9-20 PE by Community News Service

ECHO

PRINCETON SEPTEMBER 2020 COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG

DOWNTOWN REIMAGINED

Plans take shape for a new hotel, new residences, and more. Page 4. Get Connected Kate Becker’s Kids2Kids program helps students forge relationships with their peers from home. Page 6

Land of Conspiracists

Thanks to the internet it’s easier than ever to become a conspiracy theorist, writes columnist Pia de Jong. Page 11

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ECHO EDITOR Sara Hastings (Ext. 206) CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST Pia de Jong PRODUCTION Stacey Micallef SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jennifer Steﬀen (Ext. 113) ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Mark Nebbia (Ext. 115)

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REAL ESTATE

Transformations planned downtown By Sara Hastings

he public was given its first glimpse of plans for the historic 20 Nassau Street office building at the August 12 meeting of Princeton’s Site Plan Review Advisory Board. The existing five-story building was constructed in 1918 and has retail stores and restaurants, including Morning Glory and Jammin’ Crepes, on the ground floor with office space above. Plans also include the adjacent building around the corner at 2-4 Chambers Street. The buildings were acquired last year by Graduate Hotels, which has 30 boutique hotels across the United States. Anew hotel in downtown Princeton would provide a welcome addition for travelers who have to look to Route 1 for hotel options other than the Nassau Inn. In their presentation to SPRAB, Graduate representatives emphasized their intent to maintain the historically and architecturally significant Nassau Street facade. The building originally served as a Princeton University dormitory and then as an early headquarters for Educational Testing Services before transitioning to its current use. The proposal would maintain the existing ground floor retail and restaurant tenants.

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Plans for Princeton’s Graduate Hotel entail a new five-story structure along Chambers Street, where the hotel’s main entrance and lobby would be located. The historic facade of 20 Nassau Street would remain largely unchanged.

Around the corner on Chambers Street is a different story. “The lower-scaled structures along Chambers Street were working buildings at the outset with very simple architectural details,” note presentation materials. “These structures have been heavily altered both internally and externally and have a low level of architectural integrity ... there was and is very little fabric of architectural interest or historic

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significance in this section of the building, and the integrity is low.” With the ground-level tenants on Chambers Street closed or moved out, plans call for the demolition of those buildings, to be replaced by a five-story structure matching the Nassau Streetfacing portion of the property. The main entrance to the hotel lobby, along with its restaurant and bar, would be along Chambers Street. The proposal also calls for an 80-car below-ground parking garage beneath the property. Environmental measures are also incorporated into the plan, including a green roof and compliance with LEED Silver standards.

Mixed use property proposed at Griggs Corner

he Princeton Planning Board has begun hearing a proposal from Palmer Square Management to transform the 24-space metered parking lot at the corner of Witherspoon and Hulfish streets into a mixed-use building featuring ground-floor retail space and seven residential rental units on the second and third floors. Until 1963 the site housed the Griggs Imperial Restaurant. That was replaced by a gas station, which stood there until 1987. The current proposal requires no zoning variances. At the July 23 Planning Board meeting Municipal Planner Michael LaPlace noted that the project made sense from a planning standpoint. “We feel this is a smart-growth appropriate project for this site ... It will better define Hinds Plaza by having sort of a more defined street wall across Witherspoon Street. Right now the space sort of floods out because it’s just a surface parking lot. We think that’s a nice urban design feature of the project.” The proposed building, designed by architect Joshua Zinder, would have 5,467 square feet of first floor commercial space and a 5,308-square-foot basement. The seven residences would consist of three three-bedroom duplexes, three two-bedroom duplexes, and a flat that would fulfill the site’s affordable housing obligation. The site would also have a 2,353-square-foot courtyard.

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There would be no on-site parking; instead spaces would be set aside for residents in the Hulfish Street garage. A prime area of concern among members of the planning board is the intention to have only a five-footwide alleyway separating the building’s northern side from the adjacent Mistral restaurant. While Zinder noted there is precedent for alleyway restaurant access — citing the Alchemist & Barrister — it was set to be a topic of further discussion. A continuation of the hearing scheduled for August 6, however, was postponed due to power outages from tropical storm Isiais.

