NJ Weekend Historical Happenings: 3/2/19 - 3/3/19

 New Jersey Weekend Historical Happenings

A Weekly Feature on www.thehistorygirl.com

Want to submit an event? Use our event submission form.

Saturday, March 2 - Hopewell Township, Mercer County

Maple Sugaring
Children Friendly Event

Sugaring time arrives in late winter at Howell Farm and operations are in full swing. Visitors are invited to join the work and fun with sap collection, firewood cutting, syrup making, butter making, flour milling and pancake eating.

The trees are tapped beginning in early February. School groups, visitors and farm staff collect and boil down sap for several weeks. The sugar maple tree stores starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. Freezing nights and thawing days make for heavy sap flow. The trees are tapped by boring holes into their trunks and collecting the exuded sap beginning in early February. The sap is then processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup.

Sap gathering will take place at 12:00 noon and 2:00 pm. Tree tapping demonstrations will be held at 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 3:00 pm. The sugarhouse will be open from 11:00 am - 3:00 pm. Pancakes will be available from 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm.

Howell Living Farm represents typical farm life between 1890 and 1910. The farm is operated by the Mercer County Parks Commission. It is located at 70 Wooden's Lane, Lambertville, NJ. For more information. call 609-737-3299 or visit www.howellfarm.org.

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Saturday, March 2 - Lower Township, Cape May County
Cape May Lighthouse Open
Children Friendly

On Saturday, the Cape May Lighthouse, Oil House and Museum Shop reopens for the season. The lighthouse is an 1859 structure with 199 steps to the watch gallery for a panoramic view of the Jersey Cape and Atlantic Ocean. For those who choose not to climb, the Oil House contains a fully-accessible Visitors' Orientation Center and a Museum Shop stocked with maritime accessories and lighthouse memorabilia. Open 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm on Saturday. Cape May Point State Park is located in Lower Township, NJ. Admission to the Visitors' Orientation Center and the ground floor of the lighthouse is free. Tower admission is $8 for adults, $5 for children (ages 3-12). Sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). For more information, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 or visit www.capemaymac.org.

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Saturday, March 2 - Cape May, Cape May County
Emlen Physick Estate Tour
Family Friendly Tour

Take a guided tour of Cape May's Emlen Physick Estate, the magnificent Stick Style mansion attributed to renowned Victorian architect Frank Furness. A tour of the 15 beautifully restored rooms gives you a glimpse into the lifestyle of this Victorian-era Cape May family. Physick Estate Tours take approximately 45 minutes and end with a visit to the 1876 Carriage House where you can see the current exhibit in the Carroll Gallery. Tours will start at 12:30 pm. Admission is $12 for adults, $8 for children (ages 3-12). Tickets can be purchased at the Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington Street, Cape May, NJ. Sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). For more information and to reserve tickets, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 or visit www.capemaymac.org.

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Saturday - Sunday, March 2 - 3 - Cape May, Cape May County
Physick Estate Scavenger Hunt
Family Friendly

Have an adventure the whole family will enjoy at the 1879 Emlen Physick Estate! Use our map to explore the grounds and find the answers to questions about the Physick family and life in Victorian times on this educational scavenger hunt. Turn in your answer sheet at the Carriage House Museum Shop and receive a prize!

$5 includes map and clues. Maps and clues available at the Hill House office or the Carriage House Visitors Center at the Emlen Physick Estate. The Emlem Physick Estate is located at 1048 Washington Street, Cape May, NJ. Sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). For more information and to reserve tickets, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 or visit www.capemaymac.org.

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Saturday - Sunday, March 2 - 3 - Cape May, Cape May County
Cape May Historic District Trolley Tour

Enjoy a 45 minute guided tour with entertaining and enlightening stories about the nation's oldest seaside resort and how it survived. Accessible trolley available with advance notification. Tour begins at the Washington Street Mall Information Booth. Tours begin and end at the Washington Street Mall Information Booth.

