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Notable<br />
WOMEN<br />
Throughout the History<br />
of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>
Notable<br />
WOMEN<br />
Throughout the History<br />
of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
HUNTERDON COUNTY<br />
CULTURAL & HERITAGE COMMISSION<br />
Stephanie B. Stevens, Chairman<br />
Lawrence K. Carlbon Frank A. Curcio<br />
Beverly N. Drake Janet M. Hunt<br />
Estelle S. Katcher Maude Kenyon<br />
John Kuhl Ann Sauerland<br />
Donna M. Jenssen, Secretary<br />
HUNTERDON COUNTY<br />
BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS<br />
Frank J. Fuzo<br />
Marcia Karrow<br />
George B. Melick<br />
George Muller<br />
Paul C. Sauerland, Jr.<br />
2000<br />
1
INTRODUCTION<br />
The year 1995 was celebrated nationwide as the 75 th anniversary of <strong>Women</strong>'s<br />
Suffrage. With this prestigious occasion in mind, it seemed appropriate that the<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Cultural & Heritage Commission should recognize the talents and<br />
contributions of the women of our county. In the past century they have fought for social<br />
and moral justice by establishing schools and libraries, demanding civil service reform, a<br />
clean environment, abatement of child labor, welfare for the indigent, and, in general,<br />
pressing their male counterparts to more civilized behavior toward society.<br />
Because of their dedication to the cause of women's rights and their fight for the<br />
right to vote, to own property, to obtain equal pay for equal work, today's young woman<br />
is virtually assured of a more accepted place in the scholastic, business, and social<br />
world.<br />
Nominations for this written work were solicited throughout the county.<br />
Organizations and individuals involved with every facet of life in <strong>Hunterdon</strong> were<br />
contacted to nominate outstanding women. It soon became clear that the involvement<br />
of women in all aspects of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> life was a moving and paramount factor to the<br />
success of every social cause.<br />
We believe this is a beginning of a long overdue tribute.<br />
Stephanie B. Stevens, Chairman<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Cultural & Heritage Commission<br />
2
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS<br />
While in the process of compiling this publication, many individuals and<br />
organizations submitted information about outstanding women of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
We thank you all.<br />
The Commission is also indebted to Reba Bloom and former Commissioners<br />
Kenneth Myers and J. Edward Stout for researching and writing a number of the<br />
biographical listings; to <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Democrat employee Karen Sheridan for her<br />
assistance in locating additional information and photographs; and to the <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> Democrat for permission to reproduce many of the photographs.<br />
We offer special thanks to Robert Thurgarland and the <strong>County</strong> Printing<br />
Department for enhancing the graphics and setting our words to print.<br />
3
HARRIET STRATEMEYER ADAMS<br />
Harriet was the daughter of the prolific children's book publisher Edward<br />
Stratemeyer. He published his first volume in 1899 and by 1906 had 150 juvenile books<br />
to his credit. Among his series were the popular series Tom Swift, The Hardy Boys, The<br />
Rover Boys and The Bobbsey Twins. The Stratemeyer Syndicate was renowned.<br />
After graduation from Wellesley, Harriet worked for her father, editing manuscripts<br />
he brought home from the office. When he died in 1930, Harriet and her sister Edna<br />
Squire were the heirs of the Syndicate. They completed the manuscripts left by<br />
Mr. Stratemeyer. Harriet began writing her own stories, and eventually took over the<br />
family Syndicate.<br />
Pen names she wrote under included Carolyn Keene in the Nancy Drew series,<br />
Franklin Dixon in The Hardy Boys, Laura Lee Hope in The Bobbsey Twins, and May<br />
Hollis Barton in Barton Books for Girls. Harriet Adams continued to write the books in<br />
these various series until her death in 1982.<br />
Nancy Drew became her favorite character and except for the three books created<br />
by her father, Harriet Adams was the author of all the other Nancy Drew stories. The<br />
books contained no violence, profanity or lying, and have continued to be favorites of<br />
children everywhere. By 1980 Nancy Drew had sold 70,000,000 books in the United<br />
States alone. As a child, Harriet Stratemeyer spent summers on a farm she loved in<br />
Lebanon Township. As an adult, she purchased her own farm in Pottersville. It was<br />
there that she died at the age of 89 in March 1982.<br />
4
BETTY M. ANDERSON<br />
After obtaining both a bachelor’s and a<br />
master’s degree, Betty Anderson continued<br />
during her summers to study more about<br />
alcoholism. The subject was important to her and<br />
was to become her life work and devotion.<br />
As founder of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Council<br />
on Alcoholism, Betty Anderson literally worked<br />
out of the trunk of her car where she stored her<br />
film projector. Those were the days, in the early<br />
70's, when a high-level meeting on alcoholism<br />
would gather only enough people to fit around a<br />
table.<br />
Betty's devotion to the cause of alcohol and<br />
drug abuse saw the programs expand not only in<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> but throughout the state. Where once<br />
she had to battle for funding, now there is awareness that has loosened the private and<br />
public pocketbooks. Monies now go to educate school children, prisoners, and families<br />
of substance abusers.<br />
Because of her cause, the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center opened its Center for Drug<br />
and Alcohol Abuse and chose Betty to direct the facility.<br />
Recognizing her years of work and reputation, Betty was named “1988 Woman of<br />
the Year” by the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Task Force on <strong>Women</strong> and Alcoholism.<br />
Although this former Sergeantsville resident is now retired to Sarasota, FL, Betty's<br />
selfless devotion and concern for the alcoholic has caused her many friends to name<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong>'s first halfway house for women alcoholics Anderson House.<br />
5
ROSE Z. ANGELL<br />
If the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center had a single founder --<br />
the person who initiated the movement to create a hospital --<br />
that person was Rose Angell, the Director of Welfare for<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> from 1932 until she retired in 1961 at the<br />
age of 78.<br />
She was a native of Mishicot, WI. Mrs. Angell received<br />
her R.N. degree from Trinity Hospital in Milwaukee in 1903.<br />
After two years as head of the operating room at Madison<br />
General Hospital, she began to teach domestic science. In<br />
the next several years, she was named Director of the<br />
Milwaukee Society for the Care of the Sick, organized the<br />
Retired Nurses Emergency League, and opened a school for<br />
"cadet nurses" (the equivalent of practical nurses) in order to<br />
provide home care for those who could not afford "trained"<br />
nurses. Mrs. Angell, along with her husband and three<br />
children, moved to <strong>Hunterdon</strong> in 1924, and remained at her Story Brook Farm home in<br />
the Woodglen section of Lebanon Township until her death in 1965.<br />
In 1932, Mrs. Angell's extensive experience in nursing and welfare was brought to a<br />
focus when she was asked to inaugurate the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Welfare Department. In<br />
addition, she was a charter member of the county Mental Health Association, the<br />
Homemakers Society, and the state Welfare Council. She also founded her local P.T.A.<br />
In administering the county's appropriation for hospitalization of people who could<br />
not pay, she was forced to deal with a problem which nobody had the courage to<br />
challenge -- that of providing an in-county hospital. And she proceeded to look for the<br />
answer to this problem.<br />
In 1942, just a few months after Pearl Harbor, Mrs. Angell wrote to the director of<br />
the Commonwealth Fund, known for its pioneering program in establishing rural<br />
hospitals. She requested consideration for the program, and described the then-current<br />
method of providing hospital care for the indigent, in four hospitals in neighboring<br />
counties. At the time of the letter, a total of $9,800 was appropriated each year for care.<br />
It was felt that Mrs. Angell and her staff obtained the utmost in value from a very limited<br />
budget.<br />
The director of the fund indicated that they would back only one hospital a year;<br />
they had already chosen one for the year, and their plans for continuing were quite<br />
uncertain. However, Mrs. Angell refused to let the goal of bringing a hospital to<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> drop. Only four years later, she and Mrs. Louise Leicester brought such a<br />
proposal to the <strong>County</strong> Board of Agriculture. And that organization, which agreed to<br />
study the need, took on the job of pushing for a hospital with widespread community<br />
support. It was Rose Angell's ideas which gathered momentum and resulted in the<br />
distinguished institution known as <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center.<br />
(See <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center Founders, page 81, for more information.)<br />
6
ELIZABETH MONROE BOGGS<br />
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1913 to a socially and<br />
intellectually prominent family, it soon became evident that<br />
Elizabeth was a gifted youngster. Her early education laid<br />
great stress on academic achievement. With this excellent<br />
