Tag Archives: publish
Contact: Melissa Abernathy, 201-656-2240, pr @ hobokenmuseum.org
20121021 – Fall Family Fun Day
Fall Family Fun Day
October 21, 2012 • 11-3pm
Location: Hoboken Historical Museum, 1301 Hudson St., (201) 656-2240
Education Curator Robin Westervelt is planning a fun-packed day of hands-on activities for kids and their parents in our fall annual celebration of families and the latest exhibit, “I Belong.” More details to come. Sign up for our newsletter for updates.
Free
20121021 – Metz Book Talk
“Killing the Poormaster,” by Holly Metz – Author Talk & Book Signing
October 21, 2012 • 4pm
Location: Hoboken Historical Museum, 1301 Hudson St., (201) 656-2240
Reflecting on a sensational, Depression-era murder trial, “Killing the Poormaster” chronicles the events that led up to—and followed—the death of Harry Barck, a poormaster who determined who would and would not receive public aid in Hoboken, New Jersey. When unemployed mason Joe Scutellaro was arrested for stabbing Barck in the heart with a paper spike after the poormaster suggested that Scutellaro’s wife prostitute herself rather than ask the city for aid, the case became a symbol of larger social ills and the debate over public relief. Grappling with issues that are still vital—massive unemployment, endemic poverty, and the inadequacy of public assistance—”Killing the Poormaster” offers insight into the ongoing debate over America’s social contract, relaying a gripping narrative that reads like today’s news. Click here for more about book.
Free
20120906 – Uptown Storytime at the Museum
Uptown Storytime at the Museum
September 6, 2012 • 10am
Location: Hoboken Historical Museum, 1301 Hudson St., (201) 656-2240
Librarian Penny Metsch shares stories with children ages 2 to 5 years and their caregivers.
Suggested donation: $2; HHM members free
20120920 – Uptown Storytime at the Museum
Uptown Storytime at the Museum
September 20, 2012 • 10am
Location: Hoboken Historical Museum, 1301 Hudson St., (201) 656-2240
Librarian Penny Metsch shares stories with children ages 2 to 5 years and their caregivers.
Suggested donation: $2; HHM members free
20120520 – Tunnel Talk: Dr. Robert W. Jackson
Tunnel Talk
Robert W. Jackson, “Highway Under the Hudson”
May 20, 2012
As you’re sitting in traffic waiting to enter the Holland Tunnel, ponder the fact that passenger cars weren’t even a primary reason for building the tunnel. In the first two decades of the 20th century, automobiles were called “pleasure” vehicles, toys of the very wealthy. The tunnel was proposed originally as a solution to a freight transportation crisis, precipitated by a series of bad winters when the river either froze over or marine unions went on strike.
Manhattan was growing by leaps and bounds, and the city’s demand for food and coal seemed insatiable. These goods poured into Jersey City and Hoboken where major rail lines terminated, but the only way to get them to Manhattan and Brooklyn was by barge, railcar float or lighters (boats for light freight). If ice or a strike made the river impassable, food would pile up and spoil, and on the New York side, people suffered. Shippers and local businesses were desperate to for a reliable transportation option.
Historian and urban planner Robert W. Jackson, author of Highway Under the Hudson: A History of the Holland Tunnel (New York University Press, 2011) will visit the Museum on Sunday, May 20, at 4 p.m., to paint a vivid picture of the way the project came together and adapted to the rapidly changing times. He will also share his in-depth research into the conditions under which the “sandhogs” worked, which were fraught with risk and helped lead to stronger federal oversight of workplace safety. An urban planner with experience in traffic planning, Jackson will also discuss the reasons the original plan ignored the traffic impact on the Jersey side of the river, and how quickly it adapted to meet those demands.
20120603 – Hoboken Secret Garden Tour
Annual Secret Garden Tour
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June 3, 2012 • 9am-4pm
Location: Hoboken Historical Museum, 1301 Hudson St., (201) 656-2240
Hidden behind the row homes and repurposed factories lining Hoboken’s streets are surprisingly lush green spaces that cool our urban heat island and freshen the air we breathe. They reflect the diversity of the city’s inhabitants; past tours have included Japanese Zen gardens, English cottage gardens and even a Moroccan courtyard. Indulge your curiosity and garden fantasies with the annual Hoboken tradition, the 15th Annual Secret Garden Tour, on Sunday, June 3, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Rain date: June 10.)