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September 2020 | Princeton Echo5

SCHOOL NEWS

In the age of social distancing, Kids2Kids helps students connect By Sara Hastings

ometimes all it takes is a teenager with a can-do attitude to get an ambitious volunteer program off the ground. At the beginning of this year, Kate Becker, a rising junior at Princeton High School, was developing a program in coordination with the Princeton Children’s Fund and Princeton Public Library that would teach kids how to refurbish donated computers that they could then take home and use. When COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders put that project, titled Princeton Community Connection, on hold, Becker pivoted. With school taking place virtually and people largely confined to their homes, Becker says, “I realized I really missed those single interactions with people you don’t know very well but you see them in the hallway. I felt like there were definitely other kids who felt like this.” “I think that one of the hardest things for the students has been that loss of social interaction and connection,” Becker says, noting that loss is especially difficult for special education students who are accustomed to being surrounded by a team of professionals and para-professionals. “All of it went away like this,” Becker said of their sup-

port system. It occurred to her that those oneoff interactions could be turned into meaningful friendships if students were paired one-on-one for regular, informal conversations in a virtual setting. The idea for Kids2Kids was born. Becker took her idea to Felicia Spitz, a co-founder and co-president of the nonprofit Princeton Children’s Fund. The five-year-old all-volunteer organization is dedicated to providing ac-

Kate Becker missed saying ‘hi’ to classmates in the hallway, so she developed a program to pair students for casual conversations on Zoom. cess to enrichment and extracurricular opportunities for students otherwise unable to afford them. Becker was familiar with the Princeton Children’s Fund’s work because her older sister, Emily, had worked with them to create the Princeton Youth Swim Initiative, which offered swimming lessons to atrisk youth.

Until Sept. 8th

Kate Becker’s conversation with Spitz led to the question of “who needs this the most?” which in turn led to a connection with Princeton’s Special Education PTO. She was soon paired with a buddy for regular chats using the Zoom conferencing app. “It’s super fun,” she says. “We do a bunch of arts and crafts, we talk about her day, her vacations, what she’s doing.” Plans are in the works for a visit to Shake Shack once social distancing restrictions are lifted. “Once I had this connection I thought, why not expand this to other people?” Becker says. “Wouldn’t other people like to be a partner?” While Becker describes the process of developing the Kids2Kids program as “sending a few emails,” Spitz explains it was a much more involved operation. “Kate partnered with a group of kids, a club that had already been working with Princeton Special Sports,” Spitz says. “They came up with an entire process, outreach materials, and flyers.” They also connected with Dr. Andrea Dinan, the Princeton School District’s director of service learning and experiential programs who runs the IDEAS tutoring center at the high school. Dinan helped the group develop communications materials.

Kids2Kids founder Kate Becker is a rising junior at Princeton High School.

The students came up with suggestions for starting a conversation with a stranger over Zoom. They created lists of things to do and things to talk about and made cue cards containing fun conversation prompts. “Which wild animal would you like to keep and tame as a pet?,” for example, and “would you rather”-style questions. From Spitz’s perspective, having a student-led program is a huge benefit See KIDS2KIDS, Page 7

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John Witherspoon out, PUMS in

ollowing a petition that garnered Schools alumnus, started the Change. more than 1,500 signatures and org petition seeking the name change two well-attended virtual public in July due to Witherspoon’s history as forums, the Princeton School Board a slave owner who opposed abolition. voted on August 11 to remove John He posted an update on the site on Witherspoon’s name from the district’s August 12, after the board voted to rename the school at its regular meeting. middle school. The school will be known temporar- “Once again we proved to them that ily as Princeton Unified Middle School. our movement was a bipartisan effort The board passed a resolution requir- and that change was inevitable. As of ing that a permanent name for the last night, the Princeton Public Schools school be selected by June 30, 2021. Board of Education finally understood “The renaming process offers a unique our words,” he wrote. “It has been great to see current stulearning opportunity for PPS students, dents, alumni and plans are unand parents of derway for their John Witherspoon’s the community participation,” the come together district noted in name has been removed to make this via statement anfrom the middle school, sion happen. I nouncing the would also like to name change. which will be known as thank the many At its July 28 from outside the meeting the board Princeton Unified Middle public schools,” had voted against Allen’s post conthe change, citing School until a permanent tinues. “Your a need for more name is selected. empathy for our information because will not go fore making a decision. But residents had a new chance unnoticed. I hope that this event in my to present their case at the Aug. 10 community may inspire you to pursue meeting of the Public Equity Commit- change in your own local community tee, and more than 50 people joined the and maybe even the world. Black Lives evening Zoom call to discuss the issue. Matter is not just a moment, but a In addition to the name change the movement. This is just one example of board is also looking to add racial lit- how one can continue the work of aceracy courses to its curriculum for tivism in small steps that make way for pre-K through first grade that will be big futures.” expanded to all grades in future years. hile the school district may be Princeton High School already offers a shedding its association with racial literacy course but is piloting an Witherspoon, the name is still deeply online version of the class. Geoffrey Allen, a Princeton Public embedded in the town’s geography and