preparation, she went on to Bryn Mawr College where she<br />
was graduated summa cum laude in 1935, with distinction<br />
in mathematics. At that time, American universities were<br />
not encouraging to women of great academic abilities –<br />
especially in her chosen field of theoretical chemistry. She<br />
went on to Cambridge University in England, where she<br />
was the only woman in that program at the time. Although<br />
Cambridge welcomed her, as a woman, she was denied full<br />
membership in the University and not given the same<br />
degree as similarly educated men, an injustice rectified<br />
after the war.<br />
Completing her studies in 1939, and having secured a position at Cornell University,<br />
Elizabeth was asked to stay in England to do secret work on explosives. Europe was at<br />
war, and England needed her scientific training to help with the war effort. This she did.<br />
Many months later, she returned home to the United States and headed for Cornell.<br />
There she shared an office with a graduate student named Fitzhugh Boggs. A fellow<br />
scientist, Fitzhugh had grown up in France and shared Elizabeth’s concern for Europe<br />
at war.<br />
They were married in September 1941 just before the United States entered into the<br />
war. Throughout the World War II both worked on secret projects, which neither could<br />
discuss with the other! Fitzhugh was involved in developing devices to jam German<br />
radar, and Elizabeth was peripherally involved in the Manhattan Project, America’s<br />
successful effort to build an atomic bomb.<br />
Their son David was born in 1945. Unknown to Elizabeth, the joyful birth of this<br />
normal child was to change her life focus forever. As a tiny baby David developed a<br />
severe brain infection. He was treated with penicillin -- a new miracle drug -- and<br />
survived the disease only to be profoundly retarded and multiply handicapped for life.<br />
Turning her talents towards education of the handicapped, Elizabeth founded the<br />
first classes for the “trainable mentally retarded” in 1950 in Essex <strong>County</strong>, NJ. She also<br />
participated that year in the founding of the national Association for Retarded Citizens –<br />
now known as the ARC. In 1968 she was elected national president of ARC, and<br />
became a resident of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
Choosing to advocate for people with developmental disabilities and their families,<br />
rather than continue with theoretical chemistry, Elizabeth quickly rose to national<br />
prominence. In 1960, during the Kennedy administration, she was selected to sit on the<br />
President’s panel on mental retardation. Quickly she became a Washington insider,<br />
working with several administrations and with Congress to create legislation for those<br />
with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.<br />
7
The sixties and seventies saw Elizabeth Boggs active in the work of the International<br />
League of Societies for Persons with Mental Handicaps. She was one of a small group<br />
that wrote the Developmental Disabilities Act and shepherded it through Congress;<br />
Nixon signed it in 1970. In 1971 she was the recipient of the Kennedy International<br />
Award for Leadership, The Distinguished Public Service Award from the US Dept. of<br />
Health, Education and Welfare, and The Distinguished Service Award, United Cerebral<br />
Palsy Associations, Inc.<br />
In <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>, Elizabeth served on the Governor’s Task Force on Services to<br />
Persons with Disabilities, The Governor’s Advisory Committee to the Vocational<br />
Rehabilitation Planning Project that produced the Second Half Century: A Plan for<br />
Vocational Rehabilitation to 1975 and Beyond, The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Developmental<br />
Disabilities Council, State Human Services Advisory Council, State Association for<br />
Retarded Citizens, and NJ Governor’s Council on Welfare Management. The list goes<br />
on. Dr. Boggs has chaired or served on every council and committee both nationally,<br />
internationally, state and countywide that deals with developmental disabilities. Locally,<br />
she served as member and chairman of the county Health and Human Services<br />
Advisory Council, and was a member of the county Mental Health Board.<br />
Dr. Boggs took courses in special education at Kean College and in social work<br />
administration at Rutgers. She traveled throughout the United States and abroad,<br />
speaking for new programs for the mentally retarded. She was credited with inventing<br />
the phrase "developmental disabilities" to distinguish retardation from mental illness.<br />
Her work in the field of the disabled person garnered Dr. Boggs numerous citations<br />
nationally, and honorary degrees from Kean College, Ohio State University and the<br />
University of Medicine and Dentistry of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>. She received a Golden Award from<br />
the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Chamber of Commerce in 1991. Her array of awards and honors<br />
would be difficult to match anywhere. Elizabeth Boggs was a single-minded, brilliant<br />
woman whose vast talents have served the cause of the disabled worldwide.<br />
David Boggs’ disability was the vehicle through which the world has benefited. It<br />
caused the unfolding of an intellectual giant and a five-decade dedication to the cause<br />
of the developmentally disabled that has recognized and improved the very existence of<br />
the disabled person.<br />
She died January 27, 1996, from injuries received in an automobile accident near<br />
her home in Union Township.<br />
8
MARY WOOLVERTON BRAY<br />
She was 15 and he was 20 when Mary Woolverton<br />
married Daniel Bray at Ringoes in 1772. Her first home<br />
was a log house he built in Kingwood. When the<br />
Revolutionary War broke out, she was expecting their<br />
second child; he was away on various "tours" of military<br />
duty. Like so many of her contemporaries, Mary<br />
Woolverton Bray was only a teenager with a husband<br />
who went to war for a cause that proved to be just. She<br />
bore his children -- 13 of them, and took care of the farm<br />
chores while he fought, no doubt fearing possible<br />
reprisals from bands of marauding Redcoats or Loyalists.<br />
After the war, Daniel built her a larger stone house<br />
down the road in Kingwood. In her petition for a widow's<br />
pension in 1838, she listed his "tours" in Princeton,<br />
Paramus, Woodbridge, <strong>New</strong> Brunswick and Monmouth.<br />
But it was that icy Christmas night when her young husband retrieved the boats he had<br />
hidden for George Washington's fabled crossing of the Delaware River that must have<br />
strained her nerve and character to the fullest.<br />
She lived until 1840 and is buried next to her husband in the Rosemont Cemetery.<br />
Mary Woolverton Bray personifies the strong character of the women whose husbands<br />
left home to fight for liberty. The women took care of the children, the farm, the crops<br />
and the animals, and maintained great courage in the face of uncertainty.<br />
They too were heroes.<br />
9
VALERIE L. BROWN<br />
Ms. Brown, a relative newcomer to <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>, makes her home in Lambertville. She was<br />
born 16 November 1955 in <strong>New</strong> York and has not<br />
forgotten her roots. As a black woman from a<br />
broken home in a tough "melting pot" neighborhood<br />
of Brooklyn, Ms. Brown became a powerful<br />
advocate for the poor and the voiceless. Because<br />
of her efforts she was awarded the 1994 Equal<br />
Justice Medal from Legal Services of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>.<br />
Educated at The City College of <strong>New</strong> York,<br />
with a Master of Arts degree from Miami University<br />
of Ohio and a Jurum Doctor from Howard<br />
University, Ms. Brown serves as legislative counsel<br />
to the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> State Bar Association.<br />
During her tenure with the Bar Association she<br />
has designed and managed a comprehensive government relations program for a<br />
20,000-member nonprofit organization. Her expertise leads to extensive public<br />
speaking engagements as well as strategic planning for issues before the Legislature.<br />
In the course of her employment she has been a strong force in strengthening the<br />
Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, revising <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>'s adoption laws, legalizing<br />
the use of living wills in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>, and increasing the penalties for the unauthorized<br />
practice of law in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>.<br />
Previous to her association with the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Bar Association she served as<br />
Associate Director of Policy Research, <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> State College Governing Boards<br />
Association. Performing research and analysis for the nine state college presidents was<br />
but one of the important tasks delegated to this young woman. She also monitored<br />
federal and state legislation and regulation for the Boards, published a monthly report to<br />
state college presidents on legal and legislative affairs, and developed and coordinated<br />
research with the Board of Higher Education.<br />
10
RUTH CARPENTER<br />
Ruth Carpenter, <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>'s first woman sheriff, was born in<br />
Bernardsville, NJ, on 6 December 1918. She graduated from<br />
Clinton High School and went on to Rider College. Her career was<br />
launched as a legal secretary for Wesley L. Lance of Clinton. In<br />
1959 she began working for Sheriff John Lea in that same<br />
capacity, and continued until 1961 when he appointed her<br />
undersheriff. She continued in that post -- serving under Lea's<br />
successor, Sheriff Ervin Wright -- until he became ill in 1977. At<br />
