Event Category: Historical

Delve into the varied experiences of New Jersey women during the era of the American Revolution with historian Lucia McMahon. For many women, the home front and battlefields remained inextricably connected. Leading up to the war, women provided essential support for patriotic protests. During the Revolution, some family homes were temporarily repurposed into military headquarters, disrupting familiar spaces and routines. New Jersey women were often directly “at the crossroads” of the war, in close proximity to troop movements, encampments, and combat. 

Date/Time: Thursday, May 14, 6:30 pm. 

Location: Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, Princeton, NJ 08540

In-person tickets: $20 general admission, $15 Morven member, $10 student

Virtual tickets: $10 virtual, $5 Morven member, $5 student

Register at https://www.morven.org/events/new-jersey-womens-revolutionary-experiences

Presented in partnership with the William Trent House Museum

Be among the first to experience Five Independent Souls, a landmark exhibition illuminating New Jersey’s five signers through the eyes of the Revolution’s greatest artists. Guests will encounter a fresh perspective on America’s Independence through precious artifacts and letters hailing from significant collections. Join Annis and Richard Stockton with special guest Governor Thomas Kean for a revolutionary evening of reflection and celebration. Following the exhibition premiere, enjoy an elegant dinner inspired by New Jersey’s rich agricultural heritage, with live music and valet parking.All proceeds benefit Morven Museum & Garden.

Date/Time: Saturday, May 2, 6-9 pm

Location: Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, Princeton, NJ 08540

Register at https://www.morven.org/events/250th-founding-feast

As part of Morven’s Generation Declaration speaker series, Morven welcomes John Bidwell, Curator Emeritus at the Morgan Library. The Declaration of Independence became a work of art during the nineteenth century as new printing technology enabled elaborate ornamentation and put owning a copy within reach of the masses. Bidwell delves into these artistic styles, which included everything from portraits of founders to the Liberty Bell, and describes how Declaration prints and broadsides impacted American popular culture. 

Date/Time: Thursday, April 9, 6:30 pm. 

Location: Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, Princeton, NJ 08540

In-person tickets: $20 general admission, $15 Morven Member, $10 student

Virtual tickets: $10 general admission, $5 Morven Member, $5 student  

Register at https://www.morven.org/events/the-declaration-in-script-and-print

Eat, drink, and rest your legs as we tell you a tale of West Windsor’s historical inns and taverns. Did you know that our local government formed in an inn once owned by counterfeiters? And that the same inn was later owned by someone who also kept many inns and taverns in Princeton, Trenton, and Philadelphia, including the 9th capitol building of the United States? Or that another belonged to a loyalist who fled town during the Revolution? And yet more were “speakeasies” during Prohibition, or converted to local community churches?

Join Paul Ligeti, President of the Historical Society of West Windsor, for a fascinating tour of this history on March 17, at 7PM, via Zoom. Please register to get the Zoom login info – use the form below.

Part of the Township-wide, year-long “Revolution West Windsor” events calendar!

When we think of the American Revolution, we often imagine a local struggle between thirteen colonies and the British Crown. Historian and author Richard Bell challenges that familiar story, revealing the Revolution as a global war that reshaped lives and power across six continents. From the Caribbean and Canada to Africa, India, and South America, the conflict sparked migration, rebellion, and transformation far beyond North America. This program re-examines the Revolutionary War as a complex, high-stakes global event whose consequences continue to resonate in the modern world.

Sponsored by the Friends of the West Windsor Library.

Registration with an email is required, so the library can send you a link to connect through GoTo Meeting. You will receive the link approximately 24 hours before the program.

Blending history, architecture, and horticulture, this year’s Grand Homes & Gardens speaker series, Freedom at Home: Telling the Full Story of America’s Founding Homes and Gardens, showcases the estates of signers of the Declaration of Independence, telling the stories of the people who lived and worked in these grand spaces. 

On April 16, Morven welcomes Brandon Stone (Director Research and Preservation) for an illustrated presentation on Middleton Place in Charleston, SC, the primary home of Declaration signer Arthur Middleton. More than 2,800 men, women, and children were enslaved by the Middleton family from 1738 to 1865. The estate was heavily impacted by the Civil War when Union troops razed most of the property. The plantation’s extensive and transformative gardens, established in the 1740s, were awarded the Garden Club of America’s highest honor, the Bulkley Medal, in 1941.

Doors open at 6 pm for light refreshments. 

Student discounts are available. 

In-person tickets: $40 in-person/single program

Virtual tickets: $20 virtual/single program

Blending history, architecture, and horticulture, this year’s Grand Homes & Gardens speaker series, Freedom at Home: Telling the Full Story of America’s Founding Homes and Gardens, showcases the estates of signers of the Declaration of Independence, telling the stories of the people who lived and worked in these grand spaces. 

On April 16, Morven welcomes Brandon Stone (Director Research and Preservation) for an illustrated presentation on Middleton Place in Charleston, SC, the primary home of Declaration signer Arthur Middleton. More than 2,800 men, women, and children were enslaved by the Middleton family from 1738 to 1865. The estate was heavily impacted by the Civil War when Union troops razed most of the property. The plantation’s extensive and transformative gardens, established in the 1740s, were awarded the Garden Club of America’s highest honor, the Bulkley Medal, in 1941.

Doors open at 6 pm for light refreshments. 

Student discounts are available. 

In-person tickets: $40 in-person/single program

Virtual tickets: $20 virtual/single program

This virtual program takes place on Monday, April 6 at 7:00 pm.

Blending history, architecture, and horticulture, this year’s Grand Homes & Gardens speaker series, Freedom at Home: Telling the Full Story of America’s Founding Homes and Gardens, showcases the estates of signers of the Declaration of Independence, telling the stories of the people who lived and worked in these grand spaces. 

On March 26, Morven welcomes Peter Hatch (Gardener, Historian, and Emeritus Director of Gardens and Grounds for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation) for an illustrated presentation on Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden. The Monticello vegetable garden, a 1,000-foot-long terrace, grew new and unusual edible plants from around the world. Jefferson was a strong believer in a vegetable diet, and this revolutionary garden inspired a revolutionary cuisine in the kitchen at Monticello. Much of the work constructing, cultivating, and maintaining the gardens would have fallen to enslaved labor. Today, these gardens have been mostly restored to the early nineteenth century. 

Doors open at 6 pm for light refreshments. The final program in the series takes place on April 16. 

Student discounts are available. 

In-person tickets: $40 in-person/single program

Virtual tickets: $20 virtual/single program