KIDS2KIDS, continued from page 6

for Princeton Children’s Fund. “A part of what Princeton Children’s Fund wants to do is to support economically disadvantaged students in the public and charter schools in Princeton, and part of it is to create opportunities for that thought and that hope to become the culture in town so that we’re raising the next generation of people who are going to reach out a hand to help out.” A solid dose of youthful optimism also helps. “Adults would all tell you why that wouldn’t work, but the students have really taken this and just run with it,” Spitz says. The program is now open to any student in middle or high school who is interested in being paired with a buddy. Volunteer buddies are students in grades 10 through 12. Both can fill out an online application, and pairings are made primarily based on scheduling compatibility. As of mid-summer there were 14 volunteer buddies, but Becker and Spitz expect that number to grow as the program reaches out to students going through freshman orientation at Princeton High School. “I have six kids,” Spitz says, “and I have seen in my own family structure how the younger kids will listen to the older kids because they’re not me. It’s not mom saying ‘you should do this’; it’s another kid saying ‘omigosh you should do this.’”

Schools to open remotely

hen the new Princeton Unified Middle School opens its doors this year, it will be a virtual welcome. The school district announced in mid-August that the school year would begin with entirely remote education. The first day of school is Monday, September 14. A tentative return to a hybrid inschool and virtual model was scheduled for October 12 for elementary school students and October 19 for high school students. Remote classes will be held using the Canvas learning platform. Under current plans elementary school students would be in the classroom two days and at home three days, divided into two cohorts. Cohort A will have in-person classes

architecture and is strongly associated with the town’s Black history. The thoroughfare now known as Witherspoon Street was laid in the 1750s, at the same time that the finishing touches were being put on Princeton University’s Nassau Hall. The street quickly became known for housing much of Princeton’s Black population and as such was known as “African Lane” and “Guinea Lane” into the 19th century. The street also lends its name to Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, which was founded as the First Presbyterian Church of Colour of Princeton in the 1840s after Princeton’s First Presbyterian Church, which had welcomed both white and black congregants, burned down. More than a decade later, the With-

“They’re listening to the Kates of the world in a very different way. There’s a special bond. She can tell an incoming high schooler what to expect. It’s a student perspective,” Spitz continues “It’s a kid telling you how to navigate what they just learned how to navigate. It’s a deeper connection and a connection you want more than an adult telling you what to do.” It also allows students to forge relationships with peers they might otherwise never interact with, even once they can attend school in-person again. With students rushing between classes and sometimes never even visiting the cafeteria for lunch, it can be difficult to meet people who don’t share classes. “What really helped me was having friends from a lot of different friend groups,” Becker says. “I really like saying hi to everyone in the hallway, so what if you paired these people together?” Spitz has observed the power of these random interactions through another Children’s Fund program, a book club called “The Book U Get.” Part of the reading process includes filling out “wonder cards” with prompts such as “I wondered about these words …” and “I wondered why the author …” “An African American boy and Southeast Asian young woman kept having the same ‘wonders,’” Spitz explains. “He was on the football team; she was into punk music and science. They never would have crossed paths,” but they turned out to have a lot in common. “If you don’t have a class with someone,” she

