Dan's Papers Digital Archive
Access the Digital Archive
Special Collections is excited to announce that it has digitized Dan’s Papers issues produced between 2000 and February 2023. The content is available through the Internet Archive, a publicly accessible digital library dedicated to preserving cultural artifacts, books, videos, websites, and more.
The digitized newspapers can be accessed and searched online via [this link].
About the Dan's Papers Digital Archive
On April 27, 2023, Stony Brook University announced that it had received, through donation, the 60-year archive of Dan’s Papers, the East End of Long Island’s weekly lifestyle publication. The archive was gifted by the publication's founder, Dan Rattiner. It is now part of Stony Brook’s Special Collections, the library division that stewards and curates the university’s collections of rare books, archival materials, manuscripts, and historical maps. The collection is currently undergoing a preservation assessment, with the intention to digitize it and make it freely available online.
“We are very excited to have Dan’s Papers as part of Stony Brook University Libraries’ collections,” said Jamie Saragossi, Interim Associate Dean of Collection Strategy and Management at Stony Brook University. “Dan’s Papers is an important addition to the library’s distinctive collections because of its depth and coverage of the social, political, and environmental history of Long Island."
“It benefits the mission of the university’s libraries and the wider research community,” added Kristen J. Nyitray, Director of Special Collections and University Archives, and University Archivist.
Dan’s Papers was established by Rattiner in 1960 and is currently one of the only weekly publications covering the entire East End. The collection, spanning from 1960 to 2023, comprises the most complete print run of Dan’s Papers held by a research library.
“I started by taking the first paper home once it was printed and kept doing it,” said Rattiner. “I hope that people will enjoy reading the publication. I think people will learn why so many have come out here to enjoy this place—because of its remarkable landscapes, beaches, and woods. It’s just such a beautiful place.”
The Need: Preservation and Digitization
Since its founding in 1969, Special Collections at Stony Brook University Libraries has led efforts to document and preserve Long Island history. With the acquisition of the iconic Dan's Papers archive, our research collections now include 60 years of contemporary stories chronicling Long Island's East End, as recorded in more than 3,000 issues.
Our goal is to make the Dan's Papers archive freely accessible online and available to future generations of researchers. To support this effort, founder Dan Rattiner has provided funding to initiate preservation and digitization work.
How to Support
Please join Dan's lead by making a financial gift to ensure this important project can be completed. To make a gift, visit the website Support Stony Brook University and on the online giving form, enter "Dan Rattiner Special Collections Fund" to direct your contribution to this initiative of the University Libraries.
For inquiries about the archive, please contact Kristen Nyitray, Director, Special Collections and University Archives, and University Archivist.
The Hampton Beach
The Montauk Pioneer
The Sag Harbor Pilot
The North Fork Free Enterprise
About the Donor: Dan Rattiner
American journalist and newspaper publisher Dan Rattiner is an award-winning writer, editor, and publisher of Dan’s Papers, an indispensable historical resource for the study of life and times in the Hamptons,
New York. He has authored several books and memoirs, among them: the coffee table
book Hamptons Private; Albert Einstein's Summer Vacation; In The Hamptons: My Fifty Years With Farmers, Fishermen, Writers, Artists, Billionaires
and Celebrities; The Hamptons Too: Further Encounters With Farmers, Fishermen, Artists,
Billionaires, and Celebrities, and Still in the Hamptons: More Tales of the Rich, the Famous and the Rest of Us.
Dan Rattiner with the archive of Dan's Papers, 2023.
About Stony Brook University Libraries
The University Libraries are an essential partner in Stony Brook University’s mission of global leadership in research, discovery, and learning, and positions itself as the hub of collaboration, digital innovation, open scholarship, and creativity. A member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL), the Libraries provide access to a wide-range of research content including world-renowned special collections that contribute significantly to student success and faculty productivity.
About Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University — New York’s flagship university and No. 1 public university — is going far beyond the expectations of today’s public universities. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. With more than 24,000 students, more than 2,800 faculty members, more than 200,000 alumni, a premier academic healthcare system and 18 NCAA Division I athletic programs, Stony Brook is a research-intensive distinguished center of innovation dedicated to addressing the world’s biggest challenges. The university embraces its mission to provide comprehensive undergraduate, graduate and professional education of the highest quality, and is ranked among the top 35 public universities by Forbes and one of the top 80 universities in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges listing. Fostering a commitment to academic research and intellectual endeavors, Stony Brook’s membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) places it among the top 65 research institutions in North America. The university’s distinguished faculty have earned esteemed awards such as the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation, Abel Prize and the inaugural Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics. Stony Brook has the responsibility of co-managing Brookhaven National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy — one of only eight universities with a role in running a national laboratory. Providing economic growth for neighboring communities and the wider geographic region, the university totals an impressive $7.23 billion in increased economic output on Long Island.