that time he designated her acting sheriff. After Sheriff Wright's<br />
death, Mrs. Carpenter was elected to the first of two 3-year terms<br />
as sheriff.<br />
Her duties required the serving of legal papers, conducting<br />
sheriff's sales which required technical and legal knowledge, and<br />
providing officers to escort prisoners and guard the courts.<br />
When Mrs. Carpenter retired in 1983, of the eight women<br />
sheriffs in the nation, she had been in office the longest period of time. Her career was<br />
colorful, and she drew much national attention to <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> and <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
Her signature cowboy’s hat and earrings will be remembered by all.<br />
After leaving office, Sheriff Carpenter, who had been a longtime resident of Glen<br />
Gardner, moved to Raritan Township for a short period of time before retiring to Florida<br />
with her husband, John. She is the mother of John, Robert and Phyllis and has six<br />
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.<br />
11
SARAH CLARK CASE<br />
In 1799 Sarah Clark married Phillip Case, whose father<br />
John Phillip Case was the earliest white settler in<br />
Flemington.<br />
They later moved to Bethlehem Township, the area<br />
that is now Union Township, where the stone bank house<br />
Phillip built for Sarah still stands today.<br />
Eighteenth century physicians generally obtained<br />
training through apprenticeship with other physicians. This<br />
changed in 1772, when the colony of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> was the<br />
first to set up a rudimentary system of examination and<br />
licensing of physicians. Without these qualifications,<br />
physicians could not practice as professionals. To make<br />
the process more effective, the courts transferred the<br />
granting of these licenses to the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Medical<br />
Society in 1816. That same year Sarah Clark Case was<br />
granted a medical license -- making her the first licensed female physician in <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
-- and one of the earliest in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>.<br />
Since medical help in rural <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> was scarce in the early 19 th century,<br />
previous to her licensing Sarah served her neighbors as nurse and midwife. Described<br />
as "a woman of good common sense," her reputation for excellent medical care had<br />
patients requesting that she prescribe medicine. Her loyal following among patients and<br />
physicians was certainly instrumental in the Medical Society’s granting a license to<br />
Sarah.<br />
Sarah Case devoted herself to the health of her patients until old age. She died in<br />
1859 at the age of 83, never knowing that her grandson, Nathan Case, would follow in<br />
her footsteps as a physician.<br />
12
LOUISA BAUER COLE<br />
Louisa Bauer Cole was born on a farm in Pleasant Run,<br />
Readington Township. As a young girl she joined the <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> 4-H Sheep Club and has been in 4-H ever since. For<br />
more than 40 years she has been a leader of the Sheep Club.<br />
Louisa initiated the 4-H Junior Leaders' Association in<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, serving for many years as leader of Home<br />
Economics and the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Hoppers 4-H Rabbit Club.<br />
As a member of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> 4-H Leaders'<br />
Association, she has held every office and leadership position<br />
while simultaneously chairing county committees and events.<br />
Mrs. Cole serves as president of the State 4-H Leaders'<br />
Association and has organized club exhibits at Pops Concerts.<br />
She has coached and chaperoned the N.J. Horticulture I.D.<br />
Team at the National Horticulture contest. Louisa worked on the<br />
committee that organized the 1993 North East Regional 4-H<br />
Leaders' Forum in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> and participated in a National Policy Session in<br />
Washington at the request of the Director of the Extension Service.<br />
Louisa Cole's hard work and continuing dedication to 4-H and kids is legend, so<br />
much so that she was named the "1992 <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Friend of 4-H." And in 1998, she<br />
was honored with the Golden Award of the Chamber of Commerce.<br />
13
HELEN CONKLING<br />
Mrs. Conkling was born in <strong>Jersey</strong> City, NJ in<br />
1910, and was graduated from Battin High School,<br />
Elizabeth, NJ, and Pace University, NYC. She<br />
began her 26-year career as a legal secretary --<br />
working first for Wesley L. Lance in Glen Gardner,<br />
NJ, and later for Anthony Hauck, a Clinton, NJ<br />
attorney who served as the county prosecutor<br />
during the famous Lindbergh kidnapping trial. She<br />
was last employed by Charles Summerill, a Clinton<br />
attorney who at that time was municipal court<br />
judge.<br />
After retiring, Mrs. Conkling became interested<br />
in local politics. She was elected mayor of Glen<br />
Gardner, a position she held for 12 years from<br />
1960 to 1972.<br />
She was a member of the <strong>County</strong> Republican Committee from Glen Gardner for 34<br />
years. As a 21-year member of the Clinton Woman's Club, serving as scholarship<br />
chairman for the nursing program, she further expressed her interest and service to her<br />
community.<br />
Mrs. Conkling was a dedicated member of her community and a devoted wife to her<br />
husband, George, for 58 years. She died in 1992.<br />
14
ALMENA CRANE<br />
A Cornell University home economics/education major, Almena Crane probably<br />
never imagined what an extraordinary life she would lead when she arrived in Pittstown,<br />
NJ as a young bride in 1930 to begin life with her new husband, Donald, on their 200acre<br />
poultry farm.<br />
Tragically, 12 years later in 1942, she found herself a widow with two young<br />
children. Almena made a major decision to operate the farm on her own, which she did<br />
until 1973 when she moved to Flemington.<br />
Thus began a chain of events leading to involvement and awards from numerous<br />
agricultural and other organizations, which would keep her busy until the end of her life<br />
on 20 October, 1993.<br />
After being named "NJ's Mother of the Year" in 1955, she said to her daughter<br />
regarding her many activities: "They aren't the sort of things you do for glory. You do<br />
them because they have to be done."<br />
In 1939 she became president of Franklin Township School P.T.A., and at 85 was<br />
its oldest surviving past president.<br />
She began serving on the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Library Commission in 1943, retiring in<br />
1965, but continuing her close association through Friends of the Library until 1973.<br />
She was chosen runner up "NEPPCO Poultry Woman of the Year" (Northeastern<br />
Poultry Producers Council Exposition) in 1956.<br />
At a convention of the Associated Country <strong>Women</strong> of the World in 1959, she<br />
represented the U.S. Farm Bureau in Edinburgh, Scotland.<br />
Mrs. Crane held membership in various organizations: Rural Advisory Council,<br />
State Department of Agriculture, Executive Committee of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Board<br />
of Agriculture, and National <strong>Women</strong>'s Committee of the American Farm Bureau<br />
Federation. She was past president of the NJ Associated <strong>Women</strong> of Agriculture, and<br />
vice-chair of the American Farm Bureau <strong>Women</strong>. Mrs. Crane helped spearhead the<br />
organization of North <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Regional High School and <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center.<br />
In 1990 she was in her 37 th year as a member of the Board of Trustees at <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
Medical Center.<br />
While Mrs. Crane had taken painting courses as a coed at Cornell University, she<br />
didn't paint again until after her library retirement in 1973, when she began painting farm<br />
and seashore themes in oils and acrylics.<br />
Mrs. Crane worked on a radio program for senior citizens. As the Wheel Turns was<br />
pre-recorded and transmitted to the airwaves five days per week from <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
Central Regional High School.<br />
15
LOUISE DAHL-WOLFE<br />
She flew all over the world, photographing the striking models in their beautiful<br />
clothes for the pages and covers of the leading fashion magazines. Yet it was to their<br />
home in the quiet country near Frenchtown that Louise Dahl-Wolfe returned between<br />
assignments and to which she and her husband retired in the mid-70's.<br />
The Wolfes met in North Africa where Meyer Wolfe, a painter and sculptor, was<br />
working. In their more than 40 years of marriage, he designed many of the sets and<br />
backgrounds that she used for her photographs. He recalled that "she had a special<br />
feeling for color and would coordinate the clothes and the set background."<br />
One of her first projects, "Tennessee Mountain Woman," was photographed near<br />
the Great Smoky Mountains. It appeared in Vanity Fair magazine in 1933, and became<br />
one of the most talked-about photographs of the year. Immediately after that, she went<br />
to work for Saks Fifth Avenue, to show the store's latest fashions.<br />
And for a different view, she photographed food for the Woman's Home Companion.<br />
She found that one of her toughest assignments. "I had to climb up and down ladders<br />
all day -- because you shoot down. Often the food had to be artificially glazed in order<br />
to photograph properly."<br />
From 1936 to 1958, she worked for Harper's Bazaar, photographing some of the<br />
most famous models of the day. In addition, her portrait work included such celebrities<br />
as Katherine Cornell, Paul Robeson, Senator John F. Kennedy, and Jacqueline Bouvier<br />
