By Rick Geffken
Almost 50 Monmouth County town historians and historical society representatives convened at the Manalapan Library March 27 to exchange ideas, discuss best practices and learn about the voluminous resources available for research at the county archives.
Hosted by Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon, the event resulted from dozens of requests for more gatherings from attendees at similar meetings.
“After last year’s Archives and History Day, some of the participants encouraged me to bring our local historians together to network and share ideas,” Hanlon said. “I’m so glad that I was able to host this event and open a dialogue amongst the wonderful people who work so hard to preserve and share our county’s history.”
Monmouth County Freeholder Lillian G. Burry gave the introductory welcome speech, telling the audience, “Like you, I’ve worked to preserve the history of Monmouth County and I’m thrilled to see you all here, both old friends and new faces.”
TWO RIVER-AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETIES
Atlantic Highlands Historical Society
Eatontown Historical Society
Historical Society of Highlands
Holmdel Historical Society
Keansburg Historical Society
Keyport Historical Society
Little Silver Historical Society
Middletown Township Historical Society
Monmouth County Genealogy Society
Monmouth County Historical Association
Navesink Maritime Heritage Association
Ocean Township Museum
Sand Hill Indian Historical Association
Sea Bright Historical Society
Shrewsbury Historical Society
Tinton Falls/ Crawford House Museum
T. Thomas Fortune Foundation
Twin Lights Historical Society
Attending historians introduced their societies, upcoming events and initiatives.
“I’m new, just recently appointed as our town historian, so I’m excited to meet people who’ve been doing this for a while,” said Oceanport’s Frank Barricelli. “I’m updating a book about Oceanport’s history and looking for ideas from everyone.”
Although there is no official mandate for the position of “town historian” in Monmouth County, Hanlon has encouraged each of the 53 municipalities to appoint one, if only informally. During fall 2018, Hanlon also asked Brielle historian John Belding to create a historian list. For towns which had not appointed anyone in particular, folks like Ocean Township’s Marjorie and Paul Edelson represented their hometown. The Edelsons have been involved in maintaining the Eden Woolley House as the Township of Ocean Historical Museum.
Lorraine Stone of the T. Thomas Fortune Foundation, which has just completed restoring the former home of the eponymous African American journalist who lived in Red Bank, also attended the meeting. An actress, Stone has portrayed several historical black women for a variety of audiences during recent years.
“I want to make sure that people of color who have done so much for our county are recognized like everyone else, especially at this year’s fall Archives Day which will celebrate women,” she said.
Meg Sharp Walton, the newly appointed executive director of Freehold’s Monmouth County Historical Association (MCHA), a private nonprofit, also addressed the assemblage. She told the historians, “Next year New Jersey will be focusing on the 19th Amendment to the Constitution giving women the right to vote. It would be great to see how Monmouth County women contributed.” Sharp Walton encouraged the participants to contact her directly, as part of her MCHA outreach effort.
Monmouth County Archivist Gary Saretzky presented a short PowerPoint presentation to review the many resources he administers and preserves. The archives, opened officially in 1994 and one of the few such resources in New Jersey, has a vast range of documents and maps available to the public. Saretzky surprised more than a few in the crowd when he told them almost a million pages had been digitized last year.
A lively question and answer session concluded the event. Shrewsbury Historical Society president Don Burden asked if there were plans to include links to the various historical societies on the clerk’s website. Hanlon agreed to consider the idea, as well as others brought up at the meeting.