on Mondays and Tuesdays; Cohort B on Thursdays and Fridays. A third cohort will consist of students who have opted for all-remote education. Older students, also divided into two cohorts, will attend four days of in-person classes followed by six days of virtual instruction. Each cohort will have in-person classes on Mondays through Thursdays of alternating weeks. Students will be required to wear masks at all times on busses and in school buildings; any student who is unable to wear a mask must choose the all-remote option. September 14 is also the day the state governing body for high school sports has designated for the start of an abbreviated fall season, but the school district has yet to make a decision as to whether its teams will play. erspoon School for Colored Children was established at the corner of Witherspoon and Maclean streets by Betsey Stockton, a former slave who became a well known educator. (Stockton’s name is one that has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Witherspoon’s at the middle school.) John Witherspoon’s Princeton residence, the estate known as Tusculum, still stands on Cherry Hill Road and is a private residence most recently sold at auction in 2015 for $5.5 million. The main part of the home dates to 1773 and was built to entice Witherspoon to take the position as Princeton University president. The school’s sixth president, from 1768 to 1794, lends his name to a dormitory on campus. A statue of Witherspoon stands outside East Pyne Hall.

Princeton Children’s Fund’s Andrea Dinan, secretary, left; Susan Kanter; Felicia Spitz, co-president; Shalu Jaisinghani, treasurer; and Shazia Manekia, copresident. Photo by Chet Desai Photography.

says, “you don’t know that you have these connections.” And learning to make those connections is an important life skill that Kids2Kids can help teach. “It’s turned into something more than I thought it could be,” Becker says. “I’m very excited to help continue this program. I think it has the potential to impact a lot of people.” For more information on Kids2Kids and Princeton Children’s Fund, visit www.princetonchildrensfund. org.

September 2020 | Princeton Echo7

ON THE BOOKSHELF

Princeton chapel gets a human face lift

hile the bones of Princeton University Chapel have changed little since its construction in the 1920s, the life of a building is told not only through its architecture but also through the people who use and occupy the building. And for the chapel that population has changed dramatically. That is the rationale behind Princeton University Press’s August 4 reissuing of “The Chapel of Princeton University,” an architectural guide written by the late Princeton University architectural historian and professor Richard Stillwell in 1971. Stillwell, who died in 1982, was already a professor at the university when the chapel was completed in 1928, and he remained there until his retirement in 1967. The updated edition, which features a foreword by dean of religious life and the chapel Alison Boden, does not alter any of Stillwell’s text, but rather updates the illustrations with color photographs by Noel Valero, a 1982 Princeton alumnus. In Stillwell’s day, users of the chapel were the all-male, nearly all-white students, and until 1964 attendance at daily chapel services at least twice a week was mandatory for the entire student body.

As Boden, who has held her post at Princeton since 2007, notes, those homogenous gatherings have been replaced by celebrations and ceremonies featuring a diverse student body practicing a wide range of religious and secular traditions.

‘O

n the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of ‘The Chapel of Princeton University’ it is a privilege and great joy to reissue the book, which remains the authoritative resource on the fabric of this magnificent edifice. Professor Richard Stillwell’s meticulous research and comprehensive depictions of each area of the Chapel, the stonework, stained glass, woodwork, and overall design continue to support the work of scholars of architecture, literature, history, and other disciplines, at Princeton and around the world. Simultaneously, the book edifies the accidental and curious tourists as well as the spiritual seekers who wonder what inspiration the Chapel’s builders wanted them to find in even the tiniest details of its composition. A building as architecturally significant and spiritually meaningful as this one deserves a companion text that will do justice to the intentionality and integrity of its design, the profundity of its symbolism, and the timelessness of the vision of its builders. Richard Stillwell’s book continues to do all of this and more. “This edition contains Stillwell’s original text without revisions. This is possible because the Chapel remains unchanged, not only since this book’s first publication in 1971 but also since the Chapel’s completion in 1928. Indeed, there is much about the Princ7 Vandeventer Ave. Princeton, NJ 08542 eton University Chapel that is change609-924-2613 • www.princetonumc.org less, from the architecture and material embellishments to the deeply human reasons that so many people make their Families with children ages 2 way to 5th grade into this sacred space. The Chapel Register at https://princetonumc.breezechms.com/form/compassioncamp. remains the ceremonial center of the the home of such defining The info below couldorgoemail in theevangeline@PrincetonUMC.org+ white box, and the logo University, could go elsewhere, bigger. The annual gatherings as Opening Exercisgrey should be black, as attached.

