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MCHA Announces New Executive Director
The MCHA Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the appointment of Meg Sharp Walton as its new Executive Director. Sharp Walton will begin her tenure at the Association on February 1. Interim Director Chuck Jones will remain until that time to ensure a smooth transition. Sharp Walton joins MCHA with 15 years of executive experience in cultural museums and historic sites within the greater Philadelphia region. Most recently Meg was the Executive Director of Glen Foerd on the Delaware where she developed and implemented new programs and initiatives that revitalized this significant landmark and park into a mission driven community asset. She expanded knowledge of the site's important heritage while connecting this legacy to relevant contemporary interests and effectively utilizing its riverside site to promote the arts and environmental stewardship. Sharp Walton previously served as Museum Consultant to the National Museum of Industrial History and Chief Curator and Director of Museum and Educational Services at Historic Bethlehem Partnership in Bethlehem, PA. She holds an M.A. in American History/Public History from Temple University and a B.A. in History from the College of New Jersey. Hailing from Middlesex County, Sharp Walton has a familiarity and affection for New Jersey and its rich history. She has also spent extensive time in Monmouth County and has an affinity for the area and its heritage. Sharp Walton, her husband, who grew up in Monmouth County, and their family will be relocating to Belmar. |
| | | Bruce (front left) with the Castiles, 1967, Courtesy of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University. Before Bruce became synonymous with Asbury Park, he and the Castiles often practiced at the Center Street, Freehold Borough home of manager Tex Vinyard and his wife, Marion. |
120th Annual Meeting Two River Theater 21 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank Tuesday, January 29, 2019 (Snow date: Tuesday, February 5, 2019)
6:30 pm Doors open for reception 7:00 pm Annual Meeting 7:30 pm Program featuring Eileen Chapman Eileen Chapman, Director of The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University, is the guest speaker for MCHA's 120th Annual Meeting and will talk about how the Archives started, how they came to Monmouth University and how this turned into a partnership with Bruce Springsteen. She might even share tales of her days managing the Stone Pony! Eileen will be working closely with MCHA Guest Curator Melissa Ziobro, Specialist Professor of Public History at Monmouth University, on MCHA's upcoming exhibition 'Springsteen: His Hometown', scheduled to open September 2019. The meeting and program are free of charge to members, their guests and the public. A brief business meeting to elect new Trustees, recap 2018, and share our plans for the new year will precede our speaker. |
RED Ladies Valentine Luncheon Join us February 7, 2019 for our 12th Annual Red Ladies Valentine Luncheon! Shop boutique vendors featuring unique items ranging from jewelry and clothing to home décor. Bid on a wide variety of auction items and take a chance (or two) on the grand prize! All proceeds from Red benefit the important work of the Association.
Celebrate your friends while supporting a good cause!
This year we will be honoring the Junior League of Monmouth County for 80 years of volunteer and educational services.
Reservations are limited. |
| | | A perspective rendering of the Association's proposed headquarters in Freehold drawn by architect J. Hallam Conover shows the columned portico that was eliminated as designs of the building were finalized in 1930. |
120th Anniversary Series 1928 - 1938 The Monmouth County Historical Association came of age in its fourth decade of existence, but not without a few growing pains. The issue of where to locate a headquarters building had presumably been resolved in 1927, when the Association accepted the donation of a lot in Freehold from David Vanderveer Perrine. That decision, however, was revisited in late spring and summer of 1929. A vocal minority of members and trustees had solicited a proposal from the trustees of the Friends Meeting House in Shrewsbury for a long term lease on their historic landmark. Plans were also prepared for a fireproof building to be erected on the grounds. From April through August debates raged again between competing groups that supported Freehold or Shrewsbury. Things finally came to a head at the Annual Meeting held on 29 August. A special committee appointed by the Board had yet again recommended the lot in Freehold. Motions were made and defeated for both locations. The minutes of the meeting noted at one point that "A prolonged period of fruitless discussion ensued." Finally, on a rising vote, there were 52 votes to accept their report, and 18 against. The minutes continued, "Resolved: that a committee be appointed to be known as the "Building Committee" whose duty shall be to carry forward to completion in all its details the planning and building of the House of the Mon. County Hist. Association on the site in Freehold known as the Perrine Lot." Five trustees were appointed to the committee, headed by Major Henry L. Jones of Freehold. A subscription book to raise funds was opened on 30 October 1929. Interestingly, it coincided with the infamous Stock Market Crash that took place between 24 and 29 October. Nonetheless, contributions began to accumulate quickly. By year end, Mrs. Margaret Riker Haskell and her three brothers had paid in $5,500. Eventually, cash, pledges and accumulated interest would amount to $70,604 by 1 October 1931. Individual contributions ranged from $5 to $10,000, the latter of which was given by L. Albert Reed, son of Association founder Caroline G. Reed. Her daughter, Mrs. William Barclay Parsons, and husband also supported the building project by donating a total of $6,558. But the overall average contribution amounted to $233.58. In all, there were 329 donations, including multiple instalments made by some individuals. The success of the fundraising campaign was a remarkable accomplishment considering it took place in the first two years of the Great Depression. |
If you would like to learn more about your company's matching gift program or leaving MCHA a gift in your will please contact us directly at 732-462-1466 or email giving@monmouthhistory.org |
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There Are Lots of Ways to Support MCHA
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Monmouth County Historical Association received an operating support grant from the
New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. |
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