculpture program and the institution’s second exhibition of contemporary art focused on the relationship between culture and animals. Visitors will see large pieces visitors as they stroll the grounds of the Vanderbilt, one of the few remaining Long Island Gold Coast mansions. Smaller pieces suspended from trees wait to be discovered along the Vanderbilt’s hiking trail. Other works will be found near garden areas and the Marine Museum.
The Vanderbilt Museum occupies the former Gold Coast mansion and estate of William Kissam Vanderbilt II, the great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt and a pioneer of American motorsport. Located in Centerport on the north shore of Long Island, it is renowned for its extensive marine and natural history collections, Spanish revival architecture, and picturesque parklands.
All sculptures are viewable with general admission to the Museum grounds. Educational programs and workshops associated with the themes and content of Wendy Klemperer: Wrought Taxonomies will be offered throughout the exhibition. Special thanks are due to the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, whose generous support made Wrought Taxonomies possible. The exhibition will run through April 2025.
Visitors are encouraged, during these weeks of mild autumn weather, to enjoy a picnic on the grounds.
Vanderbilt Wine Supports Education, Preservation
The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum has partnered with Old York Cellars to create a special selection of wines – your purchase will support the Museum’s preservation efforts and education programs.
Eagle’s Nest, the waterfront estate of William K. Vanderbilt II, is the home of the Vanderbilt Museum and Charles and Helen Reichert Planetarium.
Help us preserve this vital piece of local and national history. STEM education programs are based on Vanderbilt’s marine, natural history, and cultural artifact collections. Educational planetarium offerings are provided to more than 25,000 schoolchildren each year. Please purchase wine today and support our mission.
