Events

Hamilton is experiencing a well-deserved revival. Often forced to take a back seat to other Founding Fathers, his vision of America as an economic powerhouse with an energetic government as its engine has found many followers. Hamilton helped get the Constitution ratified, helped found the Federalist Party, and served as the first Secretary of the Treasury. An orphan born in the West Indies, he was like a son to George Washington and perhaps should have been like a brother to Thomas Jefferson. But Jefferson fought bitterly against the Federalists and his election as president ushered in the “revolution of 1800.” Jefferson articulated a different vision from Hamilton’s, promoting an agrarian democracy built upon geographic expansion—an “empire of liberty,” he called it. In this PSP session, participants will learn more about the battle between them how it influenced the new nation.

Louis Masur, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of American Studies and History, Rutgers University

On a December day in 1955, this tired seamstress and NAACP secretary refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery Alabama Bus. Rosa Parks' story will serve to remind all who hear it that we cannot always stand by and observe the status quo. We all bear the responsibility to bring about the changes that will help "We the People..." form that "...more Perfect Union" that is our Nation's promise.

Alex Ford
First Person Interpreter

It took 72 years from the first Women’s Rights gathering in Seneca Falls, NY to the day the 19th Amendment was adopted on August 26, 1920. The Women’s Suffrage effort was one of the most intense and difficult campaigns in our history. Women and men worked day and night to convince our legislators that every citizen--regardless of gender--deserved the right to vote. One of the most important individuals in finally making it a reality was Carrie Chapman Catt, suffragist leader, secret ‘Winning Plan’ strategist, and founder of the League of Women Voters. Participants will learn more about Catt, a National Women’s Hall of Fame inductee and women's rights dynamo, a successor of Susan B. Anthony, as head of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

Pat Jordan
First Person Interpreter

Lillian Feickert, president of the NJ Woman Suffrage Association from 1912-1920, was committed to the fight for women’s suffrage. Many do not realize the role that New Jersey played in the suffrage movement. During this PSP session, Feickert explores more about why some NJ women once had the vote and then lost it for over a century. Also, she shares stories about how nationally-known suffrage advocates Lucy Stone and Elizabeth Cady Stanton staged tax and voting protests in the state. Feickert describes how Alice Paul became the dynamo who re-energized the push for a federal amendment and how Dr. Florence Spearing Randolph brought black women into the movement. Participants will learn that women were not “given” the vote, but fought for it for generations.

Carol Simon Levin
Historical Interpreter and Storyteller

Details regarding location and start time will be updated.

The strongest grant proposals use both their narrative and their budget to tell a compelling story. Learn how to craft a competitive grant proposal in this blended coaching session and writing workshop. Ideal for anyone in the process of applying for an NJCH grant, but open to anyone who wants to learn how to write an effective grant proposal.

Led by Director of Grants & Programs Gigi Naglak, participants can expect an interactive workshop that will include dedicated writing time.

All participants should review the Grants section of njhumanities.org prior to the workshop and prepare notes or an outline about their potential humanities project.

Lillian Feickert, president of the NJ Woman Suffrage Association from 1912-1920, was committed to the fight for women’s suffrage. Many do not realize the role that New Jersey played in the suffrage movement. During this PSP session, Feickert explores more about why some NJ women once had the vote and then lost it for over a century. Also, she shares stories about how nationally-known suffrage advocates Lucy Stone and Elizabeth Cady Stanton staged tax and voting protests in the state. Feickert describes how Alice Paul became the dynamo who re-energized the push for a federal amendment and how Dr. Florence Spearing Randolph brought black women into the movement. Participants will learn that women were not “given” the vote, but fought for it for generations.

Carol Simon Levin
Historical Interpreter and Storyteller

Have you ever considered the strategies and strategists that propelled the Suffrage Movement in our nation? Many don’t know it, but New Jersey played a pivotal role in the movement that changed our nation’s history. For example, New Jersey’s Woodrow Wilson was an initial opponent and then an eventual a supporter of suffrage. Also, the Garden State served as an incubator for leaders and suffragists, including Alice Paul. And, of course, our state was a ratifier of the 19th Amendment. How did the long-lasting effects of those strategies influence the past 100 years of women’s participation in political life? In this PSP program, participants will examine the last century through the lens of historical documents and explore perceptions, both familiar and unfamiliar, of women in the public sphere.

Brigid Callahan Harrison
Professor of Political Science and Law, Montclair State University

The presenter brings an all new adaptation of this horror story written by Washington Irving. The interactive one-man interpretation of the story of the headless horseman draws the audience into the schoolmaster’s world in sleepy Tarry Town. The program, followed by discussion about this 19th century author who also wrote Rip Van Winkle, ends with a dramatic reading of the story’s postscript.

Neill Hartley
First Person Interpreter

She was a Kennedy. She was an Onassis. She did not define herself by her husbands. Realizing that future generations would need the insights of the past for guidance, her preservation efforts galvanized the rest of the country to protect its historic monuments. Aided by her public profile, her work helped bring about the Historic Preservation Act of 1966: the most far-reaching preservation legislation ever enacted in the United States.