es, the Service of Remembrance, and Baccalaureate. The vaulted arches of the great nave continue to receive the ascending prayers of those in crisis and those rejoicing, the perplexed, the lost, the hopeful, the faithful. Public worship brings together town and gown, the country and the world, to pray together and to be commissioned for service to humanity. Glorious music continues to draw us to the Chapel for concerts by the wonderful Princeton University Chapel Choir and on the magnificent 8,000 pipe Mander-Skinner organ. The most momentous issues in our common life literally summon us to the building in order that we may simply be together — upon the beginning or ending of war, at the assassination of President Kennedy, in the hours after the 9/11 attacks or massive earthquakes. At Princeton our Chapel remains vital to us simply because we need it. “And yet, there is so much at the Chapel and the University that is constantly changing. This includes the composition of the campus community, and the expansion and diversification of our student body has necessarily expanded the daily uses of the University Chapel. I intentionally have left in this edition a plate from the first edition which Professor Stillwell intended to profile ‘the Apse.’ The photo does indeed show the apse but from a great distance, one that

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reveals the Chapel pews to be packed with young, white, male students in suit jackets, perhaps attending a mandatory academic convocation. Today’s Princeton student population is mixed in age, particularly thanks to our transfer and veterans’ programs, and to the Graduate School. It encompasses every racial and ethnic identity, every nationality, every gender expression, every imaginable idea of appropriately neat clothing, and every religion, the formal practice of which is no longer compulsory. “This edition of Professor Stillwell’s book provides images of newer religious communities as they practice their faith, and yet this volume (dedicated as it is to the fabric of the building) cannot be comprehensive in capturing the great diversity of religious life within the Chapel’s walls. Regular Hindu worship is held in the chancel. Our strong and growing Muslim community makes the chapel its location for concerts, lectures, and religious services. His Holiness the Karmapa, among other global leaders in the Buddhist community, has provided teachings in the space. The nave’s great vaults have resonated with the chanted scriptures and prayers of Bah’ai, Sikh, Jewish, and Jain students, with secular humanist readings, and with Native American smudge ceremonies.” Boden discusses the new edition of the book in an event hosted by Princeton Public Library and Princeton University Press on Monday, September 14, from 7 to 8 p.m. For more information visit www.princetonlibrary.org. “The Chapel of Princeton University” is available on Amazon.com, $35.

Rita’s is open for business

hile the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the permanent closure of numerous food establishments — including Panera Bread and the Red Onion in downtown Princeton — Princeton’s newest eating establishment took the opportunity to open up just as the world was shutting down. The Bucks County-based Antell family opened a Rita’s Italian Ice franchise at the Princeton Shopping Center, across from the Little League baseball fields, in May. The husband and wife team of Jeff and Jamie Antell are joined by their oldest son, Ben, who works as the shop’s manager. Their younger children, Taylor, 5, and Chase, 7, visit the store frequently as taste testers. “It is such a delight to see so many new and familiar faces enjoying our ‘Ice, Custard & Happiness’ in Princeton. It’s a reminder that little joys like Rita’s treats make a big difference, no matter what we are experiencing in our lives,” Jeff Antell said. In celebration of its opening Rita’s is offering a

fthought od for

special promotion for the remainder of the year: buy two quarts of Rita’s signature Italian Ice and receive one free. Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard, 301 North Harrison Street, Princeton Shopping Center. Open 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. 609-285-5159 or www. ritasice.com. The Antell family outside their new Rita’s Italian Ice.

Rissi’s latest is a dark twist on summer camp

rinceton-based children’s book author Anica Mrose Rissi is known for her light-hearted picture books and her Anna Banana chapter books for young readers, but she has also dabbled in young adult fiction, and her latest novel is aimed at that age group. “Nobody Knows But You,” set to be released by HarperCollins on September 8, is a thriller that takes place in the aftermath of a summer camp session gone horribly awry. The story is told as a series of letters from Kayla, an awkward loner whose charismatic camp bunk-mate becomes her best friend. The letters are written but never sent to Lainie, the best friend, and recount their summer at camp. Those memories include Lainie’s turbulent relationship with Jackson, a self-absorbed fellow camper; her loose relationship with the truth; and her penchant for skirting the rules and bringing her friends along with her. They continue through the story of the murder — or was it an accident? — that brought camp to an abrupt end.

