Ancient Hixtory
Wonderful articles about the history of Hicksville, researched and written by Ron Wencer. This complete monthly series spans 4 years, from May 2018 until April 2022. Enjoy!
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- Ronald Wencer
- Category: Ancient Hixtory
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Introduction
On a school day early in September 1963, about two dozen Hicksville High seniors were summoned to a meeting. We were seated in a semi-circle of student desks, all facing a pair of chairs, in which sat two adults whom we did not know. More than a half century later, my memory is imperfect, but I believe that also present in the room, standing, were Principal Leon Galloway, Vice-Principal Raymond Rusch, a smattering of faculty members, and a few other strangers. I think that Mr. Galloway opened the meeting.
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- Ron Wencer, Class of 1964
- Category: Ancient Hixtory
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Introduction
Last month’s Hixnews recounted how Hicksville nurse Mary Keller, who would later serve in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War I, crossed the Atlantic in September 1914. Bound for Belgrade, then under bombardment, she was part of a medical team that would create an American Red Cross Hospital to treat wartime casualties. Developments in Europe interrupted their journey, and as October began, the team found itself shipless in Athens.
Click here to continue reading November 2025: A Mary Keller Prequel - Part 2
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- Ron Wencer, Class of 1964
- Category: Ancient Hixtory
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Introduction
Last December, I wrote about Elise Bergold and Mary Frances Keller, two Hicksvillians who served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War I. This month, we look back a little further, and we see that before Ms. Keller was a nurse serving in Europe in the Great War, she had been... well, a nurse serving in Europe in the Great War. While the conflict was still new, she had served on a team sent to Belgrade to establish a Red Cross Hospital, at a time when that city was bombarded daily by Austrian mortars.
Click here to continue reading October 2025: A Mary Keller Prequel - Part 1
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- Ronald Wencer
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Introduction
If you attended public schools in Hicksville in the 1950s, you probably remember when the school day routine set aside time for prayer. You didn’t have to pray aloud, but if you chose to, the only prayer you could recite was the one written in 1951 by the State Board of Regents. This situation arose because prayer in public school – which had always happened – had become an increasingly contentious issue, and was repeatedly subjected to legal challenges, which often probed the interrelationships of the freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
Click here to continue reading May 2025: Curtain Call for a Prayer
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- Ronald Wencer
- Category: Ancient Hixtory
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Introduction
In October’s issue, the article by Wendy Elkis Girnis (HHS ’77) about military nurses reminded me that two Hicksville women served in the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) during World War I: Mary Keller, whose parents operated a hotel/tavern at the corner of Woodbury Road and Park Avenue, and Elise Bergold, whose family had a farm on Old Country Road, near the border with Westbury.
Click here to continue reading December 2024: ANC Nurses: Honored, Enshrined, and Forgotten
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- Ronald Wencer
- Category: Ancient Hixtory
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Introduction
Welcome to the third part of our look back at the past through the stories of Hicksville’s diners. Last month’s article ended on a sour note: it was 1958, and New York State had unveiled its misguided response to the increased traffic generated by the Mid-Island Plaza: widen Broadway and flatten whatever is in the way. The first phase of work, the road north of the LIRR tracks, was imminent. The next phase – demolishing buildings on the west side of Broadway between the tracks and Old Country Road -- would come later.
Click here to continue reading October 2024: Little House on Jerusalem Avenue
