Today we team up with Stephanie Eberhard-Holgerson’s journalism class at Bayport Blue Point (BBP) High School to try to solve a mystery. At the suggestion of BBP’s librarian Pam Gustafson, the class has spent the last year looking into the school’s mascot, The Phantoms. The takeaway is that the straightforward question “where did the name come from” has yielded a very convoluted answer.

Digging into the research, the class combed school yearbooks, local newspaper archives, Board of Education minutes, and more. Their investigations took them down many paths, touching upon early aviation history, the foundations of ghost stories, local legends, and rival high school teams. They debunked some myths and found compelling evidence for others. They’ve also discovered a new appreciation for Long Island history and for the need of documenting school decisions for future generations.

Further Research

• Origin of BBP’s “Phantoms” Name
• Bayport-Blue Point Heritage Association
• Bayport Yearbooks(NY Heritage)
• Section XI Athletics (NYSPHSAA)
• Use of Indigenous Names, Mascots, and Logos (NYS Board of Regents)
• Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
• Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
• Audio Footnotes
  • Episode 168: Bayport History
  • Past episodes under Native Americans