issi will be one of many children’s authors participating in Princeton Public Library’s Book Jam, a virtual replacement for the annual Children’s Book Festival that typically takes place in September. On Saturday, September 12, children and their families are invited to interact with their favorite authors and illustrators via the Crowdcast platform. The free event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., includes 10 distinct sessions. The schedule runs as follows: 11 a.m.: Illustrator Sketch-Off: Part One. Viewers can submit prompts for a panel of illustrators to draw in one- and two-minute intervals. Illustrator Ruth Chan hosts a panel including Sophie Blackall (“If You Come to Earth”); Pat-

rick McDonnell (“Mutts”); and Mika Song (“Donut Feed the Squirrels”) who create drawings on the spot. Noon: Telling Our Stories. Join a conversation with authors Eric Gansworth (“Apple (Skin to the Core)”); Darcie Little Badger (“Elatsoe”); and Daniel Nayeri (“Everything Sad Is Untrue”) as they discuss how their personal narratives inspire their work and the craft of storytelling in memoir and fiction. This session will be moderated by author Amy Jo Burns. How to Raise a Reader. Maria Russo, children’s book editor at the New York Times, and Princeton-based author/ publisher Margery Cuyler (“Skeleton for Dinner”) discuss ideas for engaging children of all ages in books, raising lifelong readers, and the overall landscape of children’s literature. 1 p.m.: Finding Your Voice. Middle grade authors Phil Bildner (“A High Five for Glenn Burke”); Hena Khan (“More to the Story”); Torrey Maldonado (“What Lane?”); and Janae Marks

(“From the Desk of Zoe Washington”) discuss the art of writing courageous characters and what it means to overcome a challenge in order to become the hero of your own story. Animal Antics. Would you rather have a stink bug for a best friend or a jaguar for an evil nemesis? Would you rather be raised by a pod of dolphins or a herd of elephants? Join Lauren Castillo (“Our Friend Hedgehog”); Beth Ferry (“Fox & Rabbit”); and Jon Scieszka and Steven Weinberg (“Astronuts Mission Two: The Water Planet”); as they play a wacky animal-themed game of “Would You Rather?” and discuss their new books. 2 p.m.: Illustrating Friendship. Join in on a conversation between long-time friends and fellow author/illustrators Airlie Anderson (“Neither”); Barbara DiLorenzo (“Quincy: The Chamelon Who Couldn’t Blend In”); and Victoria Jamieson (“When Stars Are Scattered”) as they discuss their work, building professional communities, and getting to do what they love as a career. Reading with Pride. Everyone’s story deserves to be told and read. Young adult authors Phil Stamper (“The Gravity of Us”); Aiden Thomas (“Cemetery Boys”); and Ngozi Ukazu (“Check, Please: Sticks & Scones”) discuss with Robin Stevenson (Pride: The Celebration and the Struggle) how stories about the LGBTQ+ experience expand our world’s perspective. 3 p.m. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Book Jam. Find out what happens when middle grade authors Pablo Cartaya (“Each Tiny Spark”); Chris Grabenstein (“Mr. Lemoncello and the Titanium Ticket”); K.A. Holt (“Benbee and the Teacher Greifer”); and Mike Jung (“The Boys in the Back Row”) join forces to write an interactive story with help from the audience. Keeping It Real! Readers who pre-

fer fiction based in reality rather than far-off universes or dystopian futures can hear from Anna Birch (“I Kissed Alice”); Lamar Giles (“No So Pure and Simple”); Megan McCafferty (“The Mall”); and Anica Mrose Rissi (“Nobody Knows But You”) as they discuss their latest books. 4 p.m.: Illustrator Sketch-Off: Part Two. Ruth Chan returns to host a second set of illustrators as they draw on the fly in response to audience prompts. The drawing panel includes John Patrick Green (“Investigators”); Remy Lai (“Fly on the Wall”); Adam Rex (“On Account of the Gum”); and Gene Luen Yang (“Dragon Hoops”). The event is free, and registration is not required. Book sales will be handled by JaZams, and some proceeds benefit the library. For more information visit www.princetonlibrary.org/ childrens-book-festival.

