Here is a listing for Hudson County; and here is one for Bergen, Morris, and Passaic counties.
Archive for Holiday
Amelia Earhart Online Collection
With Amelia Earhart recently back in the news, we recommend a virtual trip to this site – George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers – containing as it does over 3500 items from letters to telegrams to newspaper clippings ranging from 1897 to 1971. You can search via material type, full text, subject, or date. The site also includes a biography, links to other Earhart sites, and a select bibliography. If you are interested, please read her The fun of it : random records of my own flying and of women in aviation published in 1932.
Thanksgiving: History, Primary Sources, Timeline
A brief overview of thanksgivings in this country dating back to the Spanish explorers is found in this teacher’s guide. A timeline for Thanksgiving from 1541-2001 is here; you can also find links to supporting documentation (pictures, historical proclamations, photos) for the holiday as well. As far as we can determine, there are only two primary sources for the celebration at Plymouth that is the foundation for Thanksgiving: Edward Winslow’s Mourt’s Relation; A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth and William Bradford’s Of Plimouth Plantation. Historical addresses, discourses, and sermons are available in plentitude courtesy of HathiTrust and the Internet Archive. Facts for this Thanksgiving Day are here. For those who are turkey-challenged, try these hotlines.
The Eleventh Hour of the Eleveneth Day of the Eleventh Month
Of 1918 is when the guns ceased, marking the end of The Great War. (Obviously, it was not called “World War I” yet; that would happen later. Please read “World War IV – Naming World Wars“ for a succinct overview even though we do contest the reference to the Sept 11, 1938 issue of Time Magazine; it should be the Sept 11 1939 issue. Also, this entry from the Oxford English Dictionary should be consulted.) For the convoluted history of Veterans Day, please come here; for facts and figures as compiled by the Census Bureau, visit here; and a listing of New Jersey observances is here. New Jersey’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs offers assistance to veterans as does the Veterans Resources Search Engine. Thousands of online veterans’ interviews can be found at the Veterans History Project from the Library of Congress. (Just tick off the “yes” option in the Digitized Collection section to limit to online videos/transcripts.) And, as mentioned in an earlier entry, New Jersey veterans are found at this Rutgers site.
Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation
Is here, establishing what we now celebrate. Historical Thanksgiving Day addresses, sermons , and more sermons can also be read. For a history of the day, please go to this Smithsonian site. A previous entry has much more information.
Labor Day
A history of this day can be found at this Department of Labor site. The First Labor Day is featured at the Library of Congress, while the Census Bureau supplies a fact-filled compendium of statistics and links. PBS contributes The Origins of Labor Day, the Wall Street Journal contains an opinion piece – Labor Day and the American Dream, and the New York Times has a whole section on Labor Day. Some additional sources of information include: Important Events in American Labor History…A Chronology, 1778-1961, A Documentary History of American Industrial Society. 10 vols. (1910-1911), Labor History on the Web, Labor Movement (online books), and Labor History Links.
2010 July 4th Celebrations in New Jersey
Days, dates, times and brief descriptions of various celebrations throughout the state are here and here. The largest shows are the Macy’s and the Kaboom festivities. Unfortunately, since Jersey City and other municipalities cannot afford the cost of putting on their own displays this year, it is advisable to consult the above sites for displays near you.
2010 Memorial Day Observances
The Bergen Record lists several parades, parades in New York cities/towns can be found as well as those in Mercer County and in various parts of New Jersey. More New Jersey parades can be found here.
Black History Month 2010
A previous blog entry on this topic enumerated many useful sites. Consider this entry an update featuring new resources: African Americans (Federal Resources for Educational Excellence) highlighting almost 70 sources of relevant information; Black History Month (Smithsonian); African American History (National Park Service); Black History Month (National Endowment for the Humanities); African American Sites in the Digital Collections (Library of Congress); and Celebrate Black History Month (NJ Dept of State) which lists many New Jersey exhibits and ongoing presentations associated with this month.
Library Hours for the Thanksgiving Day Weekend
The Library will be closed Thursday, November 26 through Sunday, November 29. We will re-open at 7:30 am on Monday, November 30 for the final push to finals. Gooble, gooble!!
