1) Drennan, John P., 1906-1986. Photographs, c.1920s-1985. Special Collections Department/Long Island Studies Institute Contact Information: Special Collections Department Axinn Library, Room 032 123 Hofstra University Hempstead, NY 11549 Phone: (516) 463-6411, or 463-6404 Fax: (516) 463-6442 E-mail:
[email protected] http://www.hofstra.edu/Libraries/SpecialCollections Compiled by: [M. O’Connor] Date [ Nov. 28, 2012] Completed: [M. O’Connor Updated: August 7, 2015] Drennan, John P., 1906-1986. Photographs, c.1920s-1985. 4.8 cubic ft. Born on March 25, 1906, John P. Drennan was a news reporter and commercial photographer. He worked at Roosevelt Field (located in what is now East Garden City) from c.1927 through c.1951, except during the war years of 1942-1945. After Roosevelt Field closed in 1951, he moved his business, Drennan Photo Service, to a two-story building that he purchased on First St. in Mineola. Drennan started out as an aviation photographer and was acquainted with and photographed a number of famous figures from early American aviation history, including Glenn Curtiss, Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan, and Charles Lindbergh. In 1927, he photographed Lindbergh taking off on his historic solo non-stop flight from Roosevelt Field to Le Bourget Field in Paris. In 1938, in the week before his famed transatlantic flight from Floyd Bennett Field (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to Ireland, it was reported that Corrigan borrowed Drennan’s New York Times every day to check the weather report. Over the years, Drennan also specialized in construction worksite “progress” photographs for architects and contractors; was hired by New York City newspapers to cover Long Island stories; and, photographed and reported on virtually any type of newsworthy event, including the Vanderbilt Cup races, for newspapers like Newsday and the Long Island Press.