Staff of the Alice Paul Institute
Alice Paul: New Jersey’s Crusader for Equality
Most New Jerseyans are unaware of the pivotal role this Mt. Laurel native played in procuring some of the most important political rights women now possess. This lecture and slide presentation examine Alice Paul’s life and work in the suffragette movement and the 20th century women’s rights movement in which she played such a large part.
Ian C. Burrow, Ph.D., RPA
Vice President/Principal Archaeologist, Hunter Research
Archaeology in New Jersey: Why, How, Who?
Archaeology is often thought of as something that happens somewhere else – in exotic places like Egypt or Mexico. This presentation explains how the regulations and laws in New Jersey ensure that the prehistory and history of our state are recorded and studied, even in the face of pending development. It also describes who the archaeologists are and how they work. Emphasis is placed on recent projects and discoveries, and the presentation can be illustrated with slides and artifacts.
Ian C. Burrow, Ph.D., RPA
Vice President/Principal Archaeologist, Hunter Research
Trenton: The Archaeology of a City
Archaeological discoveries in Trenton over the last 10 years have greatly increased our understanding of its early history. Sites discussed in this slide lecture include the Old Barracks, the Trent House and the State House area.
Kathleen Galop
Historic Preservation Consultant
The National Register of Historic Places: The Role it Plays in Our Local Communities
Established under the Historic Sites Act of 1935 and expanded by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register serves as the official list of historic resources at the national level. Hundreds of NJ properties are among the 77,000 listed on the National Register. Learn more about the properties and landscapes in your own community which have received this national destinction, and gain a better understanding of how and why they are protected. Slides will accompany the lecture.
Kathleen Galop
Historic Preservation Consultant
The Olmsted Historic Landscape Legacy in New Jersey
As early as 1867, Frederick Law Olmsted came to Newark, NJ to select a site for Branch Brook Park, America's First County Park. Through this lecture you will become more familiar with the Olmsted philosophy of landscape design and the legacy as it exists today throughtout New Jersey. Landscapes designed by Olmsted and the Olmsted Brothers Firm include: Cadwalader Park in Trenton; The Lawrenceville School; the Union, Essex and Passaic County Park Systems; the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University(formerly the Twombly Estate) in Florham Park/Madison; and, Fairview Cemetery in Westfield. A slide presentation illustrating many of these sites will accompany the lecture.
Angus Kress Gillespie, Ph.D.
Professor of American Studies, Rutgers University
The Jersey Devil
As the story goes, in a small community, Leeds Point, at the coastal edge of the Pine Barrens, lived the Leeds family. The year was 1735. Already having given birth twelve times, Mother Leeds was about to deliver for the thirteenth time. Feeling tired and weary of the burden, she cursed the unborn child, wishing she had never married Daniel Leeds. But she took revenge on Mr. Leeds that night when she gave birth to the devil’s child, who now lurks in the Pine Barrens of South Jersey. In a talk illustrated by many photographs, drawings, and maps, Gillespie brings together different reports of this legendary creature.
Angus Kress Gillespie, Ph.D.
Professor of American Studies, Rutgers University
The New Jersey Turnpike
Through a series of compelling, sometimes frightening and often humorous anecdotes, Gillespie conveys the flavor of a massive turnpike-what is looks like, what it feels like, what it smells like, what it means. Based on his award-winning book, Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike, co-authored with Michael Aaron Rockland, Gillespie tells about the physical characteristics of the road. The engineers who built it, in the spirit of their time, were seeking efficiency at the expense of aesthetics and the environment. The Turnpike is quite possibly American's most important road, certainly its most traveled. Here the Turnpike is described not only as a physical artifact but as an emblem of American ideas and values.
Angus Kress Gillespie, Ph.D.
Professor of American Studies, Rutgers University
The Pine Barrens of New Jersey
The New Jersey Pine Barrens, covering nearly a third of the nation's most industrialized state, shelter endangered plants and animals, often the subject of newspaper stories. Less publicized are the people who live in the Pine Barrens, sometimes referred to as "Pineys.” Perhaps the finest book on this topic is John McPhee's The Pine Barrens. In a lively talk with many intriguing examples, Gillespie paints a picture of the surviving folk culture of the Pineys, who often describe themselves in terms of attachment to the land and self-sufficiency. They try to avoid dependence on the outside world as much as possible, bypassing the mainstream cash economy and providing for themselves largely by foraging.
William Gillette, Ph.D.
Professor of History, Rutgers University
New Jersey’s Modern Politics
A survey of the state’s politics and governmental institutions under the Constitution of 1947. In particular, New Jersey’s modern governors will be surveyed.
William Gillette, Ph.D.
Professor of History, Rutgers University
The Role of New Jersey After the Civil War
A reexamination of the state’s postwar politics during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age. The view that New Jersey was a conservative backwater during the period between 1865 and 1894 is refuted.
