NJ Weekend Historical Happenings: 3/14/20 - 3/15/20

 New Jersey Weekend Historical Happenings

A Weekly Feature on www.thehistorygirl.com

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

Saturday, March 14 - Somerville, Somerset County
Caesar, Cincinnatus and Gloriana: Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Rescheduled to Saturday, June 13

Classical Greece and Rome were part of the popular culture of Revolutionary America just as they were in Elizabethan England when Shakespeare wrote Julius Caesar. We’ll consider the resonance of this play in the Elizabethan era as Shakespeare’s contemporaries considered the loss of a long-reigning monarch and again in the Revolutionary War as General Washington eschewed a potential military dictatorship in favor of civilian rule by Congress. This program begins a series of play discussions in conjunction with author Ian Doescher's Shakespeare 2020 Project. The program begins at 10:30 am. Free admission. Register at 908-725-1015 or email wallacedutch@dep.nj.gov. The Wallace House State Historic Site is located at 71 Somerset Street, Somerville, NJ.

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Saturday, March 14 - Upper Freehold, Monmouth County

WWII Women on the Home Front

Women played important and varied roles here at home in WWII. Our speaker will share that local history and display her wide collection of associated items for all to enjoy. Learn how this period in history began an era of change we still experience today. This free program runs from 1:30 - 3:00 pm.

While there, visit the large, elegant Walnford home built in 1774, the 19th century gristmill and the farm buildings set in a beautiful landscape. Walnford is located at 62 Walnford Road, 08501. For more information, call 609-259-6275 or visit www.monmouthcountyparks.com.

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Saturday, March 14 - Lambertville, Hunterdon County
Program: Is Your Home / Property Filmworthy?

Join us for a presentation on Saturday from 1:00 - 2:00 pm by Ross Traphagen of the recently formed Hunterdon County Film Commission (HCFC), https://filmhunterdon.com, which is seeking and promoting local properties (interiors and exteriors) to the film industry. At this program, we will address questions such as:
1.   Does my home/property qualify as "filmworthy"?
2.   How do I get started with the HCFC? Are there any costs?
3.   If someone wants to film at my house, what does it pay and what is involved?
4.   Besides financial, are there other benefits to listing my property at HCFC?

This event is free for Lambertville Historical Society members and $5 for non-members. This program will be held at the James Wilson Marshall House Museum, 60 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ. Due to limited space in the Marshall House, RSVP required to info@lambertvillehistoricalsociety.org.

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Saturday, March 14 - Mount Laurel, Burlington County
Tour Paulsdale

Paulsdale is open to the public for Second Saturday Tours at 12:00 noon and 1:00 pm. Paulsdale is the birthplace of Quaker suffragist Alice Paul. Tours include a 15-minute presentation about Alice Paul's life and work and a guided tour of the first floor of the property where visitors learn about the Paul family's daily life in the house and its present day use as a girl's leadership center. Tours are $10.00 per person.

Paulsdale is located at 128 Hooton Road, Mount Laurel, NJ. For information about group tours or future tour dates, contact the Alice Paul Institute at 856-231-1885, e-mail info@alicepaul.org, or visit www.alicepaul.org.

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Saturday, March 14 - Paterson, Passaic County
Happy Birthday Lou Costello!

Join the Paterson Museum on Saturday between 1:00 and 4:00 pm as they celebrate the 114th birthday of legendary comedian and Paterson son, Lou Costello. Have a piece of cake, and watch some of the Abbott & Costello Show. This event is free and open to the public. The Paterson Museum is located at 2 Market Street, Paterson, NJ. For more information, visit www.thepatersonmuseum.com.

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Saturday, March 14 - Hopewell Township, Mercer County
Visit from the Horse Doctor, Dentist & Shoer
Children Friendly Event

When is a 3/4 ton workhorse a chicken? When the doctor and farrier, and dentist come...maybe. Keeping the horses in tip top shape is very important to our farmers. This annual well visit allows a head to tail examination and is just one of the many ways we can be sure our horses are healthy and happy. Join them in the barns where they will be at work all day ensuring that horses, sheep, chickens, and farm cat Bushy are fit and ready for spring.

Besides seeing some of the tools, techniques and products that relate to horse care as it was practiced during the farm's circa 1900 time period, visitors will be able to meet a veterinarian, horse dentist, and farrier and even try their own hand at a bit of horse doctoring.

With the veterinarian's help, visitors will be able to listen to a horse's heart through an antique stethoscope and watch the doctor give spring vaccines and worming medicine. The dentist will need assistance counting teeth to determining the age of the horse and leveling any teeth with a dental rasp. The special hoof care that is needed, will be demonstrated by the farrier, this will include trimming and balancing of hooves and re-set shoes if needed.

