Dr. Rita Langdon
About the Archive
This archive is the culmination of 35 years of research, hundreds of interviews, and thousands of original photographs, all reflecting a lifelong commitment to documenting the people, places, institutions, and artifacts that have shaped Long Island, New York, and the American experience.
Dr. Rita Langdon holds a PhD in Information Studies from the Palmer School of Library and Information Science as well as master’s degrees in English and Information Studies, a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, and an associate’s degree in Liberal Arts. Throughout her career, she has served as a journalist, writer, editor, professor, university administrator, communications executive, and researcher, helping organizations and communities tell their stories and preserve their histories.
My Favorite Collections
The people, places, artifacts, and stories that have fascinated me throughout a lifetime of research and discovery.
The Postum Cereal Company in Battle Creek, Michigan
What began in a small Battle Creek barn in 1895 grew into a cereal empire that transformed the American breakfast table and laid the foundation for one of the world's largest food companies. Building on the success of Postum, C.W. Post introduced Grape-Nuts and Post Toasties, pioneering a new industry and helping establish Battle Creek as the breakfast cereal capital of America. The company's innovative products, manufacturing operations, and groundbreaking advertising campaigns changed the way food was produced, marketed, and consumed throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
C.W. Post: Cereal Inventor
Charles William Post (1854–1914) was one of America's most influential entrepreneurs, best known for founding the Postum Cereal Company and helping create the modern breakfast cereal industry. An inventor, marketer, and visionary businessman, Post transformed American eating habits and built a business empire whose legacy continues to influence food, advertising, and popular culture today.
Architecture
From stone lions and carved faces to hidden symbols and decorative details, architecture tells stories that often go unnoticed. This collection explores the artistry, craftsmanship, and history behind the buildings, monuments, and architectural features I have encountered throughout my research and travels. Photo taken in Germany: The Rampant Lion is the world-wide symbol of strength and courage.
From Patient to Pioneer: The Birth of POSTUM
Before he became one of America's most successful entrepreneurs, C.W. Post was a patient searching for answers. His experiences recuperating at the sanitarium founded by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek, Michigan, inspired a lifelong interest in health, diet, and nutrition that led to the creation of Postum in 1895, the world's first widely marketed decaffeinated coffee substitute. Promoted as a healthier alternative to coffee that would not produce the "jitters" associated with caffeine, Postum quickly gained a devoted following. What began in a modest barn evolved into a cereal empire that helped redefine how Americans ate breakfast.
Long Island University
Founded in Brooklyn in 1926 and expanded to Long Island's Gold Coast in 1954 with the opening of C.W. Post College, Long Island University has educated generations of students while building a rich tradition of academic excellence, student life, athletics, and community engagement.
This collection preserves the history of Long Island University's Brooklyn and Post campuses through original research, archival documents, photographs, interviews, and historical narratives I developed during my tenure as University Historian. Here you will find the stories, traditions, people, architecture, and milestones that shaped LIU from its founding in 1926 to the present day.
Long Island University: Post Campus Buildings and Landscape
The 320-acre LIU Post campus spans two historic villages: The Village of Brookville and Village of Old Westbury.
U.S. Presidents
From Theodore Roosevelt to Richard Nixon, American presidents have been a recurring theme throughout my research and travels. Through archival work, historic sites, lectures, and conversations with presidential scholars and descendants, I have developed a deep appreciation for the individuals who have occupied the nation's highest office and the lasting impact they have had on American history.
E.F. Hutton & Dina Merrill
This photograph captures financier E. F. Hutton and his daughter Nedenia Hutton, who later achieved fame as actress Dina Merrill. Hutton built one of the nation's most influential brokerage firms and became a central figure in American finance during the early twentieth century. His marriage to Marjorie Merriweather Post united two of America's most recognizable fortunes.
Cemeteries: Stories in Stone
Long after newspapers have faded and memories have been lost, cemeteries continue to speak. Their stones preserve names, dates, symbols, and clues that help reconstruct the lives of those who built our communities. This collection explores the fascinating stories, hidden histories, and enduring legacies carved in stone.
Marjorie Merriweather Post
More than a socialite and philanthropist, Marjorie Merriweather Post was a visionary business leader. After inheriting her father's Postum Cereal Company in 1914, she helped build it into General Foods, one of the world's largest food corporations. Her willingness to embrace new ideas, including Clarence Birdseye's pioneering frozen-food technology, reshaped the American food industry and secured her place among the most remarkable businesswomen of the twentieth century.
I Love Long Island History
Long Island's story is written in its cemeteries, landmarks, historic buildings, military memorials, neighborhoods, and the lives of the people who shaped them. Explore the places, artifacts, and forgotten stories that help tell the history of Long Island across more than three centuries.
Walt Whitman
Poet, journalist, teacher, and founder of the Huntington Long Islander, Walt Whitman remains one of Long Island's most influential literary figures. As a former reporter for Whitman's newspaper, I have long been drawn to his life and work, an interest that inspired the creation of a Walt Whitman Room at Long Island University featuring portraits by artist Dan Christoffel.