Adults $12 and children (ages 3-12) $8. Tours on Saturday at 11:45 am and Sunday at 1:00 pm. Sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). For more information and to reserve tickets, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 or visit www.capemaymac.org.

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Sunday, March 3 - Readington Township, Hunterdon County
A Stitch In Time: 17th And 18th Century Textiles And Quilts
Family Friendly

On Sunday from 1:00-4:00 pm, Dana Bala will present 17th and 18th century quilts, textiles, and embroidery. She will discuss how legislation influenced the price and production of cloth and how fabric related to domestic life. Bala will include the evolution of quilting and embroidery throughout textile history.

Dana Bala has been quilting for over 12 years. She combines her love of history and fabric by researching historic quilts, patterns, techniques and the textile industry. Bala has presented at other historic sites such as the Abraham Staats House, the Miller-Corey Museum, and volunteers at Washington Crossing Park. Her other areas of interest/expertise include embroidery, cooking, and genealogy.

This Open House Sunday program will be held at the Bouman-Stickney Farmstead, located at 114 Dreahook Road in the Stanton section Readington Township. For GPS use Lebanon, NJ 08833.

This is a free family friendly event, although donations will be gratefully accepted. In case of inclement weather please call the Museums to find out the status of the program. For more information, call 908-236-2327 or visit https://www.readingtontwpnj.gov/visiting/museum.

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Sunday, March 3 - Princeton, Mercer County
Historic Princeton Walking Tour
Children Friendly Tour

Enjoy a 1.9 mile, two-hour walk around downtown Princeton and the University campus as you learn about historic sites in the area, including Bainbridge House, Nassau Hall, the University Chapel, and Palmer Square. The early history of Princeton, the founding of the University, and the American Revolution are just some of the stories from Princeton’s history that you will learn on your tour.

Admission: $7 per adult; $4 children ages 6 to 12; free for children age 5 and under. Tours begin in front of the Bainbridge House, 158 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ. Tour begins at 2:00 pm and ends at 4:00 pm. Walk up ticket sales are cash only; guides cannot provide change. Space is limited. For more information and to reserve tickets, call 609-921-6748 or visit www.princetonhistory.org.

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Sunday, March 3 -  Bridgewater, Somerset County
Hobbstown, Bridgewater's Unique Afro American Community

The Somerset County Historical Society is pleased to present its first history talk of 2019 on Sunday at 2:00 pm. Cindy Newsome will speak about her book, Hobbstown, which won an award from the county cultural committee.

Hobbstown was recently in the news when the township officially changed the name of the community from Somerville Manor to Hobbstown. Come and hear story!

The location of the event will be at the Bradley Gardens Community Church, 124 Old York Road in the Bradley Gardens section of Bridgewater, NJ. The facility will open at 1:30 and refreshments will be served.

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Sunday, March 3 - Westampton, Burlington County
Bobbin Lace Making

A will of 1493 by the Milanese Sforza family mentions lace created with twelve bobbins. Bobbin lace evolved from passementerie or braid-making in 16th-century Italy. Bobbin lace was developed in Genoa, a city famous for its braids.

Bobbin lace is a lace made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread, which are wound on bobbins to manage them. Kim Hanley of the American Historic Theatre will relate the history of this fascinating art while demonstrating the technique.

Program begins at 2:00 pm. Admission is $10 per person. Seating is limited; prepaid reservations are required to guarantee seating. Peachfield is located at 180 Burrs Road, Westampton, NJ. For more information and to register, call 609-267-6996, e-mail colonialdamesnj@comcast.net, or visit www.colonialdamesnj.org.

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Sunday, March 3 - Morristown, Morris County
Mark Twain Becomes a Jersey Boy: His Friendship with Thomas Nast

On Sunday at 2:00 pm at Macculloch Hall, John Pascal, a scholar of Mark Twain, will trace the friendship of these visual and literary giants in this illustrated lecture. The program is free with museum admission and for members. Museum admission is $8 for adults, $6 for students and seniors, $4 for children under 12, and free for children 5 and under. Macculloch Hall is located at 45 Macculloch Avenue, Morristown, NJ. For more information, visit www.maccullochhall.org.