who became Mrs. Kennedy.<br />
In 1943, she did a photographic study of 17-year-old Betty Bacall, who became the<br />
popular stage and screen star, Lauren Bacall. The friendship continued for the<br />
remainder of Louise-Dahl Wolfe's life.<br />
When she retired, Louise Dahl-Wolfe became an active member of the League of<br />
<strong>Women</strong> Voters. She learned to sew her own clothes and began to learn bookbinding,<br />
with the intention of presenting large albums of her photographs to the Fashion Institute<br />
of Technology in <strong>New</strong> York as a history of fashion.<br />
16<br />
Louise Dahl-Wolfe<br />
American, 1895-1989<br />
Mrs. Ramsey, Gatlinburg, TN, 1933<br />
Original title: Tennessee Mountain Woman<br />
silverprint
MAUD DAHME<br />
Maud Dahme is the first woman from <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> to be appointed to the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> State Board of<br />
Education.<br />
The Clinton resident served a distinguished eight years<br />
on the North <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Board of Education. Mrs. Dahme<br />
was elevated to the State Board in 1983, where she<br />
continues to serve the citizens of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>.<br />
During 1995, Mrs. Dahme was elected president of the<br />
National Association of State Boards of Education. As the<br />
first person from <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> ever to attain that office, she<br />
was honored by both the State Senate and the Assembly.<br />
In 1998 she served as president of the Interstate Migrant<br />
Education Council, which deals nationwide with the<br />
problem of education for children of migrant workers. Mrs.<br />
Dahme has also held the offices of vice-chairman and<br />
president of the State Board.<br />
Her credentials include community involvement on all levels. She has served on<br />
the Clinton Township Council, the Board of Adjustment, Board of Health, Cable TV<br />
Committee, and boards of several county charities.<br />
Perhaps the most interesting facet of Maud's life is her childhood. Born in Holland<br />
in 1936, she was a toddler when Hitler declared war in Europe. Since she was a Jew,<br />
schooling was denied to her. From 1942 until 1945 she was one of the many Jewish<br />
Dutch children hidden away by Dutch Christians. Finally, at age nine when she had<br />
mastered the local Dutch dialect and the war was coming to an end, Maud was allowed<br />
to attend school. By 1950 she and her parents emigrated to America, where they<br />
settled in <strong>New</strong> York City.<br />
In 1994 she was chosen from a select group of leading American educators to<br />
serve on the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Commission on Holocaust Education, and speaks to students<br />
and adults about her experiences as a hidden child during World War II in Holland.<br />
Married in 1957 on the TV show Bride and Groom to Hans Dahme, she is the<br />
mother of four and grandmother of six.<br />
Her personal philosophy of "Be involved, give of yourself" has carried her through a<br />
life of commitment to her community.<br />
17
ROSEMARIE DOREMUS<br />
For more than twenty years, Flemington resident<br />
Rosemarie Doremus has worked tirelessly to improve<br />
the quality of life for <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> senior citizens.<br />
First as director of the Meals on Wheels program, then<br />
as the first director of the Senior Multi-Purpose Center;<br />
and since 1985 as executive director of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> Office on Aging, Rosemarie has initiated<br />
countless programs, activities and services to assure<br />
that older persons can continue to reside in the<br />
community in dignity.<br />
Rosemarie's efforts have not been confined to<br />
improving life only for the seniors of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
For many years she has been an active member of the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Association of Area Agencies on Aging,<br />
and has served as its president. Through that<br />
organization, legislation and policy affecting all the state's elderly have been addressed.<br />
Rosemarie has served on the Executive Board of the National Association of Area<br />
Agencies on Aging, which advocates for national measures beneficial to the older adult<br />
population. She has conferred with legislative representatives in Washington, DC, and<br />
met with national leaders in the Aging Network. She stands and speaks out for what<br />
she believes is right.<br />
While Rosemarie is an enthusiastic and dynamic leader at the national, state, and<br />
local levels, her primary concern is for the individual seniors with whom she comes in<br />
contact. She always has time to hear the good news and the bad, the hopeful and the<br />
sad. Her affection is sincere. According to Rosemarie, who was born 29 May 1933,<br />
she "grew up with a fond respect, just a wonderful feeling about older people. My<br />
grandparents spent lots of time with me, instilling a respect for the elderly."<br />
No tribute to Rosemarie would be complete without commending her devotion to<br />
her family. She is beloved by her children and grandchildren alike, and she has carried<br />
on traditions handed down by her parents, and by their parents before them. She<br />
considers her office staff her "second family," and her management style reflects that<br />
caring.<br />
18
BERYL L. DOYLE<br />
There may never have been even the idea of parklands or<br />
the preservation of open space for the use and appreciation of<br />
generations to come if it had not been for the tireless energy<br />
more than two decades ago of Raritan Township resident Beryl<br />
Doyle.<br />
She arrived in <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> in 1958 from Wisconsin<br />
with her equally energetic physician husband. In the next few<br />
years she became the mother of three sons.<br />
Mrs. Doyle recalled that her interest in land preservation<br />
was piqued in 1972, when she learned that the school board for<br />
Raritan Township was thinking of putting a new middle school<br />
on Route 12, close to land that was part open and part woods.<br />
In addition, a total of 17 townhouses were to be constructed<br />
between the elementary school in Flemington and Bonnell<br />
Street. With her leadership, a Flemington-Raritan recreation<br />
task force was created to develop an open space plan for a nearby 10 acres.<br />
In 1977, with the help of a Green Acres matching grant of $7,000 ("a long, tedious<br />
effort to raise the money," she said), it was finally possible to gain land in both<br />
Flemington and Raritan Township. With further effort -- particularly from the Citizens of<br />
Parkland and another Green Acres grant -- there was developed a greenway belt and<br />
the Bernadette Morales Park for outdoor recreation.<br />
With the explosive growth of building in <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, she has been very<br />
active on the Solid Waste Advisory Council. Mrs. Doyle continues her work on behalf of<br />
all <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> citizens to expand recreation areas and parkland, most recently<br />
leading the movement for the preservation of the Dvoor farm in Flemington.<br />
19
WANDA GAG (HUMPHREYS)<br />
Wanda Gag, the author and illustrator of that perennial<br />
children's favorite, Millions of Cats, lived in <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
for 20 years until her early death at the age of 53.<br />
She was the daughter of a German artist who settled in<br />
<strong>New</strong> Ulm, MN. As a young woman her artistic talents were<br />
quite evident. She trained at art schools in St. Paul and<br />
Minneapolis, and later at the Art Students League in <strong>New</strong><br />
York.<br />
In 1926, Wanda Gag rented her first country house in<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong>. This rural area was said to remind her of her<br />
native Minnesota. By 1928, she had bought All Creation in<br />
Milford, where she lived until her death. It was here that she<br />
created her famous Millions of Cats. The solitude and<br />
pristine beauty of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> allowed her to create not only<br />
children’s books but gave expression to lithographs which<br />
drew heavily on her native Minnesota.<br />
Millions of Cats illustrates how Gag devised techniques that would become basic<br />
not only to her books but to all children’s picture books from that time forward.<br />
Imaginative use of the two-page spread, hand-lettered text, the use of black ink (rather<br />
than color) on white paper, the integration of the cover, end papers, illustrations and<br />
story into a whole created a new method in the composition of children's books.<br />
Almost 100 prints and lithographs are attributed to the talented Wanda Gag, most of<br />
them reside in museum collections throughout the United States. Drawing mainly on<br />
her rural heritage in <strong>New</strong> Ulm, MN, her lithographs celebrated plowed fields and<br />
grandparent's room with equal joy.<br />
Her early diaries, a study of adolescence in difficult times, were published under the<br />
title Growing Pains in 1940.<br />
The 1993 centenary of Wanda Gag’s birth inspired Karen Nelson Hoyle to write an<br />
academic study of Gag’s literary achievements. Titled simply Wanda Gag it joins a<br />
catalogue of her prints by Audur H. Winnans in establishing a secure niche in the world<br />
of literary and visual art for an artist whose fame is derived mainly from children’s books.<br />
Miss Gag was married to Earle Humphreys in August 1943. She died in June of<br />
1946. Her children's books and lithographs have lived on; her fame has never died!<br />
20
PAULINE ROHM GOGER<br />
The first -- and for ten years -- the only female physician on the staff of the<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center, Dr. Pauline Goger was raised in Connellsville, a small town<br />
