Historic Happenings Blog

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...