I gave this lecture at the Cumberland County Historical Society in Greenwich on February 3, 2019:...
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Greenwich Tea Burning Project
The Buildings of the Centennial Exhibition
About a decade ago, I was working hard on a book titled “The Greenwich Tea Burning: History and Memory in an American Town.” I came close to signing a book contract, but I got distracted by other things and let...
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Return to Greenwich!
Yesterday I returned to Greenwich, NJ, the hometown of eighteenth-century diarist Phililp Vickers Fithian and site of the Greenwich Tea Burning. I had not been to the area since April 2017 when I gave a eulogy for my good friend...
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Jonathan Wood, RIP
In the acknowledgements of my book The Way of Improvement Leads Home: Philip Vickers Fithian and the Rural Enlightenment in Early America I wrote: “Jonathan Wood of the Cumberland County Historical Society first introduced me to Philip Vickers Fithian’s homeland. I enjoyed...
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The Greenwich Tea Burning in the “Newark Star-Ledger”
The Greenwich Tea Burning Monument, Greenwich, NJ It is always nice when a reporter from one of my hometown newspapers calls and wants to talk history. Last week I had a nice chat with Lisa Rose, a reporter for the...
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The Groundhog Terrorizing Bridgeton, NJ Has Escaped
Not the Bridgeton groundhog I’ve spent a bit of time in Bridgeton, New Jersey during my work on The Greenwich Tea Burning Project, so Jack Hummel’s article in the South Jersey Times caught my attention. Apparently a groundhog has been […]
Virtual Office Hours–Episode 14
The Greenwich Tea Burning Project: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5doK6a6ojo]...
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The Greenwich Tea Burning Project
Greenwich Friends Meetinghouse I am hoping for a small revival of the Greenwich Tea Burning Project this summer. To learn more about this public history project click here. In addition to my work on another public history/consulting project this summer,...
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Public Historians and “The Local”
As American public historians begin to think deeply about how to partner with their colleagues from outside the United States, Robert Weyeneth, the director of the Public History Program at the University of South Carolina and the president of the...
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Friday at the AHA
I am settling in for my first session of the day–a panel on publishing about American places with several university press editors. I am hoping to get some good ideas about how to pitch my Greenwich Tea Burning project. More […]
What About the Ghosts of the Greenwich Tea Burners?
I first met Gregg Jones, a resident of Greenwich, New Jersey, while doing research on the 1774 Greenwich Tea Burning. He is a great guy who loves the history of his historic home town. I recently learned that Gregg been...
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Greenwich on My Mind
It looks like I will not be spending time in Greenwich, NJ this summer. As many longtime readers of “The Way of Improvement Leads Home” know, I have been leading a small public history project in this community for the...
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Some Vintage Tomato Labels
The “Tomato and Health” website has posted a cool collection of vintage tomato can labels. Believe it or not, I have a tomato label framed and displayed in my Messiah College office. It is from the Watson cannery in historic […]
2011 Greenwich Tea Burning Project–Day 5
We wrapped up the 2011 edition of the Greenwich Tea Burning Project with mixed emotions. After close to forty full hours of research in the Lummis Library of the Cumberland County Historical Society, most of us were tired and ready...
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2011 Greenwich Tea Burning Project–Day 4
We got a lot accomplished today during our work at the Lummis Library. After a day of being quarantined to the attic, we once again returned to the main reading room. When we entered the library we were greeted by […]
Greenwich Tea Burning Project 2011-Day 3
Day 3 of the 2011 edition of the Greenwich Tea Burning Project is in the books. It was a productive, but tiring day. Fatigue is starting to set in and we are all hoping and praying that our proverbial “second […]
Greenwich Tea Burning Project 2011-Day 2
Day two of the 2011 edition of the Greenwich Tea Burning Project has come to an end. For those of you who are still unfamiliar with the Project, I am in the quiet town of historic Greenwich, NJ with four […]
Greenwich Tea Burning Project 2011–Day 1
The 2011 edition of the Greenwich Tea Burning Project kicked off today. This week we will be spending long hours in the Lummis Library of the Cumberland County Historical Society in Greenwich, NJ thinking about how the people of this […]
Greenwich Tea Burning Project Update
We are just about five days away from the 2011 edition of the Greenwich Tea Burning Project. The rooms are booked, the van is rented, and I think they are ready for us at the Lummis Library in historic Greenwich,...
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The Greenwich Tea Burning Project: 2011 Edition
As some of my readers know, I have been working (slowly) on a book about history and memory in Greenwich, NJ, the eighteenth-century home of Philip Vickers Fithian. From June 25 to July 2 I will be back in Greenwich […]