in western Pennsylvania. After receiving a degree in zoology from Oberlin and a M.A.<br />
from Wellesley, she began work towards a doctorate in genetics at the University of<br />
Pennsylvania, which she was awarded in 1942. In the next few years, Dr. Goger taught<br />
at colleges in Boston, met and married her husband Milton, moved to <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> where<br />
she taught at Rutgers, and then started medical school at <strong>New</strong> York University. She<br />
was graduated in 1950, second in her class. Her postgraduate training was at Bellevue<br />
Hospital in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.<br />
One morning her husband heard on the radio about a new hospital in Flemington,<br />
which was to be affiliated with <strong>New</strong> York University Medical School. She soon realized<br />
that this was a place where she could use her unique training. She was engaged for the<br />
Chronic Illness Survey, providing examinations on patients who had been selected by<br />
countywide sampling. In addition, she received a grant from the state to set up a clinic<br />
for patients with rheumatic heart disease. Eventually, she became a full-time member<br />
of the Department of Internal Medicine.<br />
Dr. Groger felt strongly that gender discrimination was quite evident in her early<br />
years at the Medical Center. It was ten years before the second female physician was<br />
appointed. In fact, when she was considering the initial offer from <strong>Hunterdon</strong>, her<br />
mentor at Bellevue warned her that "they're (the men) going to give you a rough<br />
time." (It should be noted that at that time -- the late 40's -- Yale and Harvard were not<br />
admitting women medical students, and Johns Hopkins had said she was too old.) In<br />
other subtle ways, she felt there was an "attitude" among her associates.<br />
However, they also learned that she could be relied upon to be effective in<br />
common-sense management. She spoke her mind with blunt vigor and honesty. And<br />
the family doctors regarded her as well-trained and easy to get along with, who would<br />
do her best no matter what the task.<br />
After she retired from practice, she founded an employee health service at<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong>, and managed this service for a number of years. She became physically<br />
impaired, but continued to live alone in her home with the help of a devoted group of<br />
neighbors who cared for her until her death in 1996.<br />
21
NESSA GRAINGER<br />
A native of Philadelphia, Nessa Grainger was already a wellknown<br />
and respected artist when she and her husband, Murray,<br />
moved from West Orange to Tewksbury Township in 1985. She<br />
received a classic art education with a B.F.A. from the Philadelphia<br />
Museum School of Art, and studied at Tyler School of Fine Arts and<br />
the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.<br />
Her early work was representational. Feeling the need to<br />
explore something different, she found the answer in abstract<br />
watercolor, to which she later added collage. Inspired by the<br />
unspoiled natural world, especially in the Southwest, she expresses<br />
what she has seen and what she has imagined. Her paintings are<br />
based on the vastness and color of rocks and the striations in them<br />
caused by the wind, the shape of the mountains, the rain, the rivers,<br />
the distance, the massiveness, and the changing of light and<br />
shadows.<br />
Mrs. Grainger has had solo exhibitions of her work at the Elliot Museum in Stuart,<br />
FL; Oldwick's Bosworth-Sans Gallery; the Interchurch Center in <strong>New</strong> York; Douglas<br />
College; Mutual Benefit Life; Chubb Corporation; Nathan's Gallery; the Bergen Museum;<br />
and has exhibited in shows in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>, <strong>New</strong> York, California, Indiana, and Ohio.<br />
Her paintings are in the permanent collections of museums throughout the country and<br />
in China, as well as in private collections in America, Mexico, Israel, Holland, India,<br />
England, and Switzerland.<br />
She served as president of the National Association of <strong>Women</strong> Artists and the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Jersey</strong> Watercolor Society, and has held office in the Allied Artists Program and<br />
Audobon Artists. A six-time recipient of the National Association of <strong>Women</strong> Artists' Gold<br />
Medal of Honor, she has also received many awards from art societies.<br />
In <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, she has been an active member of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Museum of<br />
Art, Tewksbury Historical Society, and the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Printmaking Council. Mrs.<br />
Grainger was one of five artists invited to participate in the 1994 show sponsored by the<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Cultural & Heritage Commission.<br />
22
JUNE AMOS GRAMMER<br />
Artist-designer June Amos Grammer was born<br />
in Woodbury, Gloucester <strong>County</strong>, NJ in 1927 and<br />
raised in Fort Worth, TX. After graduation from<br />
North Texas Agricultural College with a degree in<br />
advertising, she moved to <strong>New</strong> York City, where<br />
she spent the next 25 years working in fashion and<br />
children's book illustration. She was art director for<br />
the Franklin Simon department stores and design<br />
illustrator for the promotion department at Harper's<br />
Bazaar magazine. She taught fashion illustration<br />
at Parsons School of Design for ten years.<br />
An interest in antique dolls prompted her to<br />
study and draw them. This lead to Lenox China<br />
asking her to design porcelain dolls. The dolls,<br />
introduced in 1981, have become prized collectors'<br />
items. At the time of her death she was creating several lines of dolls for the Seymour<br />
Mann Company. June was known in the area as a speaker on doll design and doll<br />
making. She was also recognized for her designs for greeting cards, Christmas<br />
ornaments, books, jewelry and macrame. In 1983, she did the cover and beautiful<br />
illustrations for a book about a doll by Mary Mapes Dodge.<br />
In 1962 she and her artist husband, George, purchased the defunct 1880's<br />
Cokesbury Presbyterian Church in Tewksbury Township from the Cokesbury Methodist<br />
Church, which had been using it as a community center and Sunday school. The<br />
couple devoted years to turning it into a weekend home, with studios in the loft and<br />
living quarters on the main floor. The church/home still kept its original stained glass<br />
windows. A prized possession was a motto embroidered by a friend stating "Church<br />
Sweet Church." The couple maintained an apartment in <strong>New</strong> York City, where they<br />
stayed weekdays, while weekends and off-time were spent in Cokesbury. Once she<br />
started spending weekends in <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, June became active with the<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Museum of Art. Over the years her works were shown in numerous exhibits<br />
there.<br />
She died on 9 November 1993, at the age of 66. Memorial services celebrating her<br />
life were held at the National Arts Club in <strong>New</strong> York.<br />
23
ELIZABETH GRANDIN<br />
A descendent of one of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>'s oldest families,<br />
Elizabeth Grandin was instrumental in opening and financing the<br />
Grandin Library in the town of Clinton. (The library was named for<br />
her uncle, Daniel Grandin.) She was a recognized artist early in the<br />
century when few women were acknowledged. Although in her later<br />
years she taught painting in her Clinton art school, the library was<br />
her first love. She bequeathed to it her estate in order to nourish the<br />
endowment fund.<br />
As a young child, Elizabeth Grandin was educated at Miss<br />
Dana's School in Morristown. It was there that she received her<br />
earliest art instruction. She later studied art in Paris, Madrid and<br />
<strong>New</strong> York, working with such famous artists as Robert Henri,<br />
William Merritt Chase, John Sloan and Rockwell Kent. While living<br />
in Paris, she opened an art studio and later operated another studio<br />
in <strong>New</strong> York. She was one of the founders of the <strong>New</strong> York Society<br />
of <strong>Women</strong> Artists.<br />
During the 1920's and 30's, Miss Grandin maintained an apartment in Greenwich<br />
Village, but each summer returned to her family farm in Hamden. When her half-sister<br />
became ill, Miss Grandin gave up what was becoming a promising career and moved<br />
home to <strong>Hunterdon</strong> permanently to care for her. She spent the rest of her life in Clinton<br />
where she taught art, was active in many organizations and devoted herself to the<br />
library. She died in May 1970, at the age of 82.<br />
24
LELA GREENWOOD<br />
Miss Greenwood -- no one ever called her anything else -- was born in 1906 on a<br />
160-acre farm near the village of Oxford, IN. After attending the nearby one-room<br />
schoolhouse and then the village highschool, she enrolled in Indiana University, earning<br />
a degree in Romance Languages. But she had always wanted to be a nurse, and on<br />
the recommendation of her family doctor, entered Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing<br />
in <strong>New</strong> York.<br />
After graduation with honors, she remained on the staff, and quickly rose to the<br />
position of nursing supervisor of the medical building. She was in charge of 13 wards of<br />
a 500-bed building. In addition, she co-authored two nursing textbooks and was in<br />
charge of the medical nursing staff throughout World War II. After the war, she earned<br />
a master’s degree from Teachers College of Columbia University. In 1950 she became<br />
Supervisor of Clinical Instruction for the School of Nursing.<br />
She had a call one day in 1952 from her personal physician to discuss some<br />
