NJ Weekend Historical Happenings: 12/21/19

New Jersey Weekend Historical Happenings

A Weekly Feature on www.thehistorygirl.com

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Saturday, December 21 - Cape May, Cape May County
Santa's Trolley Ride
Children Friendly Event

Bring the kids to the Physick Estate for a trolley ride around Cape May with stories and songs led by Mrs. Claus. Then, Santa will greet children with a sweet in the Carriage House. Adults $10 and children (ages 3-12) $8. Trolley rides on Saturday at 11:00 am, 12:00 noon, 1:00 pm, and 2:00 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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Saturday - Sunday, December 21 - 22 - 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 11:45 am, 1:00 pm, and 2:15 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, December 21 - 22 - 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 - 3:00 pm on Saturday and 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, December 21 - 22 - Cape May, Cape May County
Holiday Lights Trolley Ride
Children Friendly Event

Ride through Cape May’s Historic District to see festively decorated inns and homes as guides talk about Victorian Christmas traditions, lead sing-alongs, and play Christmas music. Rides last about 30 minutes. Adults $15 and children (ages 3-12) $10. Trolley rides on Saturday at 6:15 pm and Sunday at 5:30, 6:30, 7:15, 7:30, and 8:15 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, December 21 - 22 - 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, and 3:00 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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Saturday - Sunday, December 21 - 22 - Holmdel, Monmouth County

Visit with Santa
Children Friendly Event

On Saturday and Sunday, enjoy an old-fashioned Victorian Christmas at Historic Longstreet Farm. Children can visit with Santa, then take a walk to the farmhouse and have a cup of hot cider. Be sure to bring you camera! This free event runs from 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm. Historic Longstreet Farm is located at 44 Longstreet Road, Holmdel, NJ. For more information, call 732-946-3758 or visit .

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Sunday, December 22 - 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 22 - Farmingdale, Monmouth County
Christmas at The Historic Village at Allaire
Children Friendly Site & Event

Create new family traditions by celebrating the traditions of an Old World Christmas. Join us for Christmas at Allaire - a day full of interactive programs and holiday activities as you experience the Magic and Joys of Christmas Past.

Warm up on the open hearth, make Christmas treats, create winter arts and crafts, dance and sing at the historic chapel, listen to the village carolers and musicians as they stroll the village, storytelling, preparing the Allaire Mansion for a French Christmas, and much more! Bring your holiday cards to be sent from our historic post office located in the General Store. Also keep your eyes out for Santa, a great photo opportunity!

Here are just a few of our activities taking place this day:
* Historic buildings open 11:00 am - 4:00 pm.

Each building decorated and interpreted according to a different Old World Christmas tradition.
* Join in the preparing for a French Christmas at the Allaire Mansion, a highlight of the day.
* Interactive music program in the Chapel: 12:30 pm, 2:00 pm, and 3:00 pm.
* Storytelling in the Enameling Building.
* Silhouette cutting in the Row House.
* Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus visiting the village from 11 am to 4 pm, great photo opportunities!
* Carolers strolling the village
* Help build gingerbread houses, learn the history of nutcrackers and sing a Christmas carol at the parlor organ at the Manager’s House.
* Enjoy Christmas music throughout the village by our flutist, harpist, fiddler, guitarist, organist and others!
* Holiday fairy magic and bubble performances by The Pointsettia Fairy! Fun for kids of all ages!
* The General Store and Bakery will be open for holiday shopping.
* Blacksmithing, Wood Carving, Leather-making, and other 19th century craft demonstrations throughout the day.
* String cranberries or popcorn at the Foreman’s Cottage (for take home too!).
* A special animal appearance (weather permitting) by the Barn.
* Visit the Carriage House, warm by the fire pit, and see the carriages and sleds decorated for the holidays.
* Special Christmas Exhibit in the Village Museum at the Visitor Center featuring reproductions of vintage nutcrackers
* Make your own Christmas arts and craft that you can take home - make your own holiday gift wrapping paper, a snowy owl, a cookie crest
* Trains! A replica of the Central Railroad of NJ’s (CNJ) “Blue Comet” train, plus a vintage Lionel train display and village
* Treat yourself to delicious food from our Pilsen Gourmet Food Truck that will be on site.

