A young lady of 1795 would have lived at a time of great optimism for the new republic. Growing up she would have played many games that children still play today such as Blindman's Bluff, Hide & Seek as well as checkers and hopscotch which was called Scotch Hopping. She would have remembered viewing as a child the public execution of the infamous spy, Maj. John Andre on October 1, 1780 in Tappan. She would have learned her first letters and numbers at home, and might have attended the first schoolhouse in Rockland County, by 1786 called the old school in a portion of the Hafer House on Greenbush Road in Tappan. State records show that by 1798 there were five schools in Orangetown and 233 scholars. Penmanship was very important and a sign of a well educated person. Letters were sealed with melted wax, often symbolizing a family's or an individual's wealth. In 1796 the Orange Town Library was formally organized and by 1805 had 342 volumes on its shelves. There may have been families in her acquaintance who owned slaves.

A girl's qualities as a gentlewoman were judged, in part, by her sewing ability. Girls stitched pillows, handkerchiefs and even some of their own dresses to display their talent. Fashionable young ladies would wear tightly laced corsets, dresses with a stomacher bodice to keep the front of the dress smooth and sleeves with removable lace. She might have learned to dance reels, jigs or a minuet. She would have been her mothers' helper in housewifery, the art of managing a household with everything from breaking up homemade cheese curds to spinning thread. Spring was a time to pluck geese; the feathers provided warm stuffing for pillows and mattresses. Summers harvest was preserved for use in the winter; her family may have grown wheat, corn or strawberries. Autumn was candle dipping time as well as the time when farm animals were butchered, smoked and salted to preserve the meat for winter storage. In the winter wool was spun into cloth to sew new clothes and bed linens; she might have worked on a sampler or written poetry in the evening.

Her family might have attended the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Tappan every Sunday for the two hour service that began at 10. During this period services still alternated between the Dutch and English language; footstoves containing hot coals were passed among the ladies who sat on benches along the sides of the church where they would listen to the thunderous sermons of Domine Lansing. The first settlers worked with nature, not against it with their roads meandering around hills and swamps, as Indian trails had, rather than crossing them. Many homes were built on lowlands along streams or near springs where water was available. Sandstone houses like the Salyer House were faced so the sun's low rays in winter came through south windows with the rear of the house towards prevailing winds. The roof overhang shaded the south windows and kept the rooms cool in the summer. Dutch Doors let ventilation in and kept livestock out. In the tradition of her Dutch ancestors, her nature would have been open and honest with an independent attitude. In the colonial years few discarded the dress or mannerisms which on the streets of New York marked them as homespun country people; they were traditionally frugal and clever. These traits helped them to withstand the hard times that often befell them. The many changes that were yet to come to Orangetown would truly revolutionize every aspect of this young lady's life

A young lady living in Orangetown in 1916 would have lived during a time of great change in our country. There were new ways of traveling, communicating and manufacturing that would have made her confident that progress would improve the lives of all. Tappan in 1910 straddled the waning agricultural era and the Industrial Revolution. Four local manufacturers - one of 'Cereo' breakfast cereal, one of oils and lubricants, one of pipes and one of artificial flowers employed the local population. Eighteen carpenters, nine teachers and seven dressmakers lived and worked in town. With the beginning of the age of communication, three telegraph operators and one telephone operator lived in the hamlet as well as one reporter, four printers, a typist, two stenographers and one department store detective. In 1911 Mr. H.N. Atwood flew his Bi-Plane from Nyack creating quite a stir and beautiful railroad stations were welcoming trains from Blauvelt to Tappan. Some families had telephones, several households shared the same telephone wires called party lines and often secretly listened to one another's calls. The family may have listened to the early recordings on the Victor label of the great American soprano, Lillian Blauvelt of the local Blauvelt clan.

Early films were being shot in Tappan in a rented property by Helen Gardner. A major screen presence during the silent era she established her own production company in 1912 and our young lady may have been selected as an extra for Cleopatra. George W. Springsteen, a local photographer from Pearl River who left behind a rich pictorial legacy, might have taken her portrait. By 1900 more girls than boys were graduating from High School; she might have attended Nyack High School or Tappan Zee High School. Many girls continued their education in women's colleges or state universities that accepted both men and women. The Sunday School Room at the Reformed Church, now the Lecture Room, was wired for electricity in about 1910, and housed the Tappan Library, which was open, 'on such days and evenings as to not interfere with church use' of the space. She might have been involved with the 76 Dramatic Club, performing in plays at the local firehouse that also hosted minstrel shows and dances. Twice a year for a week a popular medicine show set up in an empty lot on Brandt Avenue. Magic tricks, trained birds entertained the crowds. By 1910, six percent of the doctors in the country were women. Our young lady might have pursued studies to become a nurse and may have worked overseas for the Red Cross during World War I. By 1913, women had been working for suffrage for over fifty years and it would not be until August 26th, 1920 that women would officially win the right to vote.

She would have spent her leisure time swimming in the Haring-Outwater Mill Pond. Tappaners skated on the pond during the winter and played games of buck, a kind of hockey. She would have watched the ice cutting and the filling of the ice house. She and her friends would have been interested in embroidery, flower pressing, reading, writing poetry and bicycling, a new rage that introduced the split skirt. Miss Perry would have worn a walking suit, or a tailored jacket and a skirt, with a shirtwaist or blouse. She would have worn a hat and leather dress boots that needed to be fastened with a buttonhook. When war broke out in Europe in 1914 local residents rallied to the cause of democracy serving as troops, buying Liberty Bonds and contributing towards ambulances for the Red Cross.With the onset of World War I her life would change, as would her view of the world outside of Orangetown.

