NJ Weekend Historical Happenings: 11/30/19

New Jersey Weekend Historical Happenings

A Weekly Feature on www.thehistorygirl.com

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Friday, November 29 - Bedminster, Somerset County

Liberty Tree Lighting
Children Friendly Event

The Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House are hosting a tree lighting on Friday at 6:30 pm to kick off the 17th Annual Colonial Christmas celebration, which will be held Saturday and Sunday, December 7 - 8.

The tree lighting is free to the community and features caroling with the Harmonium Choral Society and hot chocolate.

The Jacobus Vanderveer House is located at 3055 River Road (in Bedminster’s River Road Park), Bedminster, NJ. For more information, call 908-396-6053 or visit www.jvanderveerhouse.org.

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Saturday, November 30 - Hopewell Township, Mercer County

Thanksgiving Hayrides/Wreath/Sleighbell Sale
Children Friendly Event

Sleigh bells will ring when Howell Living Farm holds its annual Thanksgiving program featuring free horse drawn hayrides, a wreath and sleigh bell sale, and a special children's craft program.

Horse drawn hayrides (or sleigh rides!) will be offered throughout the day. There is no charge for the rides, but everyone is encouraged to bring a non-perishable food stuff to donate to local area food banks as a thank you for the wagon ride. Monetary donations to the food bank are also welcome.

Sleighbells will be sold throughout the day by The Friends of Howell Farm to benefit the Farm's restoration projects. The bells are made by the farm's harness maker, who makes the harnesses and sleigh bells worn by the Farm's workhorses. Brass and nickel plated bells will be sold in straps of six, twelve, and twenty bells. Reproduction cast bells, bell door ringers and bell ornaments will also be available.

Other holiday items featured at the annual fundraiser include fresh evergreen wreaths and door hangings; baskets of the Farm's flour, honey and maple syrup; and beautiful handmade items sewn by the Pleasant Valley Stitchers.

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, November 30 - Highlands, Monmouth County
Winterfest
Children Friendly Event

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Saturday - Sunday, November 30 - December 1 - 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. Tours begin and end at the Washington Street Mall Information Booth.

Adults $15 and children (ages 3-12) $8. Tours on Saturday at 10:30 am, 11:45 am, 1:00 pm, 2:15 pm, and 3:30 pm and Sunday at 11:45 am, 1:00 pm, and 2:15 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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Saturday - Sunday, November 30 - December 1 - Lower Township, Cape May County
Climb the Cape May Lighthouse
Family Friendly Site

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 - 4:00 pm on Saturday and 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm on Sunday. 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 $10 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 - Sunday, November 30 - December 1 - Cape May, Cape May County
Physick Family Christmas House Tour
Family Friendly Tour

On the Physick Family Christmas House Tour, you will visit the Physick Estate, decorated in true Victorian style, for a unique living history experience with members of the Physick Family household of the 1890s. Also see the Christmas Traditions exhibit at the Carriage House Gallery, a breathtaking Dickens Village beneath the boughs of a giant Christmas tree. Physick Estate Tours take approximately 45 minutes. On Saturday, tours will start at 12:30, 1:45, 3:00, and 4:15 pm. On Sunday, the tours start at 12:30, 1:45, and 3:00 pm. Admission is $15 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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Saturdays and Sundays through December 1 - Paterson, Passaic County
32nd Annual Lambert Castle Holiday Boutique

Through December 1, Lambert Castle, home of the Passaic County Historical Society will present the 32nd annual Lambert Castle Holiday Boutique. Open Wednesday through Friday from 10:00 am - 8:00 pm, Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, the boutique invites you to enjoy shopping for this year's assortment of festive holiday gifts, jewelry, seasonal decorations, crafts, collectibles, and gourmet food in the historic atmosphere and ambiance of Lambert Castle.

Admission to the show is $6. All admission fees include two return visits. Children under 12 years are admitted free of charge. No child strollers or carriages are permitted inside the Castle. Visa and Mastercard are accepted for purchases. The café will return to the third floor serving a variety of soups, sandwiches, as well as hot and cold drinks. All proceeds from this fundraiser benefit the Passaic County Historical Society.

The Passaic County Historical Society, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, was founded to cultivate interest among individuals and the community-at-large in the rich history of Passaic County. To this end our museum in Lambert Castle showcases examples of the County's cultural and artistic diversity, as well as examples of the County's natural, civil, military, and ecclesiastical history. The Society also maintains a library and archive, which houses manuscripts, books and photographs of historical and genealogical interest.

Lambert Castle is located at 3 Valley Road, Paterson NJ. For more information, call 973-247-0085 or visit www.lambertcastle.org.

