My name is Ashlee Joly. I am a biology student at Stony Brook University, an EMT, a community volunteer, and someone who believes deeply that every person, every place, and every community has a story worth telling. I am by no means a historian, but I am someone who cares deeply about people, meanings, and the light that gets extinguished when stories go untold.

This summer I have the honor of participating in a Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation grant celebrating the United States Semiquincentennial. Working alongside Bayside Historical Society, I will be exploring the history of Bayside and greater Long Island to uncover the deep, often overlooked connections to the founding of the United States.