Historic Happenings Blog

All the Creatures Were Stirring, Even the Mouse! Thomas Nast’s Furry Christmas  (December 4, 2019-January 12, 2020) Thomas Nast (1840-1902) illustrated the figure of Santa Claus and Christmas images throughout his career. Nast was inspired by the famous poem  A Visit from Saint Nicholas , popularly known as ‘ Twas The Night Before Christmas , written by Clement Clarke Moore in 1822. Nast included many elements from Moore’s poem in his illustrations. Through a selection of the artist’s work, this exhibition explores how Nast developed the image of Santa Claus as a jolly, round-bellied, white-bearded, gnome-like figure that immediately captured the imagination of both children and adults throughout the United States when first published and that continue to delight audiences to this day.

Thomas Nast Follows Giuseppe Garibaldi  (August -November 2019) In 1860, Thomas Nast (1840-1902) followed Giuseppe Garibaldi’s campaign to liberate and unify Sicily and the southern Italian states. The young artist, just 19 when he embedded with Garibaldi’s forces, gained valuable experience drawing soldiers and battle scenes. Nast’s experiences in Italy ultimately led to his position as the illustrator of the Civil War for  Harper’s Weekly . This exhibition explores Nast’s early development as a war correspondent and his images of Garibaldi and the Italian campaign through a portfolio Nast created while following Garibaldi and images he published in  New York Illustrated News  and  The Illustrated London News  in 1860. Museum Hours Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday 1:00-4:00pm. Group tours welcome by appointment Sunday-Friday.

Sunday, October 20 – Morris County America's Most Influential Journalist: The Life, Times and Legacy of Thomas Nast 2:00 pm Join Nast Scholar and Lincoln Prize winner John Adler as he previews his forthcoming biography of Thomas Nast. Reception to follow.  FREE with museum admission and for members. Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, 45 Macculloch Avenue, Morristown; 973-538-2404

Now Showing in our Thomas Nast Gallery Illustrating an Icon: Thomas Nast’s Uncle Sam February-mid-July 2019 Thomas Nast (1840-1902) is credited with popularizing the image of Uncle Sam. Decades before James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960) created the “I Want You” image of Uncle Sam for United States Army recruiting posters in 1917, Nast had drawn this iconic symbol of the United States more than 160 times for  Harper’s Weekly . Like his Democratic Donkey and Republican Elephant, Nast’s Uncle Sam is adapted from earlier examples. In the late eighteenth and through the nineteenth centuries, Americans identified with “everyman” characters known as Brother Jonathan and Yankee Doodle. Brother Jonathan was depicted typically as portly and wearing a brown homespun suit, while Yankee Doodle wore stars and stripes. During the War of 1812, government supplies marked “U.S.” were nicknamed Uncle Sam. Sam Wilson, a meatpacker from Troy, New York known locally as “Uncle Sam,” sold beef to the Army....

Sunday, March 3 – Morris County Mark Twain Becomes a Jersey Boy: His Friendship with Thomas Nast 2:00 pm    In this illustrated lecture,  John Pascal, a scholar of Mark Twain, will trace the friendship of these visual and literary  giants. Macculloch Hall, 45 Macculloch Avenue, Morristown New exhibit: Illustrating an Icon: Thomas Nast’s Uncle Sam February-July 2019

Sunday, December 9 – Morris County  Morristown and Morris Township Library’s North Jersey History and Genealogy Center and Macculloch Hall present “An Afternoon with Thomas Nast” on Sunday, December 9, 1:30 p.m.    Meet at Morristown and Morris Township Library, 1 Miller Rd., Morristown, NJ, 07960,’s Lower Level Meeting Room at 1:30 p.m. for the screening of two half hour length documentaries,  The Grand Caricaturama  and  Villa Fontana . Then join Macculloch Hall’s F.M. Kirby Curator of Collections, Ryan Hyman, and the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center’s, James Lewis, to walk past Nast’s home, Villa Fontana, and on to Macculloch Hall where Ryan will give a tour of Bringing Down the Boss: Thomas Nast Takes on Tweed and Tammany Hall and Macculloch Hall’s latest Christmas exhibit.     Please R.S.V.P. to  njhgc@jfpl.org . Please dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes. For more information regarding...