Historic Happenings Blog

Edison in World War I Speaker: Joe Fagan WEST ORANGE, NJ — Township historian Joseph Fagan will present “Thomas Edison During World War I” on Sunday, Nov. 10, at 2 p.m. at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park, 211 Main St. in West Orange. Everyone is invited to this free event.  This event is part of the “One Book, One Town – West Orange Reads ‘Edison’” program, in which community members are encouraged to read Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edmund Morris’ new biography of Edison, which was nationally released at the Edison NHP on Oct. 27. The park is hosting a series of monthly discussions featuring various chapters of the book; Fagan’s presentation is the first such discussion. For more information about the program, contact Edison archivist Leonard DeGraaf at 973-736-0550, ext. 22, or at leonard_degraaf@nps.gov.

Saturday, October 26 - West Orange, Essex  County Book Launch Reception at Edison National Historical Park To celebrate the publication of  Edison , the new biography of Thomas A. Edison by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edmund Morris, Random House will host a book launch reception from 2:00 - 4:00 pm on Saturday at the park’s laboratory complex. The event is free and open to the general public. Random House editor Andrew Ward will offer brief remarks at the reception and Thomas Edison National Historical Park will announce the details of “One Book, One Town: West Orange Reads Edison,” a community-wide reading experience to encourage all to read and discuss the biography together. Copies of  Edison  will be available for purchase, and on display in the park archives will be rarely-seen historic documents accessed by Edmund Morris while he researched the biography. Edison  is the first major biography of Thomas Edison to be published in the last twenty years. Edmu...

Saturday - Sunday,  November and December  - West Orange, Essex County Holidays at Glenmont The sights and sounds of the season will greet visitors when they come to Thomas Edison's home in Llewellyn Park during "Holidays at Glenmont." Glenmont will be decorated much as it was while the Edison family lived there. Greenery and red poinsettias will deck the mantles above the fireplaces. Staircases will be ringed with boughs and red ribbon bows and wreaths will hang in every window. In the den, the majestic ten foot tree will be set and the presents underneath will be waiting as if the Edison children Madeleine, Theodore, and Charles, will soon come running down the stairs from their rooms - after they've checked their stockings in the upstairs living room! The Edison home, Glenmont, is located on a fifteen-acre estate in Llewellyn Park, the country's first private residential community. Built in 1880, the twenty-nine room mansion contains the original furnishings an...

Sunday, December 2  - West Orange, Essex County Harry's Magical Invention Bag Learn about invention and the important role Edison played in taking invention from a cottage/hobby activity to a full commercial activity - practiced by all major corporations. Hear Harry Roman, a Thomas Edison National Historical Park volunteer, retired engineer, as well as inventor and patent holder, as he discusses the major role NJ plays in the national invention scene-and all the great inventions NJ inventors have brought into our world. The program, held from 1:00 - 2:00 pm and 3:00 - 4:00 pm, is included with regular admission. Tickets must be purchased at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park Laboratory Complex Visitor Center at 211 Main Street, West Orange, NJ. Admission is $10.00, and includes the Glenmont Estate and the Laboratory Complex. Children under age 16 are free. For more information, call 973-736-0550 x11 or visit  www.nps.gov/edis .