Our soldier would have grown up in Orangetown and been born around 1923. He would have remembered the desperate years of the Great Depression and how the Principal of the Tappan Grammar School, William O. Schaefer made the school a safe haven for his students, hosting many activities such as movies, plays and sleigh riding on the hill in back of the school. Many men, once gainfully employed were out of work and became tramps. A large X drawn on a house front indicated that a tramp could get a free meal; our soldier's mother might have provided a fried egg sandwich and a cup of coffee to a needy traveler. The Miller Grocery Store on Western Highway across from the railroad station would let families buy groceries on credit during those hard times. Few people had cars, except for still running Model A's, the German hopmobile (the Volkswagen of the 1920's), the Stutz or the Kissel. One could play miniature golf at the Mamitsch greenhouses on the eastside of Ann Drive. A small green bus ran from Tappan to Nyack, which was a shopping center for the surrounding area and also had the Rockland Theatre where you could see a film for 10 or 20 cents. This isolated, semirural lifestyle was changed forever with the opening of Camp Shanks.

Camp Shanks was constructed on 2,040 acres in Orangetown which extended 2.5 miles north of Tappan along Western Highway. The western heights above Tappan and Orangeburg, the site of vegetable farms and orchards stretching as far as could be seen, was the chosen site for the camp. The county's change from rural community to crowded suburb did not begin with the opening of the opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge, the Palisades Interstate Parkway but with the construction of Camp Shanks. The peaceful rural scene was quite suddenly transformed. The camp was quickly constructed within a couple of months in the fall of 1942 and was formally opened January 4, 1943. Camp Shanks became one of the largest troop staging areas of WWII, processing an average of 40,000 soldiers per month. A total of 1,362,630 American Servicemen were moved through Camp Shanks, which was the major east-coast Port of Embarkation for troops headed overseas. The government added wood planking and a ferry slip to the Piermont Pier so that departing GI's could board the harbor boats that would take them downriver to Europe bound troop carriers awaiting them in New York Harbor. There were also troop ships docked in Piermont that would head out directly oversea

The camp contained seven staging areas, including one for WAC's, (Women's Army Corps) and one for medical units being sent overseas. In all the camp contained 1,800 buildings, consisting of barracks, headquarters buildings, post exchange stores, chapels, a laundry, bakery and a hospital. The huge camp had its own baseball team, newspaper and symphony orchestra, which hosted such guests as Oscar Levant, Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Durante. Our soldier would have been aware of German and Italian POW's at the camp. His navy counterpart might have served on the massive aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, the most decorated ship of WWII that famously participated in the battle of Midway. After the closing of Camp Shanks the need for Veteran housing was satisfied with the establishment of Shanks Village in September of 1946. Our soldier may have lived there with his young family while attending Columbia University; New York University or City College. The world had changed dramatically and the war became a memory on which to build a bright new future.

An elementary school student from 1956 in Orangetown would have been a part of the baby boom generation; between 1946 and 1964 30 million children were born in the United States. His family might have taken advantage of a house built by Tappan Village Homes. Post war housing was difficult to find because no housing had been built during the war years. Not all servicemen's families would qualify for housing at Shanks Village, converted barracks housing units created out of Camp Shanks. In 1953 the Village Directory listed 1,400 veterans and their families as residents. Stanley Wyatt, a local resident, created some amusing cartoons that document this period. Our student might have lived at the property east of Rt. 303 and Oak Tree Road; such a house was selling for $10,750.00 with only 5% down payment. Orangetown in the 1950's was changing from an area of small hamlets and villages surrounded by family farms to one of housing developments and shopping centers. To serve the new homeowners a maze of local roads was built. The opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge and the last section of the New York State Thruway in 1955 as well as the completion of the forty two mile long New York-New Jersey Palisades Interstate Parkway in 1958 encouraged even more people to settle in the area. During this period of expansion the Tappan Express commuter train was remarkably disbanded from service, encouraging commuters to use the new roads.

Our student would have enjoyed growing up during a period of economic prosperity. Scholastic magazine showed that by 1956 there were 13 million teenagers in the country – the best fed, best schooled and best cared for generation in history. Rigid gender roles were adhered to and this was reflected in the toys that were manufactured for children at the time. Throughout the 1950's schoolchildren were instructed in 'duck and cover' drills; when the teacher called 'drop!' children would crawl under their desks and cover their heads with their hands. This response was supposed to protect them from nuclear attack. On May 17th 1954 in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas the Supreme Court ruled that the 'separate but equal' doctrine was unconstitutional. This landmark decision banned segregation based on race in our school systems and had a profound effect on education.

Our student would have seen growth in the community; the Tappan Grammar School additions of 1950 and 1952 were larger than the original school building; the Tappan Reformed Church rebuilt the Manse Barn and the Tappan Library was located in the former garage of the Moritz Funeral Home Housing developments were popping up all over town. On small screened televisions in lacquered wooden consoles families gathered to watch black and white flickering images. By 1956 Americans were buying TV sets at the rate of twenty thousand a day. Television changed the way people looked, acted and consumed. TV connected Orangetown residents immediately with trends and fads throughout the country, from Elvis Presley to I Love Lucy. As the 1950's saw the beginning of pop culture it also saw the end of the polio epidemic. This disease caused paralysis and often permanent disability. Dr. Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine in 1954 which was produced by the local Lederle Labratories in Pearl River and administered to schoolchildren throughout the country in a massive volunteer effort. By 1962 polio had virtually disappeared. With this victory came an increased trust in technology and a tremendous sense of optimism for the future

Meet four figures from Orangetown's historic past. Read through the four descriptions and choose one that interests you the most. Using your research skills and a bit of imagination, complete the assignment. Good luck!