Jill Lawrence
First Person Interpreter

Details regarding location and start time will be updated.

The strongest grant proposals use both their narrative and their budget to tell a compelling story. Learn how to craft a competitive grant proposal in this blended coaching session and writing workshop. Ideal for anyone in the process of applying for an NJCH grant, but open to anyone who wants to learn how to write an effective grant proposal.

Led by Director of Grants & Programs Gigi Naglak, participants can expect an interactive workshop that will include dedicated writing time.

All participants should review the Grants section of njhumanities.org prior to the workshop and prepare notes or an outline about their potential humanities project.

She was a Kennedy. She was an Onassis. She did not define herself by her husbands. Realizing that future generations would need the insights of the past for guidance, her preservation efforts galvanized the rest of the country to protect its historic monuments. Aided by her public profile, her work helped bring about the Historic Preservation Act of 1966: the most far-reaching preservation legislation ever enacted in the United States.

Jill Lawrence
First Person Interpreter

Bruce Springsteen expects attentiveness of his listeners. How do we know this? Over the past 50 years, Springsteen has written songs and created music that have been experienced by countless fans. But many don’t know the extent to which his work has been influenced by the American folk tradition. Through experimental reinterpretation and the creation of new traditions, The Boss has worked within known folk traditions, but at the same time, created new sounds and messages. In this session, participants can learn about some of the works that have influenced one of Jersey’s most celebrated musical artists.

Prudence Jones, Ph.D.
Professor at Montclair University

Is it surprising that in the 1890s conservatives panicked at visions of women riding alone, with other women, or with unsuitable men, and campaigned to stop them? Some claimed that women would damage themselves by acquiring a “bicycle face,” or would get sexual pleasure from bicycling — and thus ruin their reproductive capacities. When women and girls first rode bicycles in large numbers, they celebrated their new freedom to move around in the world. Susan B. Anthony thought bicycling had “done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.” Other suffragists praised bicycling as a road to fuller citizenship for women: women would travel more widely on their own, and would learn a larger sense of responsibility to their fellow travelers. This PSP program will ask audiences to consider how bicycling and others means of mobility have affected history.

Ellen Garvey, Ph.D.
Professor of English, New Jersey City University

Reflecting on the women’s suffrage movement, Alice Paul remarked: “the movement is a sort of mosaic. Each of us puts in one little stone, and then you get a great mosaic at the end." This PSP program examines the long history of women’s activism over the course of the 19th century, to highlight the multi-faceted mosaic of the women’s suffrage movement. Traditional accounts of the women’s suffrage movement tend to focus on key events, such as the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 or the 1913 Women’s Suffrage Parade held in Washington, D.C. Yet such famous moments were part of a much larger movement that created ripples across American society and politics. Throughout the 19th century, many women became involved in a number of reform movements, including educational access, abolitionism, charitable societies, married women’s property rights, temperance, dress reform, and of course, the suffrage movement. Participants will explore the diverse paths that led women to engage in civic and public life to make a difference in their own communities.

Lucia McMahon, Ph.D.
Professor of History and Department Chair, William Paterson University

The presenter brings an all new adaptation of this horror story written by Washington Irving. The interactive one-man interpretation of the story of the headless horseman draws the audience into the schoolmaster’s world in sleepy Tarry Town. The program, followed by discussion about this 19th century author who also wrote Rip Van Winkle, ends with a dramatic reading of the story’s postscript.

Neill Hartley
First Person Interpreter

The setting: It is 1943 and your organization is hosting a meeting to promote “war work” for women. Hear a testimonial from Rosie Niemiec (historical interpreter Stacy Flora Roth), a housewife who decided to do her bit for the war effort (and surprise her husband) by taking a job as a welder in a shipyard. This intriguing session features a character monologue, a display of period artifacts and ephemera, a discussion of women’s participation on the Homefront, and an opportunity for the audience to share memories, memorabilia, and personal and family stories of the Second World War.

Stacy Roth
Historical Interpreter and Educator

Reflecting on the women’s suffrage movement, Alice Paul remarked: “the movement is a sort of mosaic. Each of us puts in one little stone, and then you get a great mosaic at the end." This PSP program examines the long history of women’s activism over the course of the 19th century, to highlight the multi-faceted mosaic of the women’s suffrage movement. Traditional accounts of the women’s suffrage movement tend to focus on key events, such as the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 or the 1913 Women’s Suffrage Parade held in Washington, D.C. Yet such famous moments were part of a much larger movement that created ripples across American society and politics. Throughout the 19th century, many women became involved in a number of reform movements, including educational access, abolitionism, charitable societies, married women’s property rights, temperance, dress reform, and of course, the suffrage movement. Participants will explore the diverse paths that led women to engage in civic and public life to make a difference in their own communities.

