Hudson Reporter senior staff writer Al Sullivan will be featured in an upcoming lecture at The New Jersey Historical Society luncheon in Newark on Oct. 19 from 12:15 to 1 p.m. as part of the 160th anniversary of the organization.
Sullivan will talk about his book “Everyday People: Profiles from the Garden State” as part of the exhibits focus on every day people.
The book, published in 2001 by Rutgers University Press, will be included in a month-long exhibit called “Transit Drivers, Honeymooners, Midwives: Collecting and Telling New Jersey Stories – Celebrating NJHS’ 160th Anniversary” – that will focus on life in New Jersey over the last century and half. The book is a collection of profiles from the archives of the Hudson Reporter newspaper group, the Worrell newspapers, and other publications for which Sullivan wrote over the last two decades, and features everyday people from every walk of life.
“The book fit perfectly in our theme,” said Lily Hodge, adult and special needs program coordinator. “The exhibit looks at everyday people.”
Many of the stories in Sullivan’s book deal with people from Hudson and Essex County who lived through some of the major events of history during the last half of the 20th century. Some are semi-famous, such as the 104-year-old widow of Thomas Edison’s chief assistant. Others include people who worked with Mother Theresa or hiked across the United States.
Most are stories of people who lived and died in their community. Sullivan has worked for the Hudson Reporter chain since 1992. He currently covers the Bayonne beat for the chain’s Bayonne edition, the Bayonne Community News, and writes a popular weekly column on Hudson County politics called “Between the Lines.”
Sullivan has won numerous awards from the New Jersey Press Association for his investigative articles.
The exhibit
The exhibit will be open to the public for the month of October and will include a variety of items that reflect the history of people in the state. This includes the diary and photo album of a Spanish American War Veteran from Trenton, a midwife’s medical bag and records from her birthing center, an instruction book written by a Wealthy Newark African-American family who taught music and dance from the late 1800s into the 20th Century, a series of diaries of an East Orange housewife from the 1930s to the early 1950s, and eight millimeter film of a Pittsburgh family’s vacation to Atlantic City during the 1930s.
The exhibit officially opens to the public on Oct. 15, Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 52 Park Place in Newark.
“Everyday People: Profiles from the Garden State” is part of Rutgers University Press’s “New Jersey and the Region” series recently launched to highlight the history and culture of the state. For more information on the book, call (800) 446-9323 or visit the publisher’s website at http://www.rutgerspress.rutgers.edu.
Sullivan will be speaking at the society’s regularly scheduled weekly program called “Lunch Times are Past Times.”
Other speakers include Kathleen Wilson, who is speaking on employment for people with disabilities on Oct. 12. On Oct. 26, the luncheon will feature a program called Multi-Media Family Biography: History and Technology. For more information on the luncheon or other programs you can visit The New Jersey Historical Society website at http://www.jerseyhistory.org.