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of Interstate 95 in the early 1970s.

From its relocated spot at Federal City Road on 26 acres of parklands, the landmark, sometimes referred to as the Old Ryan Farm or the Temple-Ryan Farmhouse, is active as a museum and a central hub for Ewing history.

Benjamin Temple House, 27 Federal City Road, Ewing Township. Free. Hours: Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; open house tours held on the first Sunday of every month from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.; all other times are by appointment only with the site manager. 609-883-2455 or info@ ethps.org.

National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey

The original National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey is based in Sea Girt, but the secondary site at the Law- renceville Field Artillery Annex, located on the New Jersey Army National Guard complex, uses its own military weapons, uniforms, photographs, documents, and interpretative texts to chronicle the state’s history of service from the early settlements through the present day.

It also claims to possess one of the largest collections of New Jersey-related Civil War research material in the country, including copies of diaries, letters, newspaper clippings, memoirs, regimental histories, and articles — all while paying attention to the diverse experiences of the New Jersey citizen soldier.

The NJ Militia Museum’s website recommends that visitors come prepared with a valid form of identification, such as a driver’s license, and enter the National Guard complex through Gate #3. After checking in with the security guard at the booth, follow directions to the parking lot and take note of the outdoor exhibits of historic tanks and large-caliber guns on display.

In a Facebook post, NGMM of NJ referred to the Nike Ajax missiles (see cover), co-designed by Bell Laboratories, as “the world’s first guided, surface-to-air missile system.”

The museum offers docent-led tours and educational programming in its mission to conserve and convey the nuances of the armed forces in New Jersey, an extensive legacy enriched by displays in galleries that span “over 350 years” of state history on the subject, according to its website.

The NGMM of NJ launched its Mercer County sister location at the Lawrenceville Armory in 1998. Thanks to about $1.2 million in federal and state funding, the museum expanded with new buildings and reopened in October 2021.

The approximately 6,000-square-foot facility now has “display space to better complement the impressive collection of armored vehicles and artillery surround- ing the complex,” according to the online history page for the museum.

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William Kale, the volunteer co-curator of the museum, has said that the second site was chosen as part of a larger desire to highlight the important New Jersey Revolutionary War battle sites in Trenton and Princeton.

Kale, a retired lieutenant colonel who was born and raised in Trenton, worked for the state upon his return from being stationed in countries like Germany and Vietnam before stepping into similar curatorial shoes as his brother, the late Army Colonel Donald W. Kale, who helped found the Lawrenceville museum.

One of the featured exhibits is a mannequin in a “Jersey Blue” uniform worn by soldiers from the first militia regiment, which was established by provincial legislators in 1673. The blue coat and red facings remained unchanged until the early stages of the American Revolution.

In 1779, General George Washington established uniform regulations that required the facings to be buff-colored.

While the Third New Jersey Regiment refused to give up the red, other state regiments did and created an alleged connection to today’s New Jersey: “The color of the flag adopted by the newly independent state of New Jersey was supposedly patterned after the buff facing of New Jersey’s soldiers in Washington’s army,” the museum noted.

Quickly, visitors learn that there were two uniforms used by New Jersey Revolutionary War soldiers. One was the French-made uniform consisting of a blue coat with “white trim on the hat [that] depicts infantry and the white brocade [that] symbolizes the alliance with France.”

The other was the Colonial Rifleman’s uniform of flax, cotton, wool, and a rifleman’s hat. They also adopted the practice of wearing moccasins for comfort and, since riflemen often served as skirmishers and had to move quickly, mobility.

After exhibit is the Whiskey Rebellion, when the New Jersey Militia organized

See HISTORY, Page 12

4,000 men to form three infantry and two cavalry regiments as part of a four-state militia force to address a Western Pennsylvania insurrection against the federal tax on whiskey in 1794, the next section transitions into materials on the Civil War.

Another stop focuses on the 1898 Spanish-American War, where “the declaration of war with Spain found the New Jersey National Guard ready and eager to meet the call for troops.”

Then 20th and 21st-century conflicts take over a major section of the exhibition area with objects from World Wars I and II and the Vietnam War, which yielded the last U.S. military weapons on display at the museum.

The National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey, at Lawrenceville, Lawrenceville Armory, 151 Eggert Crossing Road, Lawrenceville. Free admission and parking. Hours: Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed on state holidays. 609-213-3296 or njmilitiamuseum.org/ lawrenceville.

Washington Crossing State Park

But before the troops could successfully defeat British forces in Princeton,

General George Washington’s troops famously crossed the Delaware River on Christmas Night, 1776.

As he led his men to confront the Hessians, the future president paved the way for Washington Crossing State Park in Titusville to become another reservoir of Revolutionary War historical knowledge.

Starting May 28, the Historic Education Committee of the Washington Crossing Park Association, or WCPA, will host free guided history tours on Sundays from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Washington Crossing Visitor Center Museum.

According to the NJDEP website, these begin with the museum’s two galleries: one where guests can watch and discuss the NJN-produced film “Ten Crucial Days: The Road to Liberty” in the auditorium, which documents the time between Washington’s Crossing and the Battles of Trenton and Princeton, and another that houses the “over 500 authentic Revolutionary War artifacts” on loan from the Swan Historical Foundation Collection.