thoughts on nursing care for a proposed new hospital in Flemington, NJ. Was she<br />
interested in becoming the Director of Nursing? Initially, she thought not. However, she<br />
went home "and, I thought, it was in the country. I was born in the country. I loved it,<br />
and I thought, why not?" After meeting with Medical Center board members, she was<br />
offered and accepted the job.<br />
Miss Greenwood was asked to create a nursing staff from ground zero. She looked<br />
around in the community and found an amazing number of nurses who married farmers<br />
and had to give up nursing because they were too far away from hospitals. By the time<br />
the hospital opened in July, she had assembled a staff of 53 -- 34 registered nurses plus<br />
practical nurses, aides and clerks. In addition, she had to order supplies and<br />
equipment, and meet continually with the new medical staff and administration.<br />
With her strong encouragement and support, the Medical Center became one of the<br />
first in the country to offer rooming-in for parents of hospitalized children. One of the<br />
head nurses recalled of Miss Greenwood, "The patients always came first. She set up<br />
this place so that new patients would get immediate attention when they needed it."<br />
The first Chief of Internal Medicine recalled that "she was a person who got along<br />
well with other people, who was not aggressive, yet firm... She was a person of<br />
intelligence. She knew how to 'handle' doctors in the way the older nurses knew how to<br />
handle them. Those nurses were in charge and we knew it.... She was a lady in the best<br />
sense of that word. <strong>Women</strong> don't like to hear that today, but there is a distinction. She<br />
was also a good leader."<br />
Miss Greenwood was always interested in professional activities.<br />
She served two terms as president of District 3 of the state nurses’<br />
association. Miss Greenwood remained single, and on her<br />
retirement, continued to live in the home she had bought near<br />
Annandale. She later moved to an assisted living community, and<br />
died there in 1997.<br />
25
EONE HARGER<br />
A pioneer in providing services for the older population, in<br />
1994 Eone Harger was honored as "Gerontologist of the Year"<br />
by the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Society on Aging.<br />
The former Clinton Township resident, who lives in<br />
Washington, DC, was the first director of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Office<br />
on Aging, from 1958 to 1970, and developed the program that<br />
led to creation of county offices on aging in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> and<br />
throughout the country.<br />
She is credited with "decentralizing" and "regionalizing"<br />
agencies for the elderly and establishing county offices that<br />
became "a national model."<br />
Mrs. Harger also organized seminars that involved colleges<br />
and universities in the problems of older citizens, took part in<br />
and spoke at national hearings and conferences -- including a<br />
discussion with President John Kennedy at the White House,<br />
taught English and journalism, conducted adult education courses keyed to older<br />
citizens, and published numerous articles in professional journals.<br />
She continued to serve others after her retirement. With her own eyesight affected<br />
by macular degeneration in recent years, Mrs. Harger organized a low-vision clinic and<br />
support group.<br />
The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Society on Aging, formerly the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Gerontological<br />
Association, which Mrs. Harger helped organize, is a non-profit association made up of<br />
educators, administrators and others who have a professional or personal interest in the<br />
elderly.<br />
Mrs. Harger, a graduate of Oberlin College, did graduate studies at the University of<br />
Chicago, Brandeis University, and the University of Southern California.<br />
She and her husband, James, whom she met in college, lived in Ridgewood before<br />
moving to their home, Halcyon Acres, in Allerton. They raised a son and two daughters<br />
and were active in community and cultural affairs.<br />
Mrs. Harger was also active in politics. She was a Democratic state committeewoman<br />
from <strong>Hunterdon</strong>, and in 1971 ran for the state Assembly against the late<br />
Walter E. Foran of Flemington.<br />
26
ELLA M. HAVER<br />
Educator and civic leader Ella Haver played many roles in<br />
the life of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>. She was born in Franklin<br />
Township in 1913, lived in Clinton for more than 50 years, and<br />
then moved back to the township in 1965. She was graduated<br />
from Clinton High School, received a degree from Montclair<br />
State Teachers College in 1934, and her master's degree from<br />
Teachers College of Columbia University in 1945.<br />
Miss Haver taught at schools in Hamden,<br />
North Branch, and Green Brook, and then -- concentrating on<br />
science, biology and chemistry -- at schools in North Plainfield,<br />
Cranford and Warren Hills. She also taught Sunday school<br />
and vacation Bible school. After retiring from teaching, she<br />
obtained real estate and insurance licenses.<br />
The niece of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> "helping teacher" Jennie<br />
Haver, she became president of the Jennie Haver Memorial<br />
Scholarship Fund in 1971 -- which has raised $572,310 since its inception in 1942,<br />
providing scholarships to 279 students from county high schools.<br />
In 1988 the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Chamber of Commerce honored her with its Golden<br />
Award. Among her other civic activities, she is senior coordinator for Franklin Township<br />
and serves on its recreation commission and board of assistance. Miss Haver is a<br />
member of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Retired Educators, Council of Parents and Teachers,<br />
Chrysanthemum Society, and Flemington AARP.<br />
27
JENNIE M. HAVER<br />
Jennie Haver (June 13, 1888 - Dec. 31, 1956)<br />
was <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>'s first "helping teacher."<br />
Appointed in 1916, Miss Haver traveled throughout<br />
the districts of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> literally helping<br />
rural elementary teachers to perfect their skills. Hers<br />
was an invaluable service to the isolated rural<br />
teacher whose access to modern teaching methods<br />
was practically non-existent.<br />
Rural schools were very primitive in the earlier<br />
part of this century. Over the years, at least fifteen<br />
one-room schoolhouses were abandoned in favor of<br />
consolidation, which allowed for more sanitary<br />
conditions and modern instruction.<br />
Miss Haver's influence in education was<br />
enormous. During her years as helping teacher she<br />
supervised schools in Alexandria, Bethlehem, Holland, Lebanon, Union Townships as<br />
well as Califon, Glen Gardner, and Lebanon Boroughs.<br />
Upon her retirement in 1950, the county superintendent of schools said of Miss<br />
Haver that she "...has exerted an untold influence for good in the lives of children over<br />
the years."<br />
An excellent teacher, she also wrote for education magazines and was an ardent<br />
traveler.<br />
As a fitting tribute to one who devoted her life to education, the Jennie Haver<br />
Memorial Scholarship Fund was established. Since 1959 an annual All <strong>County</strong> High<br />
School Revue, sponsored and performed by <strong>Hunterdon</strong>'s high school students, has<br />
helped to raise $572,310 in scholarship money.<br />
28
JILL HENNEBERG<br />
Jill Henneberg is a talented equestrian.<br />
When she was barely out of the Young Riders classification, Jill rode her grey mare,<br />
Nirvana II, in her first Olympics. July 23, 1996 was a big day for Jill. Unfortunately for<br />
the 21-year-old self-proclaimed “rookie” of the United States Equestrian Team, hers was<br />
a short ride at the Georgia International Horse Park. She took a chance on one of the<br />
more difficult jumps in the grueling cross-country test, and her horse, apparently<br />
confused by shadows cast on the water by a covered bridge, crashed into the obstacle.<br />
The miss jump caused Ms. Henneberg to be thrown from her horse. Because she did<br />
not finish the course, disqualification followed the fall.<br />
The next day was the final day of the three-day event. Entering the show-jumping<br />
test, the U. S. team was in second place. The top three scores from each four-person<br />
team count toward the team total in any test. But Henneberg and Nirvana were sitting<br />
this one out – the horse, nicked and scratched and aching, did not pass pre-competition<br />
inspection. Henneberg watched and learned as her teammates held their tight lead<br />
over the third-place <strong>New</strong> Zealand team, and clinched the Silver Medal – the first medal<br />
for the U. S. in this event since the 1984 Los Angeles Games. She sat out the final test,<br />
but joined her fellow teammates on the medal stand. Afterward, she talked about being<br />
educated.<br />
“I’ve never been on a team before. As the youngest one here, I learned about<br />
teamwork. These three have so much more experience than me, and they’ve been very<br />
supportive, even through the rough times lately. I definitely learned that I should listen<br />
to my coach and my teammates.”<br />
Surely Jill has many Olympics ahead of her. Good luck in the future!<br />
29
ANNE COWLES HERR<br />
Born in 1893, Anne Cowles was a fortunate woman<br />
for her era -- she was a college graduate!<br />
Upon graduation from Michigan State in 1915, Anne<br />
Cowles became an “extension specialist” and found<br />
herself traveling the state as teacher, leader, and speaker<br />
for girls' clubs.<br />
She moved to <strong>New</strong> York City where she took<br />
graduate courses at Columbia University and worked for<br />
a community club organization, and then moved to<br />