William Gillette, Ph.D.
Professor of History, Rutgers University
The Role of New Jersey in the Civil War
A reconsideration of the state’s wartime role. The traditional view that New Jersey was a copperhead stronghold is rebutted. The home front and the battlefront will be touched on, but emphasis will be given to the political front.
William Gillette, Ph.D.
Professor of History, Rutgers University
The Role of New Jersey Just Before the Civil War
A reevaluation of the state’s antebellum position. The view that New Jerseyans before the war supported slavery, states rights, and the South is disputed. A new view of why most New Jerseyans did not actively support the abolitionist movement will be advanced.
Susanne C. Hand
Historic Preservationist; Principal, Kinsey & Hand
It Never was Levittown: Postwar Suburban Housing in New Jersey
This presentation focuses on New Jersey suburban development from 1945 through the 1960s. It looks at the explosive growth of postwar suburbs and the role of planning, zoning, and government programs in promoting a new kind of suburb. It examines the postwar housing development industry and the single family house, relating marketable house products – the cape cod, ranch, split level, modernist, and colonial – traditional house forms and modern architecture.
Susanne C. Hand
Historic Preservationist; Principal, Kinsey & Hand
New Jersey Architecture
This slide lecture presents a chronological overview of New Jersey architecture from the early 18th through the mid-20th century with a focus on residential, civic, and institutional buildings. The presentation relates architectural styles and building types to broader issues in American culture. See how technology, available materials, and taste affect architecture and how buildings change over time.
Susanne C. Hand
Historic Preservationist; Principal, Kinsey & Hand
New Jersey Suburbs
From classic romantic suburbs of Llewellyn Park and Short Hills, to the railroad and automobile suburbs of the emerging metropolis, through the postwar suburban boom, this lecture presents an overview of 150 years of suburban housing and community design in our country’s most suburban state.
Susanne C. Hand
Historic Preservationist; Principal, Kinsey & Hand
New Jersey’s Planned Communities
This slide lecture looks at a diverse group of planned communities: Llewellyn Park, America’s first suburb, planned in 1857; Ocean Grove, a Methodist Camp meeting on the Jersey shore; Yorkship Village, a garden-city community built in Camden during World War I; Radburn, the “New Town for the Motor Age;” Roosevelt, the depression era town for resettled Jewish garment workers; and Twin Rivers, the state’s first planned unit development.
Lawrence Hogan, Ph.D.
Professor of History, Union County College
Recapturing a New Jersey Legacy: John Henry "Pop" Lloyd and the Communal Legacy of Negro League Baseball
A discussion, accompanied by video and exhibit materials, of the history of black professional baseball in Atlantic City and the social/communal/civic legacy of one of its greatest players, Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop John Henry “Pop” Lloyd. The presentation also covers the restoration of historic John Henry “Pop” Lloyd Stadium.
Lawrence Hogan, Ph.D.
Professor of History, Union County College
The Shady Rest Country Club: A Black New Jersey Cultural Oasis in the Age of Segregation
Focuses on a black owned and operated country club in Scotch Plains, NJ, from the 1920s through the 1950s. The presentation examines the rich social, recreational, professional, athletic, business, educational and entertainment world behind the veil of segregation that separated white from black through much of 19th- and 20th- century America.
Judith Krall-Russo
Food Historian
Blueberries: New Jersey's Wonder Fruit
The blueberry has its roots in the Pinelands of New Jersey. Elizabeth White along with Dr. Fredrick Coville proved that the "swamp huckleberry" could be cultivated. Discover the history of this fascinating berry and the contributions Elizabeth White of Whitesbog made to its cultivation. Learn why the blueberry is touted as the wonder fruit with a host of healthful benefits and hear about the variety of ways to prepare and savor these berries.
Judith Krall-Russo
Food Historian
The Jersey Tomato
Everyone loves the Jersey Tomato! Discover where the tomato originated and why it became one of New Jersey's favorite crops. Find out when New Jersey was known for its tomato packing industry and what happened to it. Did you know that tomatoes were considered poisonous at one time and it was a New Jerseyean who decided to prove everyone wrong? Hear about heirloom varieties and modern hybrids and the folklore attached to this fruit.
Judith Krall-Russo
Food Historian
The New Jersey Cranberry
Cranberries were known by many names, such as bitter berry, bear berry and the marsh apple. It is one of the few fruits indigenous to the United States. Native Americans were using cranberries as food, medicine, and dyes long before the Europian settlers arrived. Cranberries have been an important crop for New Jersey since the 19th century. Learn the history of these tart berries and why they were so important. We will also explore New Jersey's contribution to their cultivation. Early American recipes will be discussed.