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Sunday, December 1 - Morristown, Morris County
An Afternoon with John & Dorothy Hancock

The Jewish Historical Society of New Jersey (JHSNJ) and Morristown National Historical Park (NHP) invite you to join them at 2:00 pm on Sunday for an afternoon with John and Dorothy Hancock to commemorate the 75th anniversary of a 1944 donation by the local Jewish community to Morristown NHP. The program will occur in Morristown NHP's Washington’s Headquarters Museum, 30 Washington Place, Morristown, NJ.

The gift to Morristown NHP was of an 18th-century highboy chest of drawers, and served as a thank you to the nation for its support of the Jewish community during the Second World War. The donation was enhanced by the provenance of the chest to John Hancock.

The event will feature period appropriate light refreshments, a program by Mr. & Mrs. Hancock, portrayed by actors from the American Historical Theater, and an opportunity to see the chest currently on limited-time exhibit in the Ford Mansion.

The program is free of charge, but registration is required. To register, contact Linda Forgosh at lforgosh@jfedgmw.org or 973-929-2994.

The highboy will be on display until December 31, 2019 in at the Ford Mansion and only available during guided tours. For more information on visiting the Ford Mansion, visit www.nps.gov/morr.

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Sunday, December 1 - 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, December 1 - Lambertville, Hunterdon County
Christmas on the Farm at the Holcombe-Jimison Farmstead Museum
Children Friendly Event

Join us to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season on Sunday from 12:00 noon - 4:00 pm. The 1711 House will be decorated for Christmas with a visit from Santa Claus. The Farmstead Museum will be open for tours. There will be blacksmith demonstrations, craft vendors, holiday music, crafts for the children, and refreshments for all. Take your own photos with Santa or with the antique sleigh. $5.00 per guest donation, children 5 and under are free. The Holcombe-Jimison Farmstead Museum is located at 1605 Daniel Bray Highway, Lambertville, NJ. For more information contact Sue by email: pstcastlecreek@yahoo.com.

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Sunday, December 1 - Eatontown, Monmouth County
Eatontown Historical Museum December Open House

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Sunday, December 1 - Hammonton, Burlington County
Winter In the Pines
Children Friendly

The Batsto Citizens Committee, Inc. (BCCI) will host a holiday celebration; "Winter In the Pines" on Sunday at Historic Batsto Village from 12:00 noon - 4:00 pm. Centered within the heart of the historic Pinelands village, the afternoon-long event will feature music, carriage rides, holiday treats and special tours of some of Batsto’s original 18th and 19th century buildings.

The South Jersey Carriage Company will offer rides aboard their beautiful Victorian designed carriages, which will wind throughout Batsto’s upper village from 12 noon to 3:45 p.m. There is a $3 per person charge for the rides. Two carriages will be operated simultaneously because the rides have become so popular during the holiday event.

Throughout the afternoon, the Aurora Choir of St. Nicholas Church, from Egg Harbor City, will spread good cheer with their strolling entertainment. Dressed in period costumes made of velvet, satin, and other materials, the carolers will present songs of the season and may even inspire a sing-along or two among visitors.

Famous among philatelics - people who collect stamps - the circa 1852 Batsto Post Office will be open to hand-cancel holiday mail. The decades-long tradition of mailing that day has become so popular among stamp collectors since Batsto’s postmark cancellation requires no zip code - a long held anomaly - because of the historical significance of the village.

Light refreshments and treats will be served to guests by the Batsto Citizens Committee Inc. in the Exhibit Room adjacent to the Post Office, where several displays will interest both adults and children.

In the auditorium of the Batsto Visitors Center, guests may view a display of local artwork and photography. The center’s museum will be open for self-guided tours and center’s Museum Shop may be the perfect place to do some holiday shopping for Pinelands books, Jersey Devil t-shirts, local pottery, ornaments, and other Batsto-related gift items.

The centerpiece of the day may be a special tour of the stately Batsto Mansion, which will be decorated in high style for the holidays. Tour tickets are $3 per person and may be obtained at the Visitor’s Center.

Other Batsto landmarks such as the Blacksmith, Gristmill, and Woodworking shops will also be open to visitors.

Batsto is located in the Pinelands of Burlington County, South Jersey approximately 7 miles east of Hammonton on Route 542 and about 15 miles west of Exit 50 on the Garden State Parkway. Further information may be obtained by calling the Batsto Visitor Center at 609-561-0024 or visit www.batstovillage.org.

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Through December 2019 - Ridgewood, Bergen County
Here Comes The Bride - Chronicling Two Hundred Years of Wedding Customs & Traditions

Something old. Something new. Something borrowed. Something blue. Tossing the bouquet. Bride and Groom cake toppers. Putting a sixpence in your shoe. Where did these traditions originate? Why do we still honor them today? Please join us as we walk down the aisle and trace the history of Ridgewood’s wedding traditions.