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Sunday, March 3 - South River, Middlesex County
Open House

Stop by the South River Historical & Preservation Society on Sunday from 1:30 - 3:30 pm and view exhibits on all aspects of Borough history including: schools; churches and houses of worship; local businesses and organizations; daily life; events and celebrations; and more. While you are there, see the cemetery located behind the building, ask questions, drop off donations, or exchange hometown stories with the docents. The museum is located at 64-66 Main Street, South River. For more information, visit http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njsrhps/museum.html.

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Sunday, March 3 - Pennsauken, Camden County
Annual Welsh Heritage Day at Griffith Morgan House

The sounds, smells and tastes of Wales will delight and enlighten visitors to the historic, colonial home of the Morgan family in Pennsauken on Sunday from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm. A warm hearth and the aromas of simple Welsh farmhouse foods prepared by Alicia McShulkis will greet the visitors first. The sweet sounds of Welsh folk tunes performed on harp by Laura Dishong waft from the adjoining parlor evoking the legendary bards of old Cambria. “All Through the Night” has rarely sounded so sweet!

In the opposite wing of the ancient home, authentic and traditional Welsh foods will be offered for the tasting, kindling the hiraeth or homeward longing of Welsh heritage. While enjoying the Welsh delicacies, a display about the land and language, myths and history, migrations and persistency of the Welsh offer food for consideration as well.

At last, the more playful and boisterous expressions of Wales’ heritage are embodied in the pirate crew The Sea Dogs! The spirits of Captain Henry Morgan and the dread pirate Bartholomew Roberts, among other unsavory Welshmen, will be stirred by the sea shanties and lore offered by these perennial favorites come ashore from parts unknown. Griffith Morgan, himself a Welsh mariner, would no doubt be pleased.

Admission is free and there is plenty of free parking available. Griffith Morgan House is located at 243 Griffith Morgan Lane, off River Road between Delair and Route 73.

Visit the Griffith Morgan House or Pennsauken Historical Society pages or the group “Pennsauken History Forum” on Facebook for more details or directions or call 856-486-9561 and leave a message or e-mail to pennsaukenhistoricalsociety@gmail.com.

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Through Sunday, April 14 - Cape May, Cape May County
Collecting History: Personal Collections of Cape May's African American Community
Family Friendly

Collecting is a lifelong passion for many individuals who hunt, preserve, and curate items of importance and interest. It's not just the object that holds curiosity, but the story it has to tell. Never before seen personal collections of dolls, stamps, postcards, hats, books, art, and pocket watches will be exhibited along with John Nash's collection. Mr. Nash was a beloved community historian whose dedication to collecting Cape May's African American history formed the basis for Center for Community Arts' Nash African American History Archives.

This exhibit will be held at the Carroll Gallery on the grounds of the Emlen Physick Estate. Admission to the exhibit is free. Visit www.capemaymac.org/carriage-house-hours for exhibit hours. The Emlem Physick Estate is located at 1048 Washington Street, Cape May, NJ. Sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). For more information, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 or visit www.capemaymac.org.

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Through June 2019 - Ocean Township, Monmouth County
"Wet as the Atlantic Ocean: Prohibition in New Jersey”

The 18th Amendment—the measure that made the manufacture, sale, or transport of alcoholic beverages a federal offense for the 13 years, 10 months, 19 days, and 17 hours of Prohibition—was repealed in 1933. It is the only Constitution Amendment ever to be undone. And its doing and undoing were the results of a tug-of-war between the “Wets” and the “Drys” that played out across the country.

A new exhibit opening to the public Sunday, in the Richmond Gallery of the Eden Woolley House reveals where New Jersey stood in that tug-of-war. “Wet as the Atlantic Ocean: Prohibition in NJ” brings the debates, glamour, and violence of the Roaring Twenties home.

