When one considers the comprehensive nature of Five Towns College today with nearly 40 undergraduate and graduate programs enrolling approximately 1,200 men and women, it is difficult to imagine the humble beginnings of this institution.

The vision for Five Towns College began in 1969, when the baby boom generation was flooding New York area colleges and universities. Seats in existing colleges and universities were almost impossible to find, as draft-age men sought deferments from the Vietnam War by enrolling in college. At that time, a group of community leaders, led by the Five Towns College founders, Dr. Stanley G. Cohen and the late Mrs. Lorraine Kleinman-Cohen, understood the great need for higher education services, particularly in the southwestern corner of Nassau County, NY – a geographic region commonly known as the “Five Towns.” Under their leadership, the group petitioned the New York State Board of Regents for a Charter to establish Five Towns College.

The original site for the College was to be in Lawrence, NY – one of the Five Towns. However, the Board of Regents did not issue a Charter for the College until February 24, 1972. By that time the original campus site in Lawrence was no longer available. When the grand opening finally came to pass in 1974, the College had leased a school building in Merrick, NY.

Five Towns College occupied the Merrick campus for nearly ten (10) years until 1982. During those formative years, several innovative programs were launched. The College was the first in New York State to establish a program in jazz/commercial music, and it was the first to establish a program in music business. Although the College was originally conceived as a “business” college, music quickly became its forté.

The Merrick years are considered by some to have been a “golden age.” The campus was smaller and simpler, but the students it attracted came in part because of its eclectic and creative atmosphere. Original faculty members included music legends such as vibraphonist Ray Alexander, pianist Lee Evans, guitarist Ray Gogarty, electronic music pioneer Don Muro, and percussionist Mickey Sheen. Some original faculty members such as pianist Chuck Mymit and guitarist Peter Rogine are still active faculty members.

In response to growing enrollments and the need for more space, in 1982 the College pulled up stakes and moved to just a few miles east to Seaford, NY. Even in those years, people who were unfamiliar with the history of the College would wonder why Five Towns College was located in Seaford.

The Seaford years were a wonderful time of growth and maturity. The College achieved regional accreditation in 1988, was elevated to baccalaureate status in 1990 and then to graduate status in 1991 when it was authorized to confer the Master of Music (M.M.) degree. It was in Seaford that the College constructed its first 24-track recording studio, experimented with closed-circuit radio broadcasting, and vastly expanded student courses and services. By 1990, however, it was clear that the College was outgrowing the Seaford campus, and once again a move would be required. After the class of 1992 graduated, the College was literally packed up in a fleet of tractor-trailers and moved to Dix Hills, NY, where its permanent home has been located ever since.

Since 1992 the College has made major strides. The physical plant has been completely updated with state-of-the-art technology and learning environments, including four new residence halls, the John Lennon Center for Music and Technology, and innumerable other improvements.

Academically, the College has added graduate programs, and today is only the 34th institution of higher education in the State of New York with the authority to confer degrees at the doctoral level, and only the 8th institution with the authority to confer the Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) degree. The College has established a national reputation for programs in music, media, and the performing arts, and attracts students from across New York State, the nation, and several foreign countries. In addition to the College’s accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), the College’s Education Division, which offers programs in Childhood Education (grades 1–6) and Music Education (grades K–12) at both the undergraduate and graduate level, is accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

Today, more than ever before, Five Towns College is a community of artists and scholars who specialize in music, media, business, education, theatre, film and the performing arts. This unique place, defined by the talented men and women who form its constituency, looks forward to the future with hope and excitement.

Neil and Caroline Schaffner owned and operated the Schaffner Players, a traveling repertoire company, dating from 1927 to 1964. Through the years, they collected memorabilia relating to Midwest entertainment from their show and some of the other 300 to 400 touring companies in the country. In the 1960s, they began looking for an organization that could house their collection. The Schaffners eventually made an arrangement with the Midwest Old Threshers and Settlers organization to construct a building for that purpose. The project fit well with Old Threshers' mission of preserving many aspects of our country's agricultural heritage, and the Schaffners' collection was moved to Mount Pleasant in 1973 when the building was completed.

The research library contains thousands of pieces of memorabilia and the largest collection of repertoire scripts in the nation. Work on developing a thorough database that describes the items in the collection has been ongoing since 1995. Visitors can schedule an appointment to search through the database and view the actual materials. Of special interest is the collection of video-taped interviews with actual "troupers" in which they talk about their professional and personal experiences. Only a few of the companies had continued to operate through the 60s and 70s. The last one, the Schaffner show with James V. Davis as owner, ended its run in 1998.

The National Society for the Preservation of Tent, Folk and Repertoire Theatre was organized in 1968 to aid in the preservation of the memorabilia and culture of this era of theatrical history including the Schaffner and other similar collections. It was also to help facilitate literary endeavors, scholarly research, and public enjoyment and enlightenment. Members of the Society and others meet for seminars each year-2008 was the twenty-third-and for other events. They provide volunteer assistance in the Museum and with its research collection.

Known as "the king of nostalgia," Franklin's highly-rated television and radio shows, especially his long-running "Memory Lane" radio programs, focused on old-time show-business personalities. Franklin has an encyclopedic knowledge of the music, musicians and singers, the Broadway stage shows and the films and entertainment stars of the first half of the 20th Century: he began his entertainment career at 16 as a record picker for Martin Block's popular "Make Believe Ballroom" radio program; he is an acknowledged authority on silent film; he has the largest private sheet music collection in the world; and he has counted among his friends many show business legends, from Tony Curtis (with whom he grew up) to old vaudevillians (on his television show, Franklin has described how as a very young boy playing in Central Park he even met George M. Cohan).

Franklin has interviewed over 10,000 guests during his 43-year TV run. These ranged from well-known novelty performers like Tiny Tim and Morris Katz to popular entertainers like Bill Cosby to legends like Bing Crosby, Charlie Chaplin, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant and John Lennon, but also frequently included (sometimes on the same panel) utterly unknown local New York punk bands, self-published authors, "tribute" impersonator lounge singers, and the like, giving the show a surreal atmosphere that was part of its appeal to the followers of its cult.

After retiring from the television show, Franklin concentrated on an overnight radio show, playing old records on WOR-AM on Saturday evenings. He currently interviews celebrities on the Bloomberg Radio Network.

An author, Franklin has written 23 books, including Classics of the Silent Screen. His 1995 autobiography Up Late with Joe Franklin[4] chronicles his long career and includes the astounding claims that he had dalliances with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, and that Veronica Lake "threw herself at me, but I always refrained." He has appeared as himself in countless films, notably Ghostbusters and Broadway Danny Rose.