The Schoolhouse Museum celebrates the opening of its current featured exhibit “Here Comes The Bride - Chronicling Two Hundred Years of Wedding Customs & Traditions.” This new exhibit features items dating from 1789-1989, showcasing many beautiful wedding gowns from the museum's collection - some of which have never been on exhibit before.

While at the museum, see the curio cabinet exhibit “50 Small Things with Big Histories.” The exhibits are open until December 2019 and are free to the public with donations suggested at the door. Museum hours are Thursdays and Saturdays from 1:00 - 3:00 pm and Sundays from 2:00 - 4:00 pm.

The Schoolhouse Museum is a historic one-room schoolhouse in Ridgewood, New Jersey, originally built in 1872, that has been turned into a gallery space which now houses the Ridgewood Historical Society. Entirely volunteer-run, the non-profit Historical Society presents annual exhibits, events and workshops in a community that values education, family and local and national history. The museum is located at 650 E Glen Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ.

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Through Wednesday, January 1, 2020 - Cape May, Cape May County
An Old-Fashioned Christmas
Family Friendly

The wonders of the season come to life in “An Old-Fashioned Christmas Exhibit: Holiday Traditions through the Years,” at the Carroll Gallery in the Physick Estate Carriage House. Experience a breathtaking exhibit of holiday traditions complete with a giant Christmas tree, a Dickens Village, model trains, nostalgic photos from Christmas past, and more! The exhibit will be available for viewing from Friday, November 22, 2019 through Sunday, January 1, 2020. Open daily (except Thanksgiving and Christmas); hours vary. Free admission. Sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). For more information or gallery hours, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 or visit www.capemaymac.org.

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Through Sunday, January 5, 2020 - Parsippany, Morris County
The American Arts and Crafts Chair: “A Message of Honesty and Joy”

The exhibition will feature thirteen exemplary examples of side chairs by handicraft-oriented furniture manufacturers--among them Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Workshops, the L&JG Stickley Company, the Charles P. Limbert Company--as well as smaller, craft-oriented workshops such as Charles Rohlfs, the Roycroft Shops, Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, and Rose Valley Association. The exhibition will explore the usefulness and appealing designs of these vital products of the American Arts and Crafts movement and show how these chairs brought a message of honesty and joy to their makers and their possessors. Guest curator is David Cathers.

On view from: Saturday, June 1, 2019 to Sunday, January 5, 2020. Thursdays through Sundays 12:00 noon - 4:00 pm. Admission varies depending on the type of tour. Free to Members. Craftsman Farms is located at 2352 Route 10 West, Morris Plains, NJ. For more information, call 973-540-0311, email info@stickleymuseum.org, or visit www.stickleymuseum.org.

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Through June 28, 2020 - Trenton, Mercer County
Preserving the Pinelands: Albert Horner’s Portraits of a National Treasure

The New Jersey State Museum is hosting Preserving the Pinelands: Albert Horner’s Portraits of a National Treasure from through June 28, 2020 in the 1st floor East Gallery. The exhibit features images which capture the quiet beauty and intimate landscapes of New Jersey’s Pinelands National Reserve by photographer Albert Horner, and artifacts from the NJ State Museum’s collections which tell just some of the stories of the land, animals, people, and industries that make the Reserve a state and national treasure. Horner, a self-taught photographer from Medford Lakes, brings curiosity, reverence and a practiced eye to his craft, recording the forests, cedar swamps, meandering waterways and native wildflowers that make the Pinelands unique. In addition to being home to rare plant and animal species, the Reserve also contains archaeological sites and a vibrant cultural history of craftspeople, industry and agriculture.

The museum is open Tuesday - Sunday from 9:00 am to 4:45 pm. It is closed Mondays and on state holidays. The New Jersey State Museum is located at 205 West State Street, Trenton, NJ. For more information, 609-292-6300 or visit www.state.nj.us/state/museum/index.html.

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Through June 28, 2020 - Piscataway, Middlesex County
Mid-Century New Jersey Exhibit

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Through 2020 - Ocean Township, Monmouth County

"Votes for Women: The Story of Suffrage"

When the Founders crafted the U.S. Constitution, they gave the authority to decide who could vote to the states. All but one decided it would be men—white, property-owning men, 21 years old and older.

The one exception was New Jersey. For the first few decades of our new nation, property-owning women in New Jersey could vote. But in 1807, state legislators took a step backward and rescinded the right. New Jersey women joined their sisters across the country who were shut off from the ballot.

The new exhibit, “Votes for Women: The Story of Suffrage” opening in the Woolley House, Sunday, tells of the remarkable campaign waged by women across the country to gain (and for New Jersey women, to regain) the vote.

