Historic Happenings Blog

Wednesday, October 16 – Monmouth County 10:45-11:45 am:    Melissa Ziobro,  American Women and Royal Marriages: New Jersey’s Real-Life ‘Lady Coras.’      Royal wedding fever has been in the air since Great Britain's Prince Harry wed American actress Meghan Markle on May 19, 2018. But did you know that marriages between Americans and European nobles once happened by the hundreds? During the Gilded Age, wealthy American heiresses married impoverished European nobles by the score. The marriages secured social status for "new money" American families often slighted by the established elites in their own country; while the infusion of American dollars allowed the impoverished nobility across the Atlantic to continue to maintain the lifestyles to which their families had been accustomed for generations. There were literally hundreds of these marriages, some more famous than others- includi...

CALLING ALL SPRINGSTEEN FANS! Head over to Middletown Library on March 27 at 7pm for a free talk about Springsteen from the guest curator of our upcoming exhibi tion 'Springsteen: His Hometown', Melissa Ziobro. Ziobro has been given unfettered access to the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University for the exhibition so it should make for an interesting night! 'Springsteen: His Hometown' is scheduled to open at our Museum in Freehold in September 2019. VENUE Middletown Township Public Library 55 New Monmouth Rd   Middletown ,  NJ  07748 DETAILS Date: March 27 Time: 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Cost: Free

Wednesday, March 13 – Burlington County Moorestown Historical Society presents  “New Jersey Women and Royal Marriages.”     Join the Historical Society of Moorestown at The Moorestown Library on Wednesday, March 13, 2019, at 7 p.m., for “New Jersey Women and Royal Marriages.” (The Moorestown Library, the event co-host, is at 111 W. 2 nd  St., Moorestown NJ 08057.)      As all  Downton Abbey  fans know, before Cora Crawley became the Countess of Grantham she was Cora Levinson, American heiress. As part of the marriage contract, Cora’s fortune was tied to the Grantham family’s failing estate to prevent it from going bankrupt.     While  Downton Abbey ’s Granthams are fictional, the idea of wealthy American heiresses marrying impoverished European nobility is not. There were hundreds of these marriages, including several featuring brides from New Jersey.     Melissa Zioboro, A...

Tuesday, March 12 – Ocean County The Brick Township Historical Society will hold a meeting at 7:30 pm at the Herbertsville Firehouse, 601 Herbertsville Rd., Brick.  “New Jersey Women and Royal Marriages,” presented by Melissa Ziobro, Specialist Professor of Public History at Monmouth University. As all  Downton Abbey  fans know, before Cora Crawley became the Countess of Grantham she was Cora Levinson, American heiress. As part of the marriage contract, Cora’s fortune was tied to the Grantham family’s failing estate to prevent it from going bankrupt.      While  Downton Abbey ’s Granthams are fictional, the idea of wealthy American heiresses marrying impoverished European nobility is not. There were hundreds of these marriages, including several featuring brides from New Jersey.     Melissa Zioboro, Assistant Professor of History at Monmouth University, will introduce us to the so-called “dollar princesses” of the Gil...