New Jersey

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Digital Diversity: An interview that captures a historic moment for New Jersey’s LGBTQ community

Authored by Karen Faverzani

Presented as part of the Monmouth County Historical Association’s Digital Diversity Oral History Project, this screenshot depicts pictures and a description of an audio interview with Amy Quinn, an LGBTQ advocate. Her interview took place on August 28, 2020.

Just after the stroke of midnight on October 21, 2013, Amy Quinn and her partner Heather Jensen legally wed on the Asbury Park boardwalk in New Jersey (The Coaster 2013).

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Of Poetry and Plutonium: The Cold War in Bergen County

Authored by Jessica Santulli

This is a poem typed on a faded typewriter during the 1980s. The title is "A Prayer in Time of Need" by Marjorie Medary.
This poem, which reads like a prayer, was penned by Marjorie Medary, a patron of the Oakland Public library in Oakland, New Jersey. It is part of a collection of poetry that was on display at the library during the 1980s, reflecting the effects of the Cold War on New Jersey and the United States.

The Cold War is defined as a period of hostility and political tension between the Soviet Union and the United States of America from after World War II in 1945 through 1990, when the Berlin Wall fell (Halperin and Woods 1990). This era was certainly a trying time for world leaders, diplomats, politicians, and the military. But how did ordinary people in Bergen County, New Jersey handle the looming threat of Nuclear War?

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A Reflection on NYPL’s Map Warper Tool

Authored by: Emily Griffin

This is a map from the atlas Rachel Lipkin and Emily Griffin added metadata to for the New York Public Library. The map shows New York City and parts of New Jersey.

This is a map from the atlas Rachel Lipkin and Emily Griffin added metadata to for the New York Public Library. The map shows New York City and parts of New Jersey.

The picture shown is a map of Essex, Union, and Hudson counties in New Jersey (and surrounding areas) from The New York Public Library’s Map collection[1]. The original map was created by Griffith Hopkins as part of an extensive atlas of New Jersey and the surrounding areas titled Combined atlas of the State of New Jersey and the County of Hudson: From Actual Survey, Official, and Private Plans. The original atlas was published in 1873. My initial research on Griffith M. Hopkins and G.M. Hopkins Company hasn’t yielded much. I suspect G.M. Hopkins was one of many individuals making maps during the 1800’s, and that I would have to undertake special research on cartography in order to find out any specific details about the creator and his motivations. However, the map as an object alone allows researchers to infer what technology was available, attitudes and ideologies employed by cartographers of the era, and changes in the shorelines and official county divisions of New York and New Jersey. Continue reading →

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The NYPL Map Warper: A Brief Topic and Image Analysis

Authored by Rachel Lipkin

Untitled

Image Information
LCSH: 1XX – Map and guide
Curator: Hopkins, G. M
Date: 1873

Summary of Image

G.M Hopkins curated this image in 1873 as a collection to his layer and atlas of New Jersey and most specifically the counties of Essex, Hudson, and Union.  This map describes the property lines, the cities and towns within the area. Particularly, this map showed the general landscape of the entire area, and within the layer provided by the New York Public Library, there were roughly three other maps that depicted the Hoboken and Weehawken area, train lines, ferry stops, and coast lines.  The resources that are related to this object consist of maps, such as this one, that depict the land of New Jersey in the late 1800’s. The entire atlas, and its parts, was so fragile and delicate that throughout our project it would have been excellent to see them in physical form, but unfortunately we were not allowed to view it. Continue reading →