This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

350th New Jersey Anniversary Spring Speaker Series in conjunction with the exhibit "Made in New Jersey: A Celebration of Decorative and Fine Arts"

On Sunday April 13th Macculloch Hall Historical Museum (MHHM) welcomes Linda J. Barth to present a program in relation to her book “A History of Inventing in New Jersey: From Thomas Edison to the Ice Cream Cone”. Many people are familiar with Edison’s “invention factory” in Menlo Park, where he patented the phonograph, the light bulb, and many more innovations. Yet many other ideas have grown in the Garden State, too—New Jerseyans brought sound and music to movies and built the very first drive-in theater. In addition to the first cultivated blueberry, tasty treats like ice cream cones and M&M’s® are also Jersey natives. Iconic aspects of American life, like Bubble Wrap®, the boardwalk, the Band-Aid®, and even professional baseball itself started in New Jersey. Life would be a lot harder without the vacuum cleaner, plastic, and air-conditioning, and many important advances in medicine and surgery were also developed here. Join author Linda Barth as she explores groundbreaking, useful, fun, and even silly inventions and their New Jersey roots. The program will be presented in the main gallery at 4:30pm. It is the second in a series of programs celebrating the 350th New Jersey Anniversary, each taking place on the second Sunday of the month through June.  Prior to the program visitors may also visit the second floor gallery exhibit “Made in New Jersey: A Celebration of Decorative and Fine Arts” which stars the Museum’s collection of New Jersey stoneware, silver, and artists such as Thomas Nast, A.B. Frost and Edward Kranich. Linda will have copies of her book available to sign after the program.

Linda Barth has been a fan of New Jersey for a long time, initially sharing her interest with her students as a fourth grade teacher. More recently Linda has served on the board of Celebrate NJ!, a grassroots movement that builds pride in and fosters a brighter future for New Jersey through educational programs and promotional initiatives. She has written two books on the D&R Canal for Arcadia Publishing and two children’s picture books: “Bridgetender’s Boy”, published by the National Canal Museum in 2005, and “Hidden New Jersey”, from Charlesbridge Publishing in 2012. She has also contributed to the Encyclopedia of New Jersey.

Tickets for Sunday programs go on sale from 1pm on the day of the program, no advance sales, and remain on sale until the presentation begins at 4:30pm.  House tours (regular admission applies) take place throughout the afternoon, the last tour ticket is sold at 3pm. The upstairs galleries will remain open until 4:30pm, with the “Controversies: The More Things Change…” main gallery exhibit closing at 3:30 pm in preparation for the program. Tickets to hear speakers are Adults $8; Seniors & Students $6; Children 6 – 12 $4. Members and children under 5 are admitted free. Speaker tickets include admission to docent-led period room tours for visitors who sign up during the afternoon. Visitors can also enjoy the upstairs gallery exhibit “Thomas Nast Brings Down Boss Tweed,” featuring the political cartoons Thomas Nast created attacking Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall, prior to the program. Also on display, “Controversies” presents challenging subject matter on New Jersey history topics and events which had national significance: medical experimentation, immigration, and the right to die. The programs celebrating the 350th New Jersey Anniversary take place on the second Sunday of the month through June. A second series of programs, related to the “Controversies” exhibit takes place on the first Sunday of the month through June. Visit maccullochhall.org for more details.

MHHM preserves the history of the Macculloch-Miller families, the Morris area community, and the legacy of its founder W. Parsons Todd through its historic site, collections, exhibits, and educational and cultural programs. MHHM is open for house and exhibit tours on Wednesdays, Thursdays & Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. The last tour ticket is sold at 3pm. Adults $8; Seniors & Students $6; Children 6 – 12 $4. Members and children under 5 are free. The gardens at MHHM are open Monday to Friday 9am - 4pm and Sundays 1pm - 4pm unless posted otherwise. Please check our website for any holiday closings. Call (973) 538-2404 ext. 10, visit our website www.maccullochhall.org find us on Facebook. Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, 45 Macculloch Ave., Morristown, NJ 07960. Macculloch Hall Historical Museum received an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.  Macculloch Hall Historical Museum is a nonprofit educational affiliate of the W. Parsons Todd Foundation. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?