Generation after generation has assumed the task of interpreting East Hampton's past and passing it on to the future. Not that there haven't been stumbling blocks along the way. More than one critic has, understandably, viewed with alarm the seasonal influx of outsiders that swelled the population, caused the sprouting of boutique after boutique on Main Street and filled the former potato fields with designer houses with designer landscaping. The problem, those who view this with alarm say, is that many of these newcomers bring with them no sense of East Hampton's community history, that many, in truth, do not much care. One who seems to have this view is Helen Rattray, editor of The East Hampton Star, a weekly newspaper.
People flock here for the glitz, for the transient thrill of associating with the rich and famous.
Very seriously, indeed. Tom Twomey, a Riverhead lawyer and an East Hamptonite, has history in his heart. He is president of the East Hampton Library, whose collection of Long Island books, manuscripts, maps and town records is the finest in any nonuniversity library in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. About four years ago, Twomey and 21 other private citizens, concerned that rare documents and archival materials were being lost forever, formed the East Hampton Rare Book and Map Society. The group searches for historically important documents, which it buys and donates to the library's ever-expanding collection.