The Families Who Built Nassau County, Long Island
The history of Long Island was shaped by a small network of interconnected families whose lives became linked through marriage, faith, military service, farming, and public life. Among them were surnames such as Langdon, Carman, Seaman, Doxsey, Willets, Mott, Bedell, Pearsall, Smit, Rhodes, Wright, and many others. Together, these families helped transform a colonial frontier into the communities that define Long Island today.
Wheatley Hills Estates
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Wheatley Hills, now Old Westbury, became one of America's most exclusive summer enclaves. Grand estates owned by the Morgan, Pulitzer, Goodyear, Merritt, Rushmore, Lowe, Hutton, Okie, Pell, Robinson, Gossler, Vanderbilt, and Whitney families earned the area a reputation as Long Island's "Millionaires Colony." The region was also known for the celebrated fox hunts of the Meadow Brook Hunt Club. Long before the arrival of these Gilded Age estates, Indigenous peoples lived among the area's hills, woodlands, and ponds., shaping the landscape's earliest history
Langdon Hill House
Celebrate America's 250th birthday at Langdon Hill House, a bed and breakfast on Baltimore Street in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The fully restored home is run by my brother, Ron Langdon, and his wife, a native of Long Island and today a Gettysburg historian, Laura Goldrick Langdon. Located within walking distance of the battlefield, this is an original civil war home offering four bedrooms, living room and parlor, and dining room. Visit LangdonHillHouse.com for more information.
The Langdons: An Original Long Island Family
Descended from Thomas Langdon, who arrived on Long Island during the colonial era, the Langdon family has been part of the island's story for nearly four centuries. Farmers, merchants, church leaders, soldiers, public servants, and community builders, generations of Langdons witnessed and helped shape the transformation of Long Island from a frontier settlement to one of America's most dynamic regions. This collection brings together original research, family stories, historical records, maps, and discoveries that document the Langdon family's enduring connection to Long Island since the mid-seventeenth century. I am honored to continue that story as Thomas Langdon's tenth-generation great-granddaughter.
You Can't Make This Stuff Up
After decades of interviewing people, traveling, teaching, and researching, I've accumulated a remarkable assortment of true stories that are funny, baffling, heartwarming, and occasionally unbelievable. The world is full of fascinating people, curious sights, and moments that make you stop, smile, and exclaim, "Life really is stranger than fiction." I took this photo in France. A woman was lining up her Chinese-crested dogs on a ledge outside a church for a photo.
Lynbrook, New York
Once known as Pearsall's Corners in the Town of Hempstead, Lynbrook grew from a rural farming settlement into a vibrant Long Island village shaped by the arrival of the railroad and the growth of neighboring New York City. Incorporated in 1911, the village is home to generations of families whose stories are woven into the history of Long Island. Among them are the Langdons, whose roots in the Lynbrook area extend nearly 370 years to the earliest days of European settlement on Long Island. This collection explores Lynbrook's people, places, landmarks, institutions, and enduring community spirit.ls, woodlands, and ponds., shaping the landscape's earliest history.
Town of Hempstead: Est. 1644
Founded in 1644 by English settlers, the Town of Hempstead is the oldest and largest township in Nassau County and one of the oldest municipalities in New York State. Established under a patent granted by the Dutch and later recognized by the English, Hempstead played a central role in the settlement and development of Long Island. From its beginnings as a small agricultural community, the town grew into a diverse region encompassing villages, hamlets, farms, businesses, railroads, and suburban neighborhoods. Today, the Town of Hempstead remains home to many of Long Island's oldest families, historic sites, churches, cemeteries, and landmarks, preserving a rich history that spans nearly four centuries.
Just for Fun
A few things people are surprised to learn about me:
Over the years, my research has taken me to some unexpected places.
I have appeared on the History Channel discussing C.W. Post, Post Cereal, and Marjorie Merriweather Post.
My family roots on Long Island extend back more than 370 years to my 10th generation great-grandfather Thomas Langdon, one of the original Colonial familes to settle Long Island, New York in the mid-1600s.
Through the Langdon and Willets family lines, I am a cousin of President Richard Nixon.
Today, I serve as historian for Post Cereal, Postum, Ltd., Wall Street financier E.F. Hutton, and Long Island University's historic Brooklyn and Brookville (LIU Post) campuses. I also document Long Island's cemeteries, landmarks, institutions, and the stories of the people who shaped them.
History isn't just something I study. In many ways, I live it every day.
Come Learn With Me
This archive shares the remarkable stories, evidence, artifacts, and discoveries I have been fortunate enough to encounter throughout a lifetime of research.
I am grateful to the many individuals, families, historians, archivists, librarians, collectors, and preservationists who have opened their personal archives, family collections, historic properties, records, photographs, and memories to me. Their generosity has provided access to stories that might otherwise have been lost to time.
This archive is a place to share those discoveries and make them accessible to others.
Contact Rita
ritalangdon@verizon.net
Thank you for visiting the Rita Langdon Research Archive.
I welcome questions from fellow researchers, students, genealogists, history enthusiasts, organizations, and families interested in preserving and sharing their stories. While I do not currently offer a menu of consulting services, I am interested in learning about new projects and historical inquiries. As a full-time communications and marketing professional, my availability for outside projects is presently limited, but I am happy to receive emails and will respond as time permits.
History is often a collaborative effort, and some of the most meaningful discoveries begin with a simple question.