How did it happen?
The prohibition debate had been argued across the country for nearly a century before the 18th Amendment outlawed alcohol nationwide. Maine passed the first state prohibition law in 1846 and by the Civil War, several other states had followed suit.

So what happened in the first decades of the next century to elevate debate into a campaign for a Constitutional Amendment—that took the fight national?

• Drunkenness was a real problem. The proliferation of saloons fueled a drinking culture, and between 1900 and 1913, beer and alcohol consumption soared. Women and families suffered.
• Women had been campaigning for abstinence since the early 1800s, By the turn of the century they were finding their voice, stridently advocating for the vote-— and increasingly for prohibition. Organizations like the Women’s Christian Temperance Union were gaining ground.
• Many Americans felt threatened by the influx of immigrants whose cultural norms around alcohol threatened prevailing white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant values.
• On the global scene, the unthinkable carnage of the First World War and the alarming success of the Russian Revolution fueled a nostalgic longing for control and order.

Under these conditions, pro-prohibition sentiment grew. By 1919 more than half the country lived in dry states, counties, or towns. If the 18th Amendment were to be passed, it needed to happen before the 1920 census, the results of which would give greater power to the anti-prohibition cities.

The last state to Ratify
Ours was the last state to ratify the 18th amendment and it did so in 1922, two years after the measure was in effect. (Rhode Island and Connecticut never ratified.) We fought Prohibition in court. New Jersey joined Rhode Island in a losing challenge before the Supreme Court (1920). And we were back in 1931, when the Supreme Court overruled a New Jersey federal judge’s decision invalidating the 18th Amendment.

New Jersey’s Resistance
It’s no surprise, then, that Prohibition enforcement in New Jersey was lax. Local fishermen and boaters shuttled bootlegged liquor to shore from rum-running ships lined up just outside the legal limit. Speakeasies thrived with little risk of raid. The state underfunded enforcement. Corruption was rampant. Local police turned a blind eye. Even the teetotaling and incorruptible Ira Reeves, the man put in charge of federal enforcement in New Jersey, resigned after eight months and took up the anti-Prohibition cause!

This exhibit runs through June 2019. The Township of Ocean Historical Museum offers exhibits on the history of coastal Monmouth County and a full calendar of events. The Museum also houses a library and archive of local history. It is open, free of charge, 1:00 - 4:00 pm, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday, 7:00 - 9:00 pm Thursday evenings, and 1:00 - 4:00 pm the first and second Sundays of each month. The Township of Ocean Historical Museum is located at 703 Deal Road, Ocean, NJ. For more information, visit www.oceanmuseum.org.

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Through June 2019 - Morristown, Morris County
Iconic Culture: From Little Black Dress to Bell Bottoms

Morris County Historical Society’s upcoming exhibit, Iconic Culture: From Little Black Dress to Bell Bottoms, promises to be a one-stop spot for a stroll down memory lane.

From the timeless designs of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel to the trend-setting bell bottoms of Sonny and Cher, MCHS explores more than 50 years of cultural history through a retrospective featuring nearly 100 pieces from its historic textile collection. Iconic Culture will examine how changes in clothing styles mirrored the social climate of their time and the seminal moments and people who defined their decade – with a focus on New Jersey history.

In addition to the fashions, Iconic Culture will highlight cultural milestones in local, state, and national history that coincided with the Roaring 20s, Great Depression, World War II, Civil Rights Movement, and Vietnam Era.

This multimedia exhibit features music, television shows, and radio broadcasts. Visitors will also have an opportunity to share personal recollections about significant events, such as the assassination of President Kennedy.

The exhibit is available through Sunday, June 16, 2019. Morris County Historical Society is located at Acorn Hall, 68 Morris Avenue, Morristown, NJ and is open Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11:000 am - 4:00 pm and Sundays, 1:00 - 4:00 pm. Admission, which includes the exhibits and landscaped grounds, is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for students, and is free for children under 12 and MCHS members. For more information, call 973-267-3465 or visit www.MorrisCountyHistory.org.

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Some event listings courtesy of the League of Historical Societies of New Jersey