Other stops include Sullivan Drive and Continental Lane, the Stone Barn, and the landing overlook by the Johnson Ferry House. Tickets must be reserved in advance via the WCPA’s page on EventBrite.

The Johnson Ferry House is a circa 1740 farmhouse that overlooks the Dela- ware River. Historians believe that Washington’s men might have stayed here prior to utilizing the transport services and making the journey across the freezing cold waters. The building is furnished with Colonial-era period pieces and reproductions, including an 18th-century kitchen garden.

Washington Crossing State Park charges a $5 cash fee will be implemented every weekend until Labor Day on September 4.

Washington Crossing State Park, 355 Washington Crossing-Pennington Road, Titusville, Hopewell Township. Free. Hours (Visitor Center Museum): Every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 609-7370623. Hours (Johnson Ferry House): Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to noon, then 1 to 3:45 p.m. 609-7372515. WashingtonCrossing@dep.nj.gov.

More Sites to visit

The Old Barracks, which were originally constructed during the French and Indian War in 1758 to house British soldiers, notably sheltered the Hessian forces during the Battle of Trenton. The site now actively hosts historical tours and events.

The Old Barracks Museum, 101 Barrack Street, Trenton. Open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission prices: adults, $10; students and seniors, $8; active military and children under five years of age, free. 609396-1776 or barracks.org.

Hamilton’s “Pepper House,” described online as “the first Civil War Museum in New Jersey,” has yet to reopen to the public since it closed “temporarily” because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the circa 1730 John Abbott II House down the road at 2200 Kuser Road remains in use by the Historical Society of Hamilton Township, with weekend hours from noon to 4:30 p.m.

The Civil War and Native American Museum, 2202 Kuser Road, Hamilton. Those looking for a one-of-a-kind trip into art, history, and New Jersey culture only need to drive less than an hour outside of the area code to join members of the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society for free tours of the Navy Lakehurst Heritage Center, which is located at the active U.S. military base that is part of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

As a final note, the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton also has a formidable collection of Civil War flags recovered from military units raised in New Jersey, encompassing nearly 200 cavalry, volunteer regiment, and captured Confederate battle flags that rotate through the exhibit.

Storytelling and Voice Sound Loud at Grounds for Sculpture

BY REBEKAH SCHROEDER

If you concentrate on a story, staying mindful of its nature as a living, breathing vessel for keeping traditions alive or unpacking trauma, then you might be able to hear when the speaker, once given the chance to share without judgment and forge interpersonal connections, exhales in relief. The words used still have meaning but no longer bear their heavy weight alone, newly empowered by a mutual sense of community and revitalized by human interaction.

Everyone has the right to express themselves in their own syntax, but only a few people have the opportunity to amplify that point of view with complete control over the language used.

Reaching that loud volume, like any tale worth telling, is always better with company.

The Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton presents this platform to members of New Jersey’s Indian diasporic community for “Local Voices: Memories, Stories, and Portraits,” a living exhibit that opened on the ground floor of the Domestic Arts Building on April 23, 2023, and runs through January 7, 2024.

This project, along with “Spiral Q: The Parade” on the upper level, are the first to debut in GFS’ new “Perspectives” series, which draws from the creative practices of the artists at its helm as well as the accounts of the people who bring it to life.

Madhusmita “Madhu” Bora, a folk and traditional artist, journalist, educator, writer, and dancer, organized the exhibit in partnership with co-curators Kathleen Ogilvie Greene, the chief audience officer at GFS, and Quentin Williams, the founder and CEO of Dragon Tree Media Group, to ensure personal autonomy and authenticity.

The 15 subjects actively participated in and led the process of chronicling their lived experiences, doing so through video interviews, photography, and by choosing objects that held significance to them.

This range of deep, emotive stories maintains the vulnerabilities that make them unique without being exploited, and the exhibit leaders hope to bridge the conversational gap between individuals of different backgrounds and demonstrate the importance of dialogue.

Upstairs, “Spiral Q” conveys the creativSee Local Voices, Page 4

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From Local Voices, Page 2 ity behind activism via puppets and protests, with the Philadelphia-based group organizing processions on social issues from transgender rights to affordable housing.

Virtual walkthroughs of both exhibits are available online, with the “Local Voices” page on the GFS website, groundsforsculpture.org/exhibitions/local-voices-memories-stoaries-and-portraits, linking to the YouTube videos and audio-only interview segments for each storyteller.

“Local Voices: Memories, Stories, and Portraits,” on display in the Domestic Arts Building at the Grouds for Sculpture, left, is co-curated by artist Madhusmita “Madhu” Bora, a journalist and dancer, right, and runs through January 7, 2024. Installation view courtesy of Bruce M. White. Bora, pictured at the storytelling retreat, courtesy of Monica Herndon.

According to the exhibit materials, Grounds for Sculpture developed this project in response to the museum’s 2021 audience demographic census, which revealed a correlation between its attendees and the

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United States Census for those who selfidentified as Asian.

To interact and engage with a specific community from that group, GFS collaborated on an exhibit in which people could

Expanding Territory