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 14 - Lower Township, Cape May County
Climb the Cape May Lighthouse
Family Friendly Site

The Cape May 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 $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, March 14 - 15 - 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 be at 12:30 and 1:45 pm on Saturday and Sunday at 1:45 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, March 14 - 15 - 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 and 1:00 pm 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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Saturday - Sunday, March 14 - 15 - 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!

Free; donations accepted. 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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Sunday, March 15 - Tewsbury, Hunterdon County
Prohibition in NJ, 1919-1933

Due to inclement weather and the subsequent cancellation of the Tewksbury Historical Society Annual Meeting in January, Brian Armstrong, independent historian, researcher and author, will speak at the rescheduled Tewksbury Historical Society's Annual Meeting on Sunday, at Society's Headquarters, 60 Water Street, in the Mountainville section of Tewksbury at 1:00 pm. The meeting is open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Armstrong will trace the development of Prohibition in New Jersey - how it happened, its enforcement problems and its ultimate repeal. Its unforeseen consequences - the increased size of government and the development of organized crime - will be addressed.

Armstrong lectures throughout the state about local NJ history including women's suffrage and the 19th Amendment, World War I and the Spanish Influenza.  He is co-author with Stephanie Bartz and Nan Whitehead of the Arcadia Book, . He authored . He writes for the Bar Harbor Historical Society, Bar Harbor, Maine, where his mother's family lived for several hundred years. His current book about the resort town is scheduled to be released in 2021.South RiverThe Franklin Park Tragedy. A Forgotten Story of Racial Injustice in New Jersey.

Born in Flemington, he grew up in Stanton and received his BA degree in History and Political Science from American University in Washington, DC. He served as the President of the South River Historical & Preservation Society for ten years and is the current Vice-President, Central Region, for the League of Historical Societies of New Jersey. An avid collector of US Presidential election memorabilia, he is a member of American Political Items Collectors (APIC).

In the event of inclement weather, the meeting will be cancelled. For more information, visit www.tewksburyhistory.net.

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Sunday, March 15 - 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 8 - Holmdel, Monmouth County
Yarn Bee
Ages 10+

Whether starting a new hobby or working on an old project, all are welcome to this gathering on Saturday at Historic Longstreet Farm in Holmdel! The relaxed atmosphere means no pressure - you can knit or crochet at your own pace, and farm staff will be on hand to assist those wanting to learn a new skill. Bring your own supplies or borrow ours for the session. Open to ages 10 and up; under 18 with adult. The cost is $5 per person; cash or check only. This event run from 12:00 noon - 2:30 pm.

Historic Longstreet Farm is located at 44 Longstreet Road, Holmdel, NJ. For more information, call 732-946-3758 or visit www.monmouthcountyparks.com.

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Sunday, March 15 - Boonton, Morris County
Roosevelts, Vandervilts, Astors, & Rockefellers

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Sunday, March 15 - Somerville, Somerset County
#lookfortheriver: How “Finding” Lost Waterways Can Help Us Adapt
Rescheduled to Sunday, June 14

Did you know a Raritan River tributary flows below the Wallace House & Old Dutch Parsonage? Centuries of piping, culverting, and development have hidden the vast majority of waterways in urban areas. This program will help community members explore their own local landscapes by learning to read topographic maps, identify watersheds, and #lookfortheriver. Dr. Heather Fenyk, founder and president of the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership, leads this presentation, which begins at 3:00 pm.

This program is funded by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities with additional support from the Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage Association. Free admission. Register at 908-725-1015 or wallacedutch@dep.nj.gov. The Wallace House State Historic Site is located at 71 Somerset Street, Somerville, NJ.

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Sunday, March 15 - Flemington, Hunterdon County
History of Early Medicine in New Jersey with Dr. Gary Grover

Cayenne pepper enemas to treat lung diseases? Swallowing ground glass to treat gastro-intestinal disorders? Chewing tree bark to shake the shivers? Each of these treatments was considered legitimate at the time, but did any of them work?

Dr. Gary Grover knows the answers and will share with you the results of years of research into early medical treatments and drug discoveries in New Jersey. The talk will be presented during the Hunterdon County Historical Society’s spring meeting on Sunday at 2:00 pm at the Flemington Presbyterian Church, 10 East Main Street, Flemington, NJ. The meeting is free, and everyone is welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served.

A cardiovascular pharmacologist, Dr. Grover is a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and a professor of cell biology at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, NJ.

