Happy Labor Day & News for September

What a beautiful start to what looks to be a lovely weekend! We hope you enjoy the holiday on Monday.

History in Hopewell has been a little quiet in August but we will be roaring back next week with Hopewell Valley Heritage Week! The week of activities are brought to you by HVHS, The Hopewell Museum, Hopewell Public Library, Washington Crossing Park Association, the Old School Baptist Meetinghouse, Pennington Public Library, and Mercer County Library - Hopewell Branch, and could not have been possible without the assistance of Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission, a partner of the NJ Historical Commission. So many people have worked hard to bring all kinds of cool activities from walking tours to crafts to lectures. There is something for everyone!

Click here to learn more about Heritage Week and do try to register if you can for events you want to attend so we can know how many people to expect.

We had a ton of fun at John Hart's Needlecreek Farm Brewery a few weeks ago as Revolution NJ brought its Tavern Talks to Hopewell. If you are interested in attending one, and we really recommend you do, click on the Revolution NJ link above to find out where the next one is. John mentioned that he would like to do it again and we hope he does. One of us had a big "argument" with a gentleman re-enacting a Sherriff in the days just before the war. The Re-enactor was asserting that protest against the Crown is immoral while we argued that protests are necessary when the contract between the governor and the governed has been broken by trying to tax us without representation. We also spoke to an enslaved person from General Washington's camp (played by the always fascinating Leslie Bramlett), a Quaker who wanted change but didn't want to fight, a privateer who was "helping relieve ships in port of their burdens while getting people the things they need during the boycotts" and a land speculator who was terribly annoyed that the portent of war was negatively affecting his business.

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In the first picture, John Hart welcomes the crowd, in the middle, HVHS 2d VP Bob Lawless listens to Leslie tell her story, and in the third Hope & Dick Sudlow talk with the Quaker.

If talking about the Revolution is something you enjoy (and who doesnt?!) do not miss our Annual Meeting on the 13th at 2pm at the Titusville Presbyterian Church at 48 River Drive in Titusville (Register here). At 3, Dr. Andrew Shankman, a preeminent historian of the Revolutionary War, why it happened, and its aftermath, is coming to talk to us about what made the Revolution radical. He will be joined by David Niescior, senior historian at the Old Barracks in Trenton. I promise you it will be very interesting and give you things to think about you haven't considered before.

To give a little plug for our partners:

• This weekend at Washington Crossing State Park: Labor Day at the Johnson Ferry House.

• September 16th, The Hopewell Museum is hosting Hearth, Home and Classroom: The First 100 Years at the Lawrenceville School at the Hopewell Branch of the Mercer County Library System.

• September 28, Pennington Public Library and SSAAM are co-hosting a Zoom event with a discussion by author Kevin Sack for an insightful discussion on his acclaimed book, Mother Emanuel: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church.

And keep checking our calendar - as we hear about more things, we will put them there.

Have a great weekend, and see you next week!