So what do we tell the children?…about the past, that is.
After a successful pilot program at the Deserted Village last fall, Union County’s Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs is rolling out a History Trading Card series for youngsters to learn more about the history of the people and events that shaped Union County — and the country –we know today.
“We live in a County that is so rich in history — and I’m not talking just about the Revolution –I’m talking about a County whose residents played vital roles in every century since New Jersey was first settled in the 1600s,” said Freeholder Chairman Bruce Bergen.
“And yes, sadly, much has been paved over and developed over our 400 years, but we should know the ground we walk on — the incredible people who came before us,” Bergen said.
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr studied at The Academy in old Elizabethtown, while George Washington directed the Battle of the Short Hills from the Drake House in Plainfield, noted Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski.
John Philip Holland, who designed the first submarine capable of running submerged for a considerable distance, would build the US Navy’s first submarines at the Crescent Shipyard in Elizabeth. The famous scientist Nikola Tesla built his plant in Rahway while Marconi built his factory in Roselle Park, she said.
“And it was not all that long ago,” Kowalski said, “That in Linden, when America needed planes for World War II, when we were fighting totalitarian dictatorships, the General Motors Plant went from turning out cars to producing fighter planes.”
“When babies are born and they want to check to see if they’re okay,” Bergen said, “they administer the Apgar test. Dr. Virginia Apgar, who invented that test, lived in Westfield.”
Last year, the Cultural & Heritage Affairs Office, part of the Union County Parks Department, developed the first cards in the Union County Across the Centuries series: Alexander Hamilton, William Livingston, Jonathan Dayton and Hannah Caldwell. Youngsters at Four Centuries in a Weekend had so much fun collecting the cards that work continued, with 14 cards now in the series and more on the way.
Because the County was celebrating the 240th Anniversary of the Battle of the Short Hills in June with a reenactment of the battle at Oak Ridge Park, a lot of focus was put on the Revolutionary War era. But as the program rolls out, there will be cards from across Union County’s history.
The new cards were unveiled this week at the County’s Wednesday night free Summer Arts concert in Oak Ridge Park. They will be going out to historic sites across the county, with the goal of encouraging youngsters to visit the sites to collect specific cards.
To see some of the cards now available, go to: ucnj.org/parks-recreation/cultural-heritage-affairs/trading-cards.
For more information, contact Cultural & Heritage Affairs at 908-558-2550 or culturalinfo@ucnj.org
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Photo Caption: STANDING BEHIND CAESAR…the new history trading card that is. At Union County’s summer concert in the parks, the Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs unveiled its new Union County Across the Centuries History Trading Cards, featuring people and events from the County’s rich 400-year history. Standing left to right are Union County Freeholder Chairman Bruce Bergen, Historical Society of Plainfield President Nancy Piwowar and Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski. Caesar was a freed slave who drove a supply wagon for the American troops at the 1777 Battle of the Short Hills. He is buried in Scotch Plains.
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