How Do You Cook a Turkey?
Very carefully. Try this Food Network Thanksgiving site. Watch the always informative Alton Brown’s series of videos on cooking turkeys. This site from the USDA has a whole section on turkey(just scroll toward the bottom), with many of the subsections available in Spanish. And you know how you always blame turkey for making you sleepy? Wrong!! Here are some facts and figures from the Census Bureau on Thanksgiving; these can be supplemented by other tidbits from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And a previous blog entry contains a lot more relevant material on this holiday.
Veterans Day 2009
Let us not forget those who have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can go to Honor the Fallen for their names, circumstances of their deaths, and news clippings if available. Oral military histories from New Jersey veterans can be found at this Rutgers site.This updated feature from the Census Bureau provides an array of statistical data, while a previous blog entry will point you to additional information. A listing of New Jersey memorials is also available.
Halloween
As we look forward to hordes of sugar-induced hyperactive children careening up and down our streets come Saturday, here are a few sites of interest for this day: the Census Bureau’s Facts for Features entry on Halloween should statisfy those who need numbers, not candy; the History Channel’s page on this holiday contains histories and videos; The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows from the Library of Congress makes for a good read; this article by the Celtic scholar Alexi Kondratiev - Samhain: Season of Death and Renewal is well worth the time; books and readings on this day are available from Sacred Texts; NASA chimes in with Spooky Space Sounds; and observances from around the world are found at this informative site sponsored by the NEH. And let’s not forget the greatest Halloween prank of all – The War of the Worlds radio broadcast.
July 4th 2009 Celebrations
Check this list for many localities’ festivities, including Jersey City. Additional fireworks displays are highlighted here and here; this latter site also indicates which roads in Hudson County will be closed on the 4th as the Macy’s fireworks display, for the first time since 2000, will be anchored in the Hudson River, not the East River. For those wishing to view the displays, pay close attention to which roads will be closed.
Abraham Lincoln’s 200th Birthday
The first president born west of the Appalachians, Abraham Lincoln resides at the top of lists devoted to rating the presidents.(Please look at this article by Arthur M Schlesinger, Jr “Rating the Presidents: Washington to Clinton.”). Some sites to consider: Abraham Lincoln Newspaper Archive(thousands of free contemporary newspaper accounts); The New York Times has a special topic section devoted to Lincoln; an excellent overview is presented by Miller Center of the University of Virginia; the American Presidency Project contains thousands of presidential documents, including Lincoln’s; visit C-SPAN’s Lincoln 200 Years; the Library of Congress has its Abraham Lincoln: A Resource Guide as well as a major exhibit slated to open on the 12th; the Library is also home to the Abraham Lincoln Papers (with over 10,000 transcriptions); the Abraham Lincoln Association published the annotated Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln in eight volumes and you can also read its Journal; books on Abraham Lincoln abound, more than on any other president; and let’s not forget the local connection – the Lincoln Association of Jersey City.
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds…and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and others.” – Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865. (He was dead the next month.)
Black History Month
Established in 1926 by Dr Carter G Woodson as Negro History Week and held during the second week of February to commemorate the births of Abraham Lincoln(the 12th) and Frederick Douglass(who claimed the 14th as his birthday), it has since evolved into a month-long celebration of the contributions of African Americans to American history, life, and culture. In addition to the wide variety of resources held in the Guarini Library, we offer these sites for further research and enlightenment: Gale’s Black History Month offers biographies, book summaries, school actvities, and a timeline; the Encyclopaedia Britannica presents its comprehensive Guide to Black History which also includes source documents and multimedia presentations(listen to John Coltrane!); the infoplease entry on Black History Month cannot be ignored because there is simply too much great information contained here; the Spartacus site, as always, features a plethora of pertinent data; and do not forget biography.com’s contribution on Black History. The Census Bureau has two relevant features: Black(African-American) History Month 2009 , and Facts on the Black or African American Population, a really great statistical source. Additional sources to consult include: the Library of Congress has several sites of interest, among them The African-American Mosaic, the African American Odyssey, the African American Pamphlet Collection, W.E.B. DuBois: Online Resources, and Frederick Douglass: Online Resources; PBS has African American World and Eyes on the Prize; the Gilder Lehrman Center has a good collection of online documents; works by Frederick Douglass are here and here; the edited collection of the Booker T. Washington Papers are here and you can also read some of his books; books by W E B Du Bois are also available; dozens of books on the African American experience can be accessed at this site; and on a more local level, please read Afro-Americans in New Jersey.
