Historic Happenings Blog

Tuesday, November 19 – Morris County    The Mendham Borough Historical Society meets on Tuesday, November 19, at 1:30 PM in the Garabrant Center, 4 Wilson Street, Borough. Following a brief agenda,  Derick Backer presents the history of this well-known local gem, The Backer Farm – what it was, what it is; what does the future hold?  This first-hand story and audio-visual program lead us not only through family life and farming, the changes, additions, program innovations, but also how the charm and character of Backer Farm remain the same as a steady piece of Mendham history. Born and raised on the Farm, Derick Backer and family members still reside there and manage the daily operations. Program/parking free; the public is invited.

Tuesday, October 22 – Morris County     The Mendham Borough Historical Society meets on Tuesday, October 22, at  1:30 PM  in the Garabrant Center, 4 Wilson Street, Borough. Following a brief business meeting,  Gregory L. Smith presents the program based on his book,  Mischievous in Mendham . His PowerPoint program is an anthology of comic memoirs on the author’s childhood in Mendham.     Featuring small and ordinary happenings, he ramps up humorous motifs from age 7 onwards, often aided and abetted by his friend—incidents not unique to Mendham but rather a microcosm of the American comedy in general. Profound and universal, Smith’s program encompasses wit, warmth, and nostalgia of times long past, relatable to adults who fondly remember their youth. The Chatham author is a retired electronic technologist serving in several professional fields, attended CCM, National Radio Institute in DC and carries an Advanced Class FCC L...

Tuesday, September 24 – Morris County     The Mendham Borough Historical Society meets on  Tuesday, September 24, at 1:30 PM  in the Garabrant Center, 4 Wilson Street, Borough. Following a brief business meeting,  Allison Hartley-Kong presents the program, “ Fosterfields: New Stories at Old Places.”  She poses the question: “What’s been going on at our neighboring historic site Fosterfields recently?  In her presentation, the Morris County Park Commission Senior Historic Programs Specialist shares some recent developments in research and programming at Fosterfields. Hear about new research into the Irish workers’ families, stories, and an upcoming exhibit on play and childhood, among others. It will highlight the research Fosterfields’ staff and volunteers have conducted on those topics sometimes ignored in traditional historical research—such as women and immigrants—as well as explain how new programming at the site uses ...

Tuesday, May 28 – Morris County      The Mendham Borough Historical Society meeting takes place on Tuesday, May 28,  at 1:30 PM  in the Garabrant Center, 4 Wilson Street, Borough. Following a brief business agenda,  Carol Simon Levin presents the program,  Reclaiming Our Voice: New   Jersey’s Central Role in the Fight for Woman Suffrage.   In our early years, NJ was the only state where women had the right to vote, lost it in 1807, won it back five generations later, the state’s role in the struggle largely overlooked.  Many of the women involved in the national movement were from NJ – Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Tenafly, founder and author with Susan B. Anthony of Woman Suffrage movements and publications; Lucy Stone, S. Orange, “No taxation without representation”; Portia Gage and over 100 women from Vineland who brought their own ballot boxes to the polls to cast presidential votes.      Levin ...

Tuesday, April 23 – Morris County     The Mendham Borough Historical Society meeting takes place on Tuesday, April 23,  at 1:30 PM  in the Garabrant Center, 4 Wilson Street, Borough. Following a brief business agenda,  Rikki Lyn Hauss presents “ The Doris Duke Story  –  The Duchess of South   Somerville. ”  The author leads us through exclusive exhibits from the hotly-debated demise of the Duke mansion in Hillsborough, offering a PowerPoint program with  photographs, artifacts, along with a comprehensive dialogue on Duke’s life and legacy (and its controversy) as seen through the eyes of former employees as well as candid friends and neighbors of the billionaire heiress. An interesting program in view of Mendham’s recent Pitney property.     Ms. Hauss is a graduate of Hillsborough HS, Rutgers U, and Arizona State U (MSW, LSW); the 2018 self-published book received three nominations for the 2018 Ind...

Tuesday, March 26 – Morris County     The Mendham Borough Historical Society opens its spring session on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in the Garabrant Center, 4 Wilson Street, Borough,  at 1:30 PM . Following a brief business agenda, the  program will be presented by Dr. Jude Pfister – “ The Creation of American Law: John Jay, Oliver Ellsworth and the 1790s  Supreme Court.”  The Constitutional Convention in 1787 set America on a course to develop a unique system of law, based on Constitution Article III, calling for a national judiciary headed by a supreme court, first meeting in 1790.     The narrated- and PowerPoint program leads to a history of America’s national law and some of the people who set both the new Supreme Court and the new federal judiciary in motion. We meet some of those movers, e.g., John Jay, first Chief Justice, and other founders, who displayed great determination while guiding the process through the difficul...

Tuesday, November 27 – Morris County    The Mendham Borough Historical Society meets on Tuesday, November 27, at 7:30 PM in the Garabrant Center, 4 Wilson Street, Borough. Rich Rosenthal, co-founder of the North Jersey American Revolution Round Table, presents the program at 7:45 PM –   “The Precedents of the *Prefident – George Washington and the Creation of the Executive Office”  (*1789 print: ‘s’ written as ‘f’). About to become the first President under our Constitution, he said, “I walk on untrodden ground to shape America.” And indeed he did! Everything Washington did was a precedent – the inaugural oath, US Treasury/financial system, creating the Coast Guard, cabinet meetings, appointments including the Supreme Court, Congressional dealings, and his refusal to run for a third term. Rosenthal’s conversation leads the audience through these as well as other acts and decisions that actively remain a vital part of the office; we are remind...