Arthur S. Lefkowitz
Independent Researcher and Author
New Jersey in the American Revolution
This 50-minute slide presentation is based on the presenter’s book The Long Retreat. This program focuses on the British invasion of New Jersey in late 1776, which ended with Washington‘s famous Christmas night raid on Trenton. The speaker will demonstrate that the closest the British ever came to winning a military victory in the American Revolution was at New Brunswick, New Jersey, on December 1, 1775.
Kevin D. Murphy, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, CUNY Graduate Center, and Brooklyn College
Resort Architecture in New Jersey
Despite the widely-held and unfair stereotypes of the state, New Jersey is in fact a place with a variety of astonishingly beautiful resorts with their own distinctive architectures. Since the mid-19th century, the Jersey Shore has been celebrated for its wide beaches and temperate climate. This talk will illustrate the range of resort architecture at the Jersey Shore, from the nineteenth-century hotels and houses at Cape May to the postwar motels of Wildwood, which earned that town the name "Little Las Vegas". Further, the northern and western parts of the state contain an entirely different set of resorts more focused on lakes and mountains. These too have developed their own distinctive architectural vocabularies that will be addressed.
Kevin D. Murphy, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, CUNY Graduate Center, and Brooklyn College
The American Townhouse: New Jersey Examples
Since the eighteenth century, one of the preferred methods of residential building in urban areas has been the attached townhouse. Many US cities--including Baltimore, Boston, and New York--developed their own distinctive townhouse forms beginning in the nineteenth century. In New Jersey as well there are several cities that contain impressive groups of townhouses, in various materials and styles, from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This talk will explore the diversity of townhouse neighborhoods, from Camden to Jersey City, Hoboken and beyond.
Richard Patterson
Executive Director, Old Barracks Museum
The Battles of Trenton
Using maps, portraits, and other visual aides, Richard Patterson examines the events that led up to Washington’s first great victory: his plans for attack, the combatants, strategy, outcome, and human side of one of the more famous battles in US history.
Gary Saretzky
Archivist, Monmouth County Archives
Nineteenth-Century New Jersey Photographers
A slide lecture identifying the leading photographers in the state before 1900 with numerous examples of portraits and views taken by both men and women. The presentation includes the largest cities and selected towns from around the state but it can be customized to focus on the county in which the lecture is given.
Helen Schwartz
Artist, Arts journalist, Author
The Arts and Crafts Movement in New Jersey - Then and Now and How to Find it
The Arts and Crafts Movement was the aesthetic bridge that carried us from an era of Victorian Excess to the simpler forms and easier lifestyle of modernism. Much of the energy for the movement originated in New Jersey as did the revival of interest and activity that continues today. We will look at the movement past and present with an eye to what survives and how to find it.
David Sperling, M.D.
Clock Historian and Collector
18th Century Clockmaking in New Jersey: A Tale of Two Cities
The clock in America is viewed as an art form as purely individualistic as any sculpture, painting or architectural design. Handcrafted clockmaking in 18th-century New Jersey rivals America’s best when it comes to the beauty and sophistication of its grandfather clocks. The centers of production were located in Elizabethtown in the north and Burlington in the south. This slide presentation will focus on clocks held in private collections.
Margaret Westfield, R.A.
Historic Architect
Landmark Lucy
Meet New Jersey’s famous seashore landmark, Lucy the Margate Elephant. This slide presentation covers Lucy’s initial construction and rich history. Illustrations of the progressive decay that threatened her with demolition are followed by the details of the thirty-year restoration campaign that ultimately secured Lucy’s place as one of New Jersey’s premiere tourist destinations.
Deborah Yaffe
Freelance Writer/Journalist
Other People's Children: Abbott v. Burke and New Jersey's Struggle Over Equity in Education
How much is a rich society required to spend on the education of the poor? How much inequality can we tolerate in our schools? If some children have fewer educational opportunities than others, is the United States still the country we imagine it to be – a place where anyone who works hard can succeed? In courtrooms, schoolhouses and legislative chambers, New Jerseyans have spent 40 years arguing these questions, as the long-running school finance lawsuit Abbott v. Burke helped reshape the state’s political, educational and economic landscape. A new governor, a new school finance law and a new economic landscape have left Abbott’s status unclear, but the issues the case raises remain as relevant as ever. In this engaging, non-technical lecture, the author of Other People’s Children: The Battle for Justice and Equality in New Jersey’s Schools puts the complex issue of school funding in historical and human context, examining the themes that recurred repeatedly during years of conflict and profiling the people caught up in the struggle.
Clifford W. Zink
Architectural Historian
Spanning the Industrial Age: The John A. Roebling’s Sons Company
This discussion sets forth the story of the John A. Roebling’s Sons Company, a wire rope works founded in 1848 in the Chambersburg section of Trenton. For more than 125 years the firm supplied its products and expertise to a vast array of innovations, including cablecars, electrification, aviation, telephones, elevators, tramways, deepmines, skyscraper construction and landmark suspension bridges, including the Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge.