Springfield, MA, to work for the Junior Achievement<br />
Bureau of the Eastern States Exporters, a boys' club/girls'<br />
club organization demonstrating industrial products.<br />
About five years after her graduation, she reported to<br />
the American Red Cross in Washington, DC. Her<br />
assignment was to improve local Red Cross<br />
Administration in Virginia and West Virginia. Later she was assigned to the Junior Red<br />
Cross.<br />
In mid-1922 she arrived in Manila to work with the Philippine Red Cross, which<br />
involved some travel around the Orient. She also assisted in relief for the great Tokyo<br />
earthquake of that period.<br />
Marriage to Ryman Herr in 1925 ended her paid career in the American Red Cross.<br />
As the mother of two sons and wife of a prominent lawyer, she would use her vast<br />
talents for volunteer work.<br />
Continuing her interest in Red Cross work, Mrs. Herr helped to found the <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> Chapter. For twelve years she served as president, including the World War II<br />
period.<br />
In the 1930's she was president of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Symphony Orchestra<br />
Association.<br />
As a trustee of the Flemington Public Library she served 35 years, 24 of which she<br />
was president.<br />
Along with all of these duties, she also volunteered as a “Gray Lady” for the<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center.<br />
Ann Cowles Herr died in 1970. A life well lived!<br />
30
MARILYN RHYNE HERR<br />
A native of Minnesota, Marilyn Rhyne Herr was<br />
graduated cum laude from Gustavus Adolphus<br />
College in that state. After her marriage and move<br />
to <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, she began studies for a law<br />
degree at Rutgers Law School. She graduated in<br />
1967 and passed the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> State Bar<br />
examination the day before the birth of the second<br />
of her three daughters!<br />
She was associated with the Somerville law<br />
firm of Ann and Raymond Trombadore when<br />
nominated to the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Superior Court by<br />
Gov. Kean in 1988. Her nomination was confirmed<br />
in February 1989, and she was sworn in the<br />
following month -- becoming the second woman<br />
resident of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> to be named a<br />
Superior Court judge, and the first assigned to the bench in her home county.<br />
Judge Herr served many years as a Girl Scout leader, and two terms as president<br />
of the Rolling Hills Girl Scout Council. She resides in Clinton Township.<br />
31
EDYTHE M. HERSON<br />
Edythe Herson was born in Montreal, Canada, where, at<br />
an early age, she learned to be concerned for the welfare of<br />
others. Both of her parents were heavily involved in<br />
community life, and as she said, “...it seemed natural for me<br />
to be concerned for other people....”<br />
Armed with a master’s degree in social work, she set<br />
about educating women in the life skills needed for a return<br />
to the work force. This she did, in both <strong>New</strong> York and with<br />
the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Adult Education program.<br />
She has excelled in her chosen career as well as in<br />
volunteer fields. She put together the state organization of<br />
county welfare boards, the purpose of which was to act as a<br />
liaison with the state to enable the counties to have more<br />
local control over their welfare clients.<br />
Mrs. Herson served as a member of the original task<br />
force to organize comprehensive human resources in <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>. As a member<br />
of the committee to build a new jail in <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, she was influential in the<br />
planning from a humanitarian viewpoint.<br />
During her long career in social services she served as co-chair of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong><br />
Prison Board, as well as chairwoman of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Welfare Board of<br />
Directors. For ten years she served on the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Board of Human Services.<br />
Her compassion for her fellow humans led her to establish health education training<br />
programs as vocational training for nonviolent inmates in the women’s prison.<br />
Now that she has retired from the prison system, Mrs. Herson spends her winters in<br />
Florida, where she volunteers. Only now her charges are children in the public schools<br />
who need a tutor and friend.<br />
32
EDNA HORN<br />
"She can be summed up in two words -- community service."<br />
Thus, was Edna Horn described by a county official.<br />
Born in Minnesota, Edna Horn resided in Delaware Township<br />
from 1933 until her death in 1975.<br />
Wife and mother of two, she soon began her volunteer service in<br />
Delaware by insisting that a planning board be formed in her<br />
township. Her ability to visualize the complexities of future growth,<br />
as well as the need to regulate that growth, caused her to devote her<br />
keen intelligence and boundless energy to formation and<br />
development of the zoning code. For many years she served as<br />
secretary of the Delaware Township Planning Board as well as<br />
president of the Federation of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Planning Officials.<br />
On the county level, Mrs. Horn became president of the <strong>County</strong><br />
Welfare Board and was instrumental in the development of farreaching<br />
programs. She was remembered as a stern taskmaster<br />
whose opinion was respected. Her word was her bond, her integrity beyond reproach.<br />
Upon her death, the Board of Chosen Freeholders noted that she had been a “woman<br />
of character and ability, but above all, a person concerned for her fellow citizens.”<br />
33
LAZELLE KNOCKE<br />
Lazelle Knocke, known to everyone as "Bobbie," and the prime mover toward<br />
establishing the Family Nursing Service, was orphaned at the age of 11. She wanted to<br />
be a physician, but because family finances were limited, she went to nursing school,<br />
specializing in orthopedic training. She soon became head nurse on the women's<br />
surgical floor at Lenox Hill Hospital in <strong>New</strong> York, where she met her future husband, Dr.<br />
Fred Knocke. They were married just prior to World War II. She also was working for a<br />
master's degree in nursing, and teaching at Columbia.<br />
Dr. Knocke was named head of the orthopedic department at the <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
Medical Center. The Knockes moved to <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> in 1953, buying a farm in<br />
Readington Township. Mrs. Knocke had been in love with horses since a small child<br />
and now had an opportunity to raise horses and teach her children to ride.<br />
She looked into employment opportunities at the Medical Center but was told she<br />
was overqualified. She then brought up the question of a nonprofit organization<br />
providing public health nursing service in the county. The local Public Health<br />
Association was responsive to this idea. Mrs. Knocke, who soon became president of<br />
the Association, moved the group to perform a study of the feasibility of such a service<br />
in the county. She met with representatives from every one of the 26 school districts<br />
and 23 municipalities to discuss what might be done. Many municipalities felt they<br />
didn't need additional services, while two or three expressed an interest. Over a period<br />
of five years a community feeling of a need for home health nursing was formed, and<br />
finally, incorporation papers were filed for the Family Nursing Service, a not-for-profit<br />
public agency. Henrietta Siodlowski, a nurse with a Master of Public Health degree,<br />
was hired to direct the agency.<br />
Mrs. Knocke became president of the newly formed board of trustees. When it<br />
became evident that fund-raising activities were needed, an annual horse show was<br />
held on their property, with Dr. Knocke serving as manager of the show. Years later,<br />
she became active nationally as a judge for dressage competition at horse shows. She<br />
continues to reside on the Readington farm.<br />
34
LILLIAN KORNITSKY<br />
During her working years, she dedicated herself to<br />
children. As a senior citizen, she dedicated herself to<br />
her community and her fellow seniors.<br />
Lillian Kornitsky (April 19, 1915 - Aug. 8,1998)<br />
received a national AARP award in 1989 for her<br />
community service. Ms. Kornitsky served on the Clinton<br />
Town Council, was a <strong>County</strong> Executive<br />
Committeewoman, an Election Board member, and a<br />
member of the Grandin Library Executive Board. She<br />
was past president and legislative chairwoman of the<br />
Flemington AARP, was a coordinator of the Clinton<br />
senior citizens organization, and worked on projects for<br />
the Hagedorn Center for Geriatrics as well as the<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Developmental Center.<br />
A veteran of 43 years of teaching and supervising<br />
educational programs for state correctional institutions in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> and Illinois,<br />
Ms. Kornitsky lived in Clinton. She also taught in public schools in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>, with her<br />
final position that of special education instructor in the Franklin Township School.<br />
As a child -- and for many of her adult years -- she lived on her parents' farm in<br />
Franklin Township. She was proud of her <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> farm background and her<br />
membership in the Hickory Grange.<br />
Her quiet humor and temperament won her many friends and devoted students.<br />
Because of her leadership ability and efficiency, she served as president of many<br />
organizations, including both the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> and Trenton Soroptomist clubs and the<br />