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September 2020 | Princeton Echo9

HAPPENING

Princeton artist launches Join the ‘Beautiful On view: Princeton nationwide project Creatures’ scavenger hunt and women’s suffrage he Garden State Watercolor Socine hundred years ago the addressing racial injustice

group of New Jersey-based artists led by Princeton resident Rhinold L. Ponder is launching a nationwide virtual exhibition documenting the outpouring of artwork protesting Black lives lost to police violence. Art Against Racism: Memorial.Monument.Movement will be presented on a groundbreaking video platform beginning Saturday, October 3, at 5 p.m. “This is a grassroots project welcoming all voices, both professional artists and those who express themselves in other forms,” Ponder says. Contributors are submitting short videos about their projects, discussing why they made this work, how art is a powerful tool for creating a just society, and the urgency of voting in 2020. The interactive exhibition serves as a living archive for preserving the breadth of art inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. The deadline for artists to submit, in order to be included in the October 3 opening, is Monday, September 14, but artwork will continue to be accepted until Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021. To participate, view the prospectus at https://sites.rutgers.edu/mmm/ Artists, both individual and in collaborative groups; community organizations; houses of worship; arts organizations, galleries, and museums are invited to participate. The work can take the form of sculpture, projections, street art, quilts or other fiber works, culinary creations, spoken word, performance, music, posters, murals, animation, digital projects, crafts, replacements for toppled statues, or other creative forms of expression. Themes include racism, police violence, mass incarceration, African American historical figures or moments, murdered and martyred victims of racism and white supremacy, civil rights, and community needs that have been affected by systemic racism.

AT YOUR SERVICE

ety invites the public to participate in a unique, family-friendly scavenger hunt, with its “Beautiful Creatures” exhibit throughout the town of Princeton and Exhibit Scavenger Cards at Greenway Meadows park. Six special prize cards, depicting forests and meadows preserve locally by D&R Greenway Land Trust, can be found hidden at the land trust’s Johnson Education Center campus on Rosedale Road and in the surrounding Greenway Meadows park. D&R Greenway, a partner with GSWS for this celebration of art and nature, preserves and cares for land where real-life beautiful creatures make their homes in wild habitats. Forty-three GSWS artists created 90 Beautiful Creatures paintings, limited to secondary colors of green, orange, and purple. These 5x7-inch paintings were to have been displayed in the D&R Greenway galleries in the Johnson Education Center. Instead, the “Beautiful Creatures” — as 90 numbered, laminated art cards — have been placed throughout the town of Princeton and on the grounds surrounding D&R Greenway’s Johnson Education Center, for the public to “seek and find.” Participants are invited to travel on a “Beautiful Creatures” safari to find these whimsical creations that are sure to bring a smile. All are encouraged to post their “findings” on Instagram, with the hashtag #gswsbc. The Scavenger Hunt is open and available through Sunday, September 13. D&R Greenway’s Johnson Education Center is located at One Preservation Place, off Rosedale Road, in Princeton. For information about the scavenger hunt including maps, how to win one of six special prizes and how to purchase prints and original artwork visit: www.gswcs.com or www.drgreenway. org. 6 Issues $59 PER ISSUE. For more information call 609-396-1511

19th amendment to the United States Constitution officially made it constitutional for women in the U.S. to vote. The Historical Society of Princeton celebrates this milestone with a virtual exhibit exploring the fight for women’s suffrage in Princeton. The amendment’s passage “was never certain, especially in Princeton, a town that embodied the difficulties in bringing communities, and families, to consensus on the issue of a woman’s right to vote,” note exhibit materials. “Though many towns experienced this division, the nation closely watched Maria Berrio’s ‘The Augur.’ Princeton, then home to the sitting President and a former First Lady.” Hopewell and Pennington saw hundreds of books change hands, rangwww.princetonhistory.org ing from children’s picture books and literary fiction to how-to manuals and Sept. 3: Nassau Street histories of the Balkans. Residents in neighborhoods with low pedestrian Sampler goes virtual traffic are encouraged to deposit books elebrate the beginning of the fall at a more centrally located friend’s semester and an exciting new year house. of programs at the Princeton UniUnwanted books remaining at day’s versity Art Museum. This year’s 12th end can be brought to the Goodwill annual Nassau Street Sampler will be donation center at 15 Route 31, Penheld virtually from 4 to 11 p.m. and will nington, or 18 Arctic Parkway, Ewing. feature live experiences and activities, For more information or to help including loteria, trivia, art-making, with the event email Anna Salvatore at chef videos, student performances, an anna@annasalvatore.com. art re-creation challenge, and a virtual dance party. artmuseum.princeton. Sept. 17: The Augur: A edu