“My desire to develop talks on drug history was due to a lack of any course in all of Rutgers outside of the pharmacy school,” Dr. Grover said. “I would sometimes take on undergrad premed students, and I would regale them with various drug stories. The students were so enthused that I decided to put together a talk for the Rutgers honors college.”

Those talks attracted so much interest that Dr. Grover soon began presenting these talks throughout the state.

Dr. Grover will discuss an array of topics, including how lung problems such as the flu were treated with cayenne pepper enemas, and will bring old medicine bottles and apothecary cups from his collection to the lecture.

He has worked in research at Bristol-Myers Squibb, as a professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and as a director of pharmacology for Eurofins Product Safety Labs, specializing in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, aging. and cancer.

Dr. Grover earned his PhD degree in physiology from Albany (NY) Medical College. During his three years as a post-doctoral fellow, he studied the pharmacology and physiology of myocardial ischemia and coronary circulation, and also taught at Rutgers Medical School. His BS and MS degrees are from Rutgers University College of Agriculture and Environmental Science in New Brunswick.

For more information, visit www.hunterdonhistory.org.

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Sunday, March 15 - Morristown, Morris County
“Franklin and Washington”

At 2:00 pm, the Morristown & Morris Township Library and the North Jersey Civil War Round Table present a talk on “Franklin and Washington” presented by Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Edward J. Larson.

Edward J. Larson, the Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law and University Professor of History at Pepperdine University, author of numerous articles and 14 books including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Summer for the Gods, illuminates Ben Franklin and George Washington’s relationship with striking new detail and energy and shows that their relationship was an intimate working relationship that amplified each other’s talents for the betterment of the country.

The book was recently listed by the Washington Post as one the ten books of A must read collection…of big fat histories. Books will be sold by The Bookworm, Basking Ridge and inscribed by the author.

Come to the library’s Reference Department for 2:00 pm, on Sunday to hear more about Franklin and Washington: The Founding Partnership a 2020 William Morrow publication. 

The Morristown & Morris Township Library is located at 1 Miller Rd, Morristown, NJ. For more information, visit https://mmtlibrary.org.

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Sunday, March 15 - Maplewood, Essex County
"Honoring the Hard-Won Fight for Votes for Women"
Postponed - New Date to be Announced

American women won the right to vote only 100 years ago – and only after a struggle lasting more than 70 years. On Sunday from 1:00 - 4:00 pm, visit Durand-Hedden’s new exhibit Honoring the Hard-Won Fight for Votes for Women to learn about the origins of women’s suffrage and modern feminism -- an outgrowth of women’s critical involvement in the anti-slavery movement before the Civil War. Both white and African American abolitionists saw the need to expand the push for freedom for black people with a movement to enable all women to exercise their rights as citizens.

Some of the most prominent women’s suffrage activists lived in New Jersey, including one of the founders of the movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Florence Spearing Randolph, and Alice Stokes Paul. Stone cited the original American protest against England of “taxation without representation” in refusing to pay her taxes; Randolph, who served on the executive board of the New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association, organized the New Jersey Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, and became the first African American woman to enroll at Drew University. Paul was a vocal leader of the 20th century suffrage movement, advocating for and helping to secure passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. At 2pm, hear Paul vividly share how the right to vote for women was finally achieved, as interpreted by Alisa Dupuy of The Ladies of History.

Check out our Country Store’s historic-themed treasures: early American games, books, and toys; facsimile documents; quill pens and ink; historic cookbooks; cookie molds; tin lanterns; and reproductive decorative items and ceramics. There is local honey and the Original 1910 Chocolate Fudge Sauce. You’ll also discover the hard-to-find original Doors of Maplewood poster, Smile, the history of Olympic Park, and the new acid-free reproduction of the charming 1931 map of Maplewood.

Durand-Hedden House is dedicated to telling the history of the development of Maplewood, New Jersey and the surrounding area in new and engaging ways. It is located in Grasmere Park at 523 Ridgewood Road in Maplewood, New Jersey. For more information, call 973-763-7712 or visit www.durandhedden.org.

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Sunday, March 15 - Westampton, Burlington County
Open Hearth Cooking Demonstration

Presenter Margaret Quinn will use period recipes and cooking methods as she illustrates the ways food was prepared in Colonial days. Samples and light refreshments will be served.
Program begins at 2:00 pm. 

