MCHA Presents
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
A Virtual Lecture Series
- Co-Sponsored by the Monmouth County Library -
Register below today for FREE Zoom lectures given by Monmouth County's most interesting and well-respected historians! You'll even have the chance to engage in a Q&A at the end!
Browse our upcoming line-up to join us on the specified date at 7 PM:
Season Three is Here!!
February 16th, 2023
Bernadette Rogoff presents
Julia's Wardrobe
In 1868, Julia Norton Hartshorne ordered a brand new wardrobe to take advantage of the latest style trends. Her husband, Benjamin Minturn Hartshorne, was born and raised in Monmouth County and ran a successful steamboat company along the West Coast. The couple and their three children traveled from their home in San Francisco for an extended summer visit with Benjamin's family in Middletown. Upon returning, Julia fell ill and died in February 1869. Benjamin packed away all of Julia's things and returned with his children to Monmouth County. Through the generosity of Hartshorne family descendants, Julia's Wardrobe is now part of the Association's historic textile collection. Director of Collections Bernadette Rogoff will introduce you to Julia and explore her style and personality with an enjoyable virtual fashion show through Julia's Wardrobe.
March 16th, 2023
Dr. Stanley Blair presents
Asbury and Ocean: Fictionalized!
Margaret Widdemer (1884-1978) was an award-winning poet and novelist who grew up in Asbury Park. In one of her early novels, Why Not? (1915), correlations between the novel’s fictional setting and local history suggest that the setting fictionalizes two Monmouth County communities. The novel was soonadapted into a silent film, The Dream Lady (1918), directed by one of America’s first female film directors, Elsie Jane Wilson. Last year, a partial manuscript of the novel and related materials were discovered in Widdemer’s papers at Syracuse University. In turn, the discovery suggests a possible autobiographical approach to the novel. In this presentation, actually entitled “Welcome to Wanalasset, N.J.: Margaret Widdemer’s North Asbury Park and Wanamassa, Ocean Township, c. 1901-1915,” we will consider the novel, the film, and the manuscript relative to local history and Widdemer’s life.
April 20th, 2023
Jack Grodeska
Prohibition in Monmouth County
Discover the underworld of bootlegging and booze in Monmouth County - from well-known criminals to those who were smart enough to keep their heads down and their business up. Learn about the operations that made them wealthy and powerful...until their luck inevitably ran out.
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May 18th, 2023
John Barrows presents
Four Amazing Geniuses from Little Silver
Monmouth County has been home to many brilliant people: award-winning authors, titans of industry, leading scientists, and modern inventors. Bell Labs and Fort Monmouth employed some of America’s most talented people in a host of research fields, resulting in world-changing innovations and paradigm-shifting technological advancements. John R. Barrows, editor of MonmouthTimeline.org, the illustrated history of Monmouth County, will take a look at four overlooked yet amazing geniuses who all called the tiny town of Little Silver Home: The father of radio astronomy; the inventor of the silicon solar cell; the foremost breeder of hybrid plants in the history of American horticulture; and a woman who broke stereotypes while winning awards and dozens of patents related to military photography.
July 20th, 2023
Joel Farkas presents
Painting the American Revolution
Learn about the iconic images of the Revolution, and how they tell the story of America.