Eight to 10 homeowners will share their “secret gardens” and their gardening secrets to support the Museum’s fund-raising efforts, with assistance from the Hoboken Garden Club and title sponsor, Hufnagel Landscaping. The Tour includes a wide range of garden designs by both dedicated gardening enthusiasts and professional designers, with clever solutions to such challenging issues as shallow soil and deep shade.
Guided tours depart from the Museum on the half hour, and last about two hours. Comfortable shoes are advised. Tickets are $20 for HHM members and Hoboken Garden Club members, and for tickets purchased in advance; non-members pay $25 on the day of tour. For advance tickets, stop by 1301 Hudson St., or call the Museum at 201-656-2240. Tickets will also be sold at retail locations around town—see posters or our website for those locations: hobokensecretgardens.com. Volunteers are also needed; call the Museum at 201-656-2240 for more information, or email volunteer@hobokenmuseum.org.
Gardening in Hoboken has a rich tradition, as Colonel John Stevens (1749 – 1838), who founded Hoboken, is credited with introducing to America the Chrysanthemum and the Camellia. His gardens were highly regarded as some of the most elaborate and scientifically cultivated of the day.
20120624 – Tunnel Talk: Steven Hart
Tunnel Talk
Steven Hart, “The Last Three Miles”
June 24, 2012
Award-winning journalist Steven Hart visits the Museum on Sunday, Jun. 24, at 4 p.m., to share some of the juicy details from his acclaimed book The Last Three Miles: Politics, Murder, and the Construction of America’s First Superhighway (The New Press, 2007). The book details the epic battle between big labor and big political bosses over the construction of a superhighway needed to carry the traffic to and from the western mouth of the Holland Tunnel.
Built at the dawn of America’s love affair with the automobile, the tunnel’s planners at first didn’t consider the impact on local Hudson County roads feeding into the tunnel. Cars and trucks leaving the nation’s largest city found themselves in a maze of local roads wending their way through the New Jersey Meadowlands.
Jersey City mayor Frank Hague—undisputed boss of the Hudson County political machine—was a major advocate for the construction of the country’s first “superhighway” to connect New York City to the rest of the country. Hague’s nemesis was union boss Teddy Brandle, and construction of the last three miles of Route 25, later dubbed the Pulaski Skyway, pitted their respective forces in a bitter battle that resulted in a motorway fittingly made notorious in the opening sequence of the HBO series The Sopranos.
Steven Hart has written for the New York Times, Salon, and the Home News Tribune in New Jersey’s Middlesex and Union counties, among other publications. He lives in New Jersey.
20160514-Elysian Fields Gala
Annual Spring Gala: Elysian Fields Escapade, A Victorian Romp!
Saturday, May 14, 2016 – 7 pm – midnight
Location: Hoboken Elks Club, 1005 Washington St.
Trust the group that brought you the Masked Balls, the Hoboken Hoedown, and last year’s My Way Gala to plan the best party of the year: Elysian Fields Escapade!. Save the date for May 14; more details will be posted soon. Of course, we’ll have an open bar, great food, plus our popular annual live auction of unique packages. Dance the night away with music that spans the decades.
20120826 – Heirloom Tomato-Tasting Festival
Heirloom Tomato-Tasting Festival
August 26, 2012 • 1-5pm
Location: Hoboken Historical Museum, 1301 Hudson St., (201) 656-2240
Savor the best flavors of traditional tomatoes in nearly every color of the rainbow. Trucked in Jersey-fresh from Wantage, NJ, by farmers Rich and Sue Sisti, who bring other fresh produce for sale as well.
Free
20130324 – Map Talk: Sybil’s Cave
Map Talk: Lauren Cook on Sybil’s Cave
March 24, 2013 • 4pm
Join us for a historical look at one of Hoboken’s earliest tourist attractions, Sybil’s Cave. As a prominent stop along Hoboken’s renowned “River Walk” just south of the Elysian Fields, Sybil’s cave attracted thousands of visitors, mostly from Manhattan, who took a ferry across the Hudson to escape their urban environment in the mid-1800s.
The research was performed by Lauren Cook, a registered professional archaeologist, under a grant from the New Jersey Cultural Trust in 2010-2011.