Admission is $15 per person. Seating is limited; prepaid registration is required as space is limited. 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 15 - Galloway, Atlantic County
Lines on the Pines
Family Friendly
Cancelled

On Sunday, attend the 15th Annual Lines on the Pines - a gathering of artists, authors and artisans whose passion is the Pine Barrens of New Jersey! Enjoy a wonderful day meeting Pine Barrens authors, artists and artisans! Over fifty talented Pine Barrens People will be on hand to sign their books, display their artwork or craft, play their music and in general, share their love of the Pine Barrens! The event runs from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm at the Stockton University Campus Center, 101 Vera King Farris Drive, Galloway, NJ. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.linesonthepines.org.

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Through Saturday, March 28, 2020 -  Lebanon Township, Hunterdon County
100 Years of Women's Suffrage

The Lebanon Township Museum is pleased to announce a two-month celebration of 100 Years of Women's Suffrage with a multi-faceted exhibit and a number of exciting and informative events. Below is a list of the line-up for both February and March. Please mark your calendars and join us in honoring this historic centennial!

100 YEARS OF SUFFRAGE: A Celebration in Quilts created by The Courthouse Quilters on display from February 1 through March 28. The Courthouse Quilters are a non-profit 501(c)(3) whose purpose includes preserving and promoting the history of quilting and supporting charitable activities.

Opening Reception with special guest Rielly Karsh of Moms Running on Saturday, February 1 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm. Light refreshments served.

Rightfully Hers: American Women and Vote Pop-Up Exhibit on loan from the National Archives & Record Administration from February 1 through February 27.

Sash Making Parties -- All skill levels are invited to sew their own Suffragist Sashes while enjoying a presentation entitled When Women Gather: "Women's Work" and Activism on Thursday, February 20 from 6:30 - 8:00 pm and Saturday February 22 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm. There will be a small fee to cover costs, email, or visit www.lebanontownship.net/services/museum.aspx for more information.

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Through Saturday, March 28, 2020 -  Paterson, Passaic County
"Thus Shall They Upward, Onward Press:" An Exploration of the History of African Americans in Paterson from 1600-Present

The Paterson Museum is excited to announce the opening of its newest changing exhibit, “Thus Shall They Upward, Onward Press:” An Exploration of the History of African Americans in Paterson from 1600-Present. Installed in honor of Black History Month, the exhibit is a survey of the accomplishments of many of Paterson’s African American citizens. The exhibit will feature some familiar citizens, such as Larry Doby, but visitors will also learn some individuals like Dr. Norman Cotton, Minerva Miller and Henry Otis Harris who also made an impact on our community. The exhibit will be in place from Wednesday February 5th through Saturday March 28th in the Hannah Memorial Gallery.

Please join us at the Museum on Saturday, February 8, 2020 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm for the opening reception. The program will be led by Paterson Free Public Library Director Corey Fleming and will feature a reading by Talena Lachelle Queen, Poet Laureate of Paterson of Paterson.

The exhibit will be on display at the Paterson Museum, located at 2 Market Street (on the corner of Market and Spruce Streets) in the heart of the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park. For more information about this event, or to learn more about the Paterson Museum, visit https://patersonmuseum.com.

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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 September 13, 2020 - Trenton, Mercer County
Fine Feathered Friends: Birds as Mainstay and Muse

Birds are everywhere. They occupy our forests, farms, parks, beaches, backyards, and even our homes. It’s no wonder that they have achieved substantial cultural and historical significance.

Through nearly 200 rarely seen objects from the State Museum’s Cultural History and Natural History collections, Fine Feathered Friends explores the wild, wonderful world of birds and their impact on the New Jersey decorative arts. Three bodies of material culture inspired by birds illustrate the premise—needlework samplers, hand-carved duck and shorebird decoys, and the porcelain birds of Trenton ceramist Edward Marshall Boehm.

Birds also inspired New Jersey’s notable decoy-carving tradition, which was also influenced by the state’s location on a key flyway for migrating ducks and shorebirds. A coastal carving tradition centered on Barnegat Bay. A Delaware River tradition developed in river towns near Trenton. What began as a hunting tool evolved into a folk art tradition. Carvers taught their children, who then taught their own children.

In addition to samplers and decoys, the exhibit also explores the magnificent work of Edward Marshall Boehm. Boehm loved birds so much that he built huge aviaries on the grounds of his Titusville, New Jersey home. This allowed him to study the anatomy and habits of his fine feathered friends. At his studio in Trenton, Boehm replicated the avian world in hard-paste porcelain. Boehm’s birds are exhibited side by side with scientific taxidermy mounts and study skins of the same species

The New Jersey State Museum is located at 205 West State Street, Trenton, NJ. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:00 am - 4:45 pm; closed Mondays and all state holidays. Admission is FREE, but donations are always encouraged. For more information, call 609-292-6300 or visit www.state.nj.us/state/museum.

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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