Lucia McMahon, Ph.D.
Professor of History and Department Chair, William Paterson University

Have you ever thought about how New Jersey was created? Perhaps you’ve wondered about how East and West Jersey came to be? Or you’ve considered how life changed for landowners as the American Revolution intensified? The way the state developed before, during, and after the revolution, including some of its distinctive features that still remain today, is fascinating. In this session, significant topics like New Jersey’s role in politics, transportation, trade, and agricultural on the eve of revolution will be explored.

Jonathan Mercantini, Ph.D.
Acting Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Associate Professor of History at Kean University

The presenter brings an all new adaptation of this horror story written by Washington Irving. The interactive one-man interpretation of the story of the headless horseman draws the audience into the schoolmaster’s world in sleepy Tarry Town. The program, followed by discussion about this 19th century author who also wrote Rip Van Winkle, ends with a dramatic reading of the story’s postscript.

Neill Hartley
First Person Interpreter

In 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe published “Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly” which helped move the conscience of the country to imperative cause of Abolitionism. Her story energized anti-slavery forces in the North, while provoking widespread anger in the pro-slavery South. Allegedly, when she met Abraham Lincoln, he said, “So you are the little woman that wrote the book that started this great war?”

Kim Hanley
First Person Interpreter

Washington was no stranger to New Jersey. From Trenton to Princeton to Morristown to Monmouth to Middlebrook, (and more), the General spent more time here than in any other state. Join General Washington as he reminisces about his brightest and darkest moments during the battles and encampments of the “Cockpit of the Revolution.” In this session, participants will learn more about New Jersey's role in the American Revolution from the perspective of George Washington.

David Emerson
Historical Interpreter and Storyteller

Wench Betty was murdered in 1784. The subsequent court proceedings for her murder were held that year too. How does exploring her murder today provide insight into the lives of enslaved African Americans during the early American Republic? Often, the lives of enslaved people's in this period are disregarded. This PSP session will educate participants about the state of slavery in New Jersey at the time of Wench Betty's death and provide an opportunity to explore the powerful revolutionary war ideas of freedom and liberty at a time when slavery still existed in the state’s History. Through an examination of court documents and slave records, participants will more deeply understand more about Wench Betty’s life and all the ways it mattered.

Sue Kozel
Public Historian

Have you ever wondered about how the Electoral College actually works? How many votes does each state receive? How someone comes to be an elector? In the early days of the Republic, the Founding Fathers designed this political process as a way to manage an unruly public and, if needed, overturn the election results. So has it worked in the way that it was intended? In this program, participants will learn about this history of the Electoral College and how it works through a first-hand account.

Frank Argote-Freyre
Associate Professor, Kean University

Have you ever wondered about how the Electoral College actually works? How many votes does each state receive? How someone comes to be an elector? In the early days of the Republic, the Founding Fathers designed this political process as a way to manage an unruly public and, if needed, overturn the election results. So has it worked in the way that it was intended? In this program, participants will learn about this history of the Electoral College and how it works through a first-hand account.

Frank Argote-Freyre
Associate Professor, Kean University

The presenter brings an all new adaptation of this horror story written by Washington Irving. The interactive one-man interpretation of the story of the headless horseman draws the audience into the schoolmaster’s world in sleepy Tarry Town. The program, followed by discussion about this 19th century author who also wrote Rip Van Winkle, ends with a dramatic reading of the story’s postscript.

Neill Hartley
First Person Interpreter

Nucky Johnson, Prohibition Era political boss and gangster, is often associated with Atlantic City. Join Nucky as he shares his experiences, which will help audiences gain a much broader understanding of the history of AC in the decades prior to the modern day casino city. He’ll share his tales, which will shed some light on early 20th century politics and debates over suffrage and what Prohibition was really like, especially for him and his business connections. The interactive conversation will examine his crimes and community endeavors.

Levi Fox, Ph.D.
Public Historian

Have you ever wondered about how the Electoral College actually works? How many votes does each state receive? How someone comes to be an elector? In the early days of the Republic, the Founding Fathers designed this political process as a way to manage an unruly public and, if needed, overturn the election results. So has it worked in the way that it was intended? In this program, participants will learn about this history of the Electoral College and how it works through a first-hand account.

Frank Argote-Freyre
Associate Professor, Kean University

Have you ever wondered about how the Electoral College actually works? How many votes does each state receive? How someone comes to be an elector? In the early days of the Republic, the Founding Fathers designed this political process as a way to manage an unruly public and, if needed, overturn the election results. So has it worked in the way that it was intended? In this program, participants will learn about this history of the Electoral College and how it works through a first-hand account.

Frank Argote-Freyre
Associate Professor, Kean University

The presenter brings an all new adaptation of this horror story written by Washington Irving. The interactive one-man interpretation of the story of the headless horseman draws the audience into the schoolmaster’s world in sleepy Tarry Town. The program, followed by discussion about this 19th century author who also wrote Rip Van Winkle, ends with a dramatic reading of the story’s postscript.

Neill Hartley
First Person Interpreter