The forecast calls for heavy rain starting about 7:00 p.m. tonight.  Therefore our meeting is being cancelled so that everyone will be safe.

Have you ever wished you could meet a suffragette? Come meet Lillian Feickert—portrayed by professional storyteller Carol Simon Levin—at this month’s meeting of the Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood. Feickert, who lived in Plainfield, was president of the New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association from 1912-1920.

The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 26, at the Shady Rest Scotch Hills Country Club, 820 Jerusalem Rd. (at the corner of Plainfield Avenue) in Scotch Plains.

In her role as Feickert, Levin, an independent historian who specializes in recounting the “lost stories of fascinating and forgotten women” through first person portrayals, will illustrate the role of New Jersey women in the long struggle for women’s suffrage. Her presentation, “Reclaiming Our Voice: New Jersey’s Central Role in the Fight for Woman Suffrage,” was published as an article in the March 2020 issue of the online New Jersey history magazine, Garden State Legacy.

Levin also is the author of Remembering the Ladies: From Patriots in Petticoats to Presidential Candidates, which profiles 69 women—well-known and unknown—who worked tirelessly for women’s rights in America. Levin holds a bachelor’s degree focusing on women’s history and history of technology from Cornell University and a master’s degree in library services from the University of Arizona. She is also the founder of the website tellingherstories.com.

The upcoming meeting is free and all are welcome. Note that in accordance with township policy, masks will be required in common areas of the building. Refreshments and fellowship will follow the presentation.

We’re delighted that we will be meeting Tuesday evening February 26th, 7:30PM, at the Scotch Hills
Country Club, 820 Jerusalem Rd., Scotch Plains, NJ 07076. Our program is “Youngs Paint and Varnish Company”. We’re lucky to have one of the family members that last helped managed what once was a premier decorating store for this area: Larry Andrews, grandson of the founder of Youngs in 1925. The local high school TV will be filming so we will we be able to have a record in our museum.

Scotch Plains & Fanwood: Have you ever thought about how New Jersey was created? Perhaps you’ve wondered about how East and West Jersey came to be? Or you’ve considered how life changed for landowners as the American Revolution intensified? The way the state developed before, during and after the revolution, including some of its distinctive features that still remain today, is fascinating. At the monthly meeting of the Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood on Tuesday evening May 22nd, these significant topics like New Jersey’s role in politics, transportation, trade and agricultural on the eve of the revolution will be explored.

Our teacher and guide for this interesting program will be Jonathan Mercantini. He is the Acting Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Associate Professor of History at Kean University where he has taught since 2007. He also serves as the Co-Director of the History Honors Program. He teaches a wide variety of courses: Colonial and Revolutionary America, Pirates in the Atlantic Work and the Civil War and Reconstruction to name just a few. Prior to his appointment at Kean he taught at the University of Miami and Canisius College. He has also taught at Princeton University. He earned his Ph.D. in American History from Emory University.

Professor Mercantini has numerous major publications. His most recent in 2017 is The Stamp Act of 1765. His current research projects include: Make History @ Kean: William Livingston’s World—an exploration of the 18th Century Atlantic World funded by a Humanities Initiatives Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2014 he worked with the New Jersey Historical Commission to plan activities for the 350th Anniversary of New Jersey. He received Emmy Nominations from the New York Region and the Mid-Atlantic Region for his work on It Happened Here—New Jersey a weekly series on NJ History topics featured on NJ Public TV and online.

This engaging meeting by a popular speaker is made possible by funding from the NJ Council for the Humanities. It is free and open to everyone. The meeting starts at 7:30PM on Tuesday May 22nd at Shady Rest of Scotch Hills Country Club on Plainfield Avenue & Jerusalem Road in Scotch Plains. Refreshments and fellowship follow the meeting.