Join us as we kick-off our Fall lecture series with a topic related to some items you may have seen around town… quilts! In July, the Oakland Historical Society installed a display of three commemorative quilts made by our Members and Students from Manito School. These quilts, on display at the Oakland Public Library and the Oakland Senior Center (until mid-August) celebrate the art of quilting while commemorating the 1976 Bicentennial, Oakland's Tercentenary, and the Van Allen House. Come see these quilts, as well as others provided by our speaker, and learn about the history of American quilting.
Stitches in Time: American Quilts 1800–1976
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 @ 2 pm (NEW DATE!)
Presentation by Peggy W. Norris, MS, MLIS
Oakland Public Library, Community Room
RSVP at bccls.libcal.com/event/17313755
Free Admission | All Are Welcome | Refreshments Provided
Sponsored by the Oakland Public Library; Organized by the Oakland Historical Society
While quilts have decorated our beds and kept us warm for two centuries, they also tell the stories about our families and our communities.
Peggy W. Norris, a historian, genealogist, librarian, author, quilter, member of the American Quilt Study Group, and past-President of the Brownstone Quilters Guild will share the history of American quilts using examples from Bergen County museums.
She will also have a limited number of copies of Stitched and Woven: Bergen County Quilts and Coverlets, 1800-1976, compiled by Peggy W. Norris and Key Yeomans with the Bergen County Quilt and Coverlet Committee. Published in 2021, the 160-page full-color hardcover book costs $25 and features regional textiles, maker histories, and private collections.
usrhistoricalsociety.org/shop/book-stitched-woven-bergen-county-quilts-coverlets
New Jersey's Geography — A Revolutionary Hero Millions of Years in the Making
Sunday, November 1 @ 2pm
Presentation by James Smith
Oakland Public Library, Community Room
Free and Open to All| Refreshments Provided
RSVP: bccls.libcal.com/event/16784747
It can be difficult to imagine Bergen County before today’s roads, neighborhoods, and development transformed the landscape. But look at an early map or a topographical map, and a very different Bergen County emerges.
Join us as we welcome Chair of the Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission James Smith who will take a look at the role New Jersey's unique geography played in the many battles and skirmishes of the American Revolution — as well as the vital role Oakland and the surrounding countryside played in supporting the war effort.
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James Smith is a Past President (six years total) of the Bergen County Historical Society and the current Chair of the Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission. He holds a Bachelor of Arts – History from The Catholic University of America and a Masters Degree in Education from St. Peter's University. A teacher by trade, Jim is a devoted father, husband, and sometimes colonial gardener.