Thanksgiving Day
“For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America….He is besides, tho’ a little vain and silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.” So wrote Benjamin Franklin to his daughter Sarah Bache on January 26, 1784 in a letter discussing, among other points, the differences between an eagle and a turkey. To read through cookbooks dating back to the 18th century and learn how to cook a turkey, like boiling it in water for two hours with a head of cabbage, visit this site. Go here to read the convoluted history of this day and also consult this entry from the Smithsonian Encyclopedia. Interesting facts and figures about this holiday are found at this Census Bureau section. Primary source texts dealing with Plymouth Colony and the Pilgrims may be accessed here. The invaluable Plymouth Colony Archive Project can be used to great advantage. A brief history of the Pilgrims is also available. Scores of online books on Plymouth Colony are accessible from this site. Gooble, gooble!!
Veterans Day
At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, hostilities ceased along the Western Front in Europe, bringing an end to the Great War as it is still known in Great Britain and France today. This remembrance day has had a convoluted history as both to its name and the date it is to be observed. Read this New York Times article on how this day is honored in other countries. The following sites also offer valuable information: from the Census Bureau, please consult the Facts for Figures: Veterans Day listing; consult this National Park Serivice site; review these PBS programs and their respective websites; visit the History Channel’s contribution; look at the BBC page on Armistice Day; and in Canada, the CBC’s homage to Remembrance Day. Books on World War 1 abound; try here and here for thousands of online works, from histories to memoirs to poetry to humor. Needless to say, the Guarini Library possesses dozens of recent works on this horrific war.
“Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But to God.” – inscription on the Tombs of the Unknown, Arlington National Cemetery.
Constitution Day
“In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered…” Such were the words of Benjamin Franklin delivered before the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787 as reported by James Madison. Franklin, who was so weakened by infirmity that he had to be carried into each session in a sedan chair, had his fellow Pennsylvanian James Wilson read his words to those assembled. On that day, the Constitution was signed and copies were then subsequently made to make their rounds in the state legislatures for the acts of ratification. The Library of Congress has an excellent site for this holiday; included in this site are: Farrand’s Records of the Federal Convention of 1787; Elliot’s Debates…on the Adoption of the Constitution; and the Federalist Papers, among others. For biographical information on the delegates, including those from New Jersey(which included William Paterson), the National Archives has a very informative page. Did New Jersey and its delegates play a prominent role at the Convention. Ever hear of the New Jersey Plan? As presented by William Paterson, this was an attempt to close a rift between the representatives of the larger populated states versus the representatives of the smaller populated states, who feared that the larger states would have more representational power in the new national legislature. For additional information on this and the other plans submitted at the Convention, please consult A Multitude of Amendments, Alterations and Additions. More of New Jersey’s presence can be seen in the Notes of William Paterson, and the Credentials of the State of New Jersey. There are several additional constitutional sites which should be consulted for their depth and extent: the American Consititution document collection at the Avalon Project; Constitution of the United States, Analysis and Interpretation; CRS Annotated Constitution(with thousands of links); and The Founders’ Constitution, a veritable goldmine of writings by those who hammered out this document and by those whose thoughts influenced these people(essential reading!!). A still influential work on the Constitution is Charles Beard’s book An Economic Interpretation of The Constitution of the United States. The constitutions of other countries can be found at Constitution Finder, while U.S. state constitution are here. If you want a more extensive look at New Jersey’s historical constitutional process, consult this Rutgers site. And lastly, if you want to know how New Jersey arrived at the Convention, please read these works: New Jersey’s Revolutionary Experience; New Jersey in the American Revolution, 1763-1783: A Documentary History; and Crossroads of the American Revolution in New Jersey.