The Start of a Movement
Most historians mark the start of the American suffrage movement from the 1848 Women’s Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Both women had discovered their political voice fighting for the abolition of slavery. Both had felt the sting of being shut out by male-dominated leadership. They were outraged, frustrated, and ready to take on the status quo.

The status quo at the time was a sorry mess for women. Not only were they barred from public speaking and leadership positions, but married women could not own property, keep their own wages, or enter into any legal contract. Women were shut out of most professions. Divorce was near impossible, even in cases of abuse. A woman’s place was in the home—often an inherited home whose title had been ceded to her husband.

In 1851, three years after the Seneca Falls conference, Elizabeth Cady Stanton met Susan B. Anthony. Though strikingly unlike in appearance and temperament, they became lifelong friends. Together, they made a formidable team that reigned for more than 50 years as the iconic leaders of the suffrage movement.

Anthony and Stanton travelled the country making speeches and gathering support. When Stanton, mother of seven, cut back on travel, she stayed hard a work—writing Anthony’s speeches, organizing supporters, even rewriting the Bible from a feminist perspective.

Both women were bitterly disappointed when Congress refused, following the Civil War, to expand the language of the 15th Amendment to bar discrimination in voting based on both race and sex. Their outrage generated harsh statements from these former abolitionists that created a lasting racial rift among suffragists.

Anthony and Stanton did not give up. In 1878, they pushed for a 16th Amendment to guarantee women the right to vote. The “Susan B. Anthony Amendment,” as it became known, failed in this first attempt and was introduced anew to each session of Congress for the next 42 years! The (by then) 19th Amendment, granting women’s suffrage, was finally ratified in 1920.

They Didn’t Live to see It
Neither Stanton nor Anthony lived to see passage. Their efforts fell short of their goals. But the inroads they gained, the organizations they created, and the national awareness they built set the stage for the next generation—the early 20th century activists who carried the campaign for women’s suffrage to victory.

The Second Wave
Among this second wave of suffragists were the daughters of Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott—and newcomers, including Carrie Chapman Catt and New Jersey native Alice Paul. Catt and Paul were rivals. Their strategies and styles were at odds. Catt favored local campaigns to change state voting laws. She thought militant demonstration unpatriotic after the U.S. entered World War I in 1917.

In contrast, Paul took the fight for a U.S. Constitutional amendment to President Wilson’s doorstep. She lead an 18-month long picketing campaign at the gates to the White House. She welcomed arrest and used the mistreatment of imprisioned suffragists to build public sympathy. Faced with a public relations nightmare, Wilson gave in and threw his support in favor of the federal amendment.

Passage of the Anthony Amendment was “the greatest expansion of democracy on a single day the world had ever seen” (Eleanor Clift, Founding Sisters).

The Township of Ocean Historical Museum, founded in 1984, is a member-supported, non-profit organization. Its headquarters, the Eden Woolley House, is one of the few 18th century structures still in existence in the Township and is open to the public on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (1:00 - 4:00 pm), Thursday evenings (7:00 - 9:00 pm - March 15 through December 15 each year) and the first and second Sundays of each month (1:00 - 4:00 pm). The Museum also maintains a library and archive, which houses manuscripts, books, and photographs of historical and genealogical interest. For more information, call 732-531-2136 or visit www.OceanMuseum.org.

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Through Late November/Early December 2020 - Salem, Salem County

“Hidden History: Unique and Rare Stories of Salem County”

The Salem County Historical Society is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibit entitled, “Hidden History: Unique and Rare Stories of Salem County.” Throughout the history of our region, the diversity of our residents along with their creativity, knowledge, and skills has prompted the development, manufacture and composition of many unique and rare objects and records. Over all these years, whether on a trek to settle here or leaving here for an adventure in the world at large, Salem County residents have traveled thousands of miles. When they traveled, our predecessors would bring to Salem County an object or a story that has become a part of our collective history.

Since the founding of the Salem County Historical Society in 1884, residents, families and friends have donated hundreds of these uncommon and irreplaceable objects to the Society collections.

Our current exhibit offers a look at some of the most unique and rare items and the stories behind the objects. This eclectic exhibit includes artifacts that have not been displayed to the public for many years and are on display with newly researched backstories that provide further insight into the unique and rare history of Salem County. Concurrently, a new exhibit memorializing our Old Salem Oak Tree will open to the public. This exhibit is in a dedicated room displaying numerous Salem Oak objects, including; old and new artwork, objects made from wood of the oak tree, and past and recent photographs.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12;00 noon - 4:00 pm. Admission is $5 per person for non-members. The Salem County Historical Society is located at 83 Market Street, Salem, NJ. For more information, call 856-935-5004 or visit www.salemcountyhistoricalsociety.com.

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

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NJ Weekend Historical Happenings: 11/30/19 - 12/1/19

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