Sept. 12: Save the date for Princeton’s free book day

‘F

ree Book Day — Princeton,” created by Pennington resident and incoming Princeton University student Anna Salvatore, runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. as a way to strengthen community bonds during the coronavirus pandemic. Anyone who lives in Princeton can place free books on their lawn or curb. Mercer County residents are encouraged to roam Princeton and take whichever books look interesting. Earlier Free Book Days held in

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global portrait of hope

rtist Maria Berrio joins curator Mitra Abbaspour and librarian Holly Hatheway at 5:30 p.m. to celebrate the installation of “The Augur,” the eight-foot-tall multi-technique work that Berrio created specifically for the third-floor reading room of Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Berrio will discuss her influences, her process, and the inspiration she drew from cultural heritage, literary traditions, and the site itself in developing this contemplative scene of a gathering of youth beneath a sky filled with birds in flight. artmuseum.princeton.edu

PARTING SHOT

The conspiracists next door Kennedy was killed by the militaryindustrial complex. No, it was the Cuational surveys show that more bans. Are you kidding, it was the Mafia. than half of Americans believe But that was back then, in those in some kind of conspiracy. good old crazy days, when conspiracy That the moon landing is a Holly- thinking was still a do-it-yourself job. wood production. That Obama and Now, thanks to the blessings of the innow Kamala Harris are not legitimate ternet, social media, and Russian hackcandidates. That the 9/11 attacks were ers, there is the ready-made theory. orchestrated by the United States. Or Why go through endless documents that the coronavirus was manufactured and come up with your own conspiracy from scratch, when you can pick it up and distributed by Bill Gates. A recent low point is “Pizzagate,” right off the web? But the new generation of political distributed by the ultra-right conspiracy factory QAnon. Major Democrats, leaders, led by Donald Trump, is gosuch as Hillary Clinton and Oprah ing one step further. They mix up all Winfrey, are said to kidnap, abuse, and the conspiracies and bake them into a cake. You just even eat children. have to warm it Conspiracy up at home and thinking used to America has always been you’re done. No be hard work. Af- a paradise for hydralonger is there a ter all, all official need for tinkerinformation is headed thinkers. With ing with obscure suspect. I typically pamphlets at picture a retired its famous tolerance for engineer some- intolerance, there is room shady gatherings. Trump’s genius where in a small insight is that by attic room, tap- for every crazy thought. combining all the ping on a computconspiracies, you er, surrounded by bookshelves full of thick files. On the can suddenly get a majority of the votwall a bulletin board with newspaper ers behind you: anyone who believes clippings, key words circled in red with there are more things in heaven and many question marks. As with an on- earth than dreamt of in your regular ion, the layers of deception are peeled news media. In this way, all the enoff one by one, until finally the hidden emies of your enemy are suddenly your friends. truth at the center is revealed. It is surprising how easily one acAll of this comes at a high price. To be a conspiracist is a lonely existence. cepts this instant conspiracy mix — Paranoid to the core, you don’t trust actually a sign of great gullibility. Now, anyone or anything. You’re ignored by internal consistency has never been the the rest of society that is trapped in forte of conspiracy theories. Climate stifling groupthink. Conversations be- skeptics fight against the scientific contween conspiracy theorists are there- sensus, while claiming that there is no fore Babelesque confusions of tongues. such as thing as a scientific consensus.

By Pia de Jong

The coronavirus is disregarded as just a harmless flu — but also regarded as a biological weapon developed in a secret Chinese laboratory. America has always been a paradise for hydra-headed thinkers. The land of freedom, where you can let go of everything, including the elementary rules of logic. With its famous tolerance for intolerance, there is room for every crazy thought. The ready-made conspiracy mix turns out to be a surprisingly successful export product, under the motto

Illustration by Eliane Gerrits

“Conspiracists of the world, unite.” Even my sober Dutch countrymen are not immune. We have our share of selfproclaimed Covid experts and political philosophers in the Netherlands. Just like the rest of the world, the Dutch no longer need to travel to America to get to know the typical Trump voters. They just live around the corner. Pia de Jong is a Dutch writer who lives in Princeton. Her bestselling memoir, “Saving Charlotte,” was published in 2017 in the U.S. She can be contacted at pdejong@ias.edu.

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