The event runs from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm. Admission: $8.00. The Historic Village at Allaire is located in Allaire State Park at 4263 Atlantic Avenue, Farmingdale, NJ. Tickets are available at the gate or can be purchased online. For more information, call 732-919-3500 or visit www.allairevillage.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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Saturdays and Sundays through January 5, 2020 - Trenton, Mercer County
"Laser Holiday Magic!"
Family Friendly

"Laser Holiday Magic!" is now showing in the Planetarium at the New Jersey State Museum through January 5. Celebrate the magical holiday season with our most spectacular show ever! New full-spectrum laser beams dance along with dazzling animated laser effects set to popular holiday music such as Winter Wonderland, Frosty the Snowman and many more. Enjoy a unique, festive experience under the stars at New Jersey's largest full dome planetarium. Suitable for general audiences.

Also new is "Season of Light" which presents an exploration of the astronomical meanings behind seasonal traditions, including the "Star over Bethlehem." Suitable for all ages.

Between Christmas and New Year's, we will be participating in Patriots Week in the Planetarium! All shows (except the laser shows) will feature a live presentation of the sky set to December 25, 1776, the night George Washington crossed the Delaware River. Learn about the sky as it would have appeared that evening!

Visit the Planetarium's web site for show previews and descriptions. The New Jersey State Museum is open Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 am to 4:45 pm. 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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Saturdays and Sundays through January 5, 2020 - Princeton, Mercer County
Festival of Trees

Morven Museum and Garden's annual Festival of Trees is an annual highlight of the holiday season showcasing a juried collection of trees and mantles displayed throughout the museum’s galleries, upstairs and down. This year’s theme invites visitors to enjoy the newly reimagined first and second floor galleries, featuring trees inspired by 18th through 20th century decor.

This year’s Festival of Trees museum decorators include: Contemporary Garden Club, The Garden Club of Princeton, Green Haven Garden Center, Keris Tree Farm & Christmas Shop, Morven Museum & Garden, Mount Laurel Garden Club, Stony Brook Garden Club, West Trenton Garden Club, Hiltonia Association, Historical Society of Princeton, and Princeton University Press.

Festival of Trees is open to the public during regular museum hours. No reservations are required. Museum ticket must be purchased to enter museum. Morven is open to the public on Wednesdays through Sundays from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Morven Museum & Garden is closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.

Admission $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (60+)/students/active military personnel, and children 6 and under are free. Friends of Morven, free. Please note that during the Festival of Trees in December and early January, no formal tours are given, but docents are available to answer any questions. Morven Museum and Garden is located at 55 Stockton Street, Princeton, NJ. For more information, call 609-924-8144 or visit www.morven.org.

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Through Sunday, January 5, 2020 - Morristown, Morris County
A Very Merry 19th-Century Christmas

This holiday season, travel back in time to 19th-century Morris County to learn more about the introduction and evolution of our most beloved Christmas traditions. Not only our long-lived Yuletide customs, but more than 30 period-appropriate 19th-century costumes from Morris County Historical Society’s collections, will be on display at Acorn Hall through Sunday, January 5, 2020.

While many English customs such as the Christmas tree, mistletoe, and caroling took on a uniquely American flavor, their earliest beginnings remain as evident as ever in A Very Merry 19th-Century Christmas. Focusing on the Victorian woman’s role as “the ministering angel of domestic bliss,” the authentically decorated and interpreted exhibit comprises many costumes that have never been displayed.

Before visiting MCHS, check Groupon for your discounted tickets and family membership. The membership is perfect to regift or keep for yourself! 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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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: 12/21/19 - 12/22/19

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