Quakertown Education Association.<br />
Dedicated to her memory for the 17 years she served as secretary of the Jennie<br />
Haver Memorial Scholarship Fund, the program for The 43 rd Anniversary All <strong>County</strong><br />
High School Revue presented by the Jennie M. Haver Memorial Scholarship Fund<br />
states that<br />
Ms. Kornitsky was “a woman who really made a difference in the lives of hundreds of<br />
people.”<br />
35
ANNE KURSINSKI<br />
Anne Kursinski, a professional jumper/horse trainer based at George Morris'<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong>, Inc. in Pittstown, was a member of the 1996 Olympic Silver Medal<br />
equestrian team.<br />
Her first round in the Olympics set the stage for the Americans to challenge for a<br />
medal. Anne's mount went clear for that round, thereby encouraging her team<br />
members to higher standards.<br />
1996 was the first time in eight years that the United States Equestrian Team<br />
(USET) had medaled in either an Olympics or a world championship.<br />
Anne was a member or alternate member of three consecutive U. S. Olympic<br />
teams, including the 1988 squad that won the team Silver Medal in Seoul, Korea. She<br />
began competing for USET in 1978. In 1983 she won individual and team Gold Medals<br />
in the Caracas, Venezuela, Pan-American Games.<br />
Anne’s mount in Caracas was Livius, on whom she became the first American to<br />
win the Grand Prix of Rome, Italy in May 1983. In Rome, she contributed to an<br />
American win in the Nation’s Cup competition.<br />
In 1987 Kursinski rode Starman for the USET in three winning Nation’s Cup efforts<br />
in Aschen, Germany, in Hickstead, England, and in Calgary, Canada.<br />
She was honored as the Leading Lady Rider at the 1991 World Cup Final in<br />
Gothenburg, Sweden. In June 1991 she won the Grand Prix of Aachen and became the<br />
second woman and only the third American ever to win this event. That same year<br />
Anne was named the female Equestrian Athlete of the Year by the United States<br />
Olympic Committee.<br />
In 1995 Anne won the American Gold Cup for a record fourth time.<br />
36
MILDRED LARASON<br />
Ms. Mildred Larason was the first woman to serve in the<br />
prestigious position of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Clerk. As such, she<br />
was one of the three constitutional officers of county<br />
government, and the first of her gender in any one of these<br />
positions.<br />
Born June 16, 1908, on the family farm (David Larason<br />
farm between Ringoes and Mt. Airy, on Rt. 202), Ms. Larason<br />
is a descendant of one of the oldest families in <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>.<br />
As a child she went to the Mt. Airy two-room school; then<br />
on to Lambertville High School, from which she was graduated<br />
in 1927. The following year, she secured a position in the<br />
office of <strong>County</strong> Clerk, C. Lloyd Fell, a man well-known for his<br />
precise and gentlemanly ways.<br />
Under the next Clerk, Bergen Carter, Ms. Larason rose to<br />
the position of Deputy Clerk. Upon the death of Carter, Ms. Larason was selected by<br />
the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Republican Committee to run for the office of <strong>County</strong> Clerk. This<br />
was a very progressive and practical move on the part of the Republicans. Not only<br />
were they supporting the most knowledgeable person, but a woman of such dedication<br />
and reputation would be difficult to beat. Ms. Larason ran away with the election, and in<br />
1967 became the first woman in <strong>Hunterdon</strong>’s history to hold an office of such visible<br />
responsibility.<br />
For 15 years Mildred Larason served the people of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> well, retiring in 1982<br />
after 54 years as secretary, Deputy Clerk and <strong>County</strong> Clerk. The changes experienced<br />
by Ms. Larason during her years in office were many. During her tenure the methods of<br />
filing county records changed dramatically -- progressing from handwritten and manual<br />
typewritten documents to microfilmed records, and later to the computerization of all<br />
records. A new records storage center is being constructed, with state-of-the-art<br />
archival and records retention facilities.<br />
Ms. Larason indicated that the most exciting times in the Clerk's office were during<br />
the Hauptmann trial. The monumental task of taking the minutes of the trial, having<br />
them typed and ready for the reporters, filing the handwritten records, and keeping all<br />
documents up to the minute was both exhilarating and exhausting; however, "people<br />
did their work with great dedication." Ms. Larason was the last remaining county<br />
official to have taken part in the "Trial of the Century."<br />
37
ANNE MARIE LAUCK (nee Letko)<br />
A former resident of Glen Gardner and world-class<br />
marathoner, Anne Marie Lauck wore the red, white, and blue<br />
for Team U.S.A. in the 1996 Olympics.<br />
Her great competitiveness won her two All-America crosscountry<br />
titles at North <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Regional High School.<br />
Interestingly, she was not the star of her North <strong>Hunterdon</strong> team.<br />
Always overshadowed by teammate Jodie Bilotta, who then<br />
was considered the foremost highschool runner in the nation,<br />
Anne Marie honed her competitive and indomitable spirit.<br />
By age 16 she had decided that her innermost desire was<br />
to become a world-class runner. She took on the grueling<br />
training that goes with such dedication. Summer, winter, spring<br />
and fall, in freezing or hot and humid weather, Anne Marie ran<br />
the roads in her quest for perfection. Along the way she was<br />
three times World Track and Field Championship finalist in the<br />
10,000 meter race, and was ranked as the No. 1 road runner by Runner's World<br />
magazine in 1994.<br />
At age 27, Anne Marie had a college degree in English from Rutgers University,<br />
was married to Jim Lauck, had won the respect of the world track associations, and<br />
made the 1996 United States Olympic team -- finishing 10 th in the women’s marathon in<br />
Atlanta.<br />
The death of her mother after a six-year battle with breast cancer tempered Anne<br />
Marie’s joy of making the Olympic team. Her future plans include becoming an author.<br />
She wants to “...write a book, not so much about myself, but about my mom, my<br />
relationship with her and my family. Definitely that is something I want to do, and<br />
know I will down the road.”<br />
Anne Marie made her fourth World Championships appearance (1991, ‘93, ‘95, ‘99)<br />
when she competed in Seville, Spain during the summer of 1999. Knee and back injury<br />
problems, accompanied by the smothering heat and humidity, slowed her down as she<br />
struggled to 16 th place in a starting field of 31.<br />
After a short break from training, she will run some road races in preparation for the<br />
2000 U. S. Olympic Track & Field Trials to qualify for the Summer Games in Sydney,<br />
Australia.<br />
Anne Marie Lauck is a woman who set her goals early in life, and with determination<br />
and fortitude has accomplished what she set out to do. Her’s is a vision that inspires all<br />
who are lucky enough to be in her sphere.<br />
38
EVELYN LAWSON<br />
In a career that spanned more than four decades, Miss<br />
Evelyn Lawson has proved her dedication to her follow man<br />
time and time again. Commencing with her graduation from<br />
nursing school, Lawson has served in positions of authority her<br />
whole life. During World War II, she was assigned to set up<br />
operating rooms in two Texas hospitals, as well as at a P.O.W.<br />
camp. Completing those assignments, she was then shipped<br />
overseas to Germany where she again used her talents as an<br />
operating room supervisor --this time teaching young corpsmen<br />
good medical techniques.<br />
Retiring from the United States Army as a Major in 1945,<br />
Miss Lawson returned to the United States and resumed her<br />
career at Muhlenburg Hospital. However, the new North<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Regional High School was in need of a full-time<br />
nurse, and Evelyn fit the bill. For 21 years Miss Lawson ran<br />
the Health Department. Not only was she nurse, but teacher and counselor as well.<br />
Because of her daily experiences with troubled teenagers and their families, Miss<br />
Lawson determined there was a need for anonymous help to be offered to the<br />
community at large. Utilizing the telephone as the vehicle for advice and assistance to<br />
the emotionally distraught, in 1969 Miss Lawson founded <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Helpline. For eight<br />
years she volunteered eight hours nightly for her fellow human beings, listening to all<br />
sorts of problems.<br />
As a volunteer with the Cancer and Tuberculosis Societies, she was able to lend<br />
her vast counseling experiences to set up workshops for the clergy and families on<br />
dealing with the ill person. Again, realizing the need for all human services to band<br />
together to provide maximum help, her boundless energies were instrumental in<br />
founding the Community Services Council. Since 1955 she has served her church as<br />
elder or deacon.<br />
A recipient of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Chamber of Commerce Golden Award, Miss<br />
Lawson also received the Gubernatorial Award for Volunteer Service, and the<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Grange's Volunteer Award for establishing Helpline. In 1999 the State of<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> awarded her the Distinguished Service Medal.<br />
Indeed, everything Evelyn Lawson does is for the good of the community. She is a<br />
shining light in the history of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>!<br />
39
HERMIA M. LECHNER<br />
Often referred to as the “Grande Dame” of<br />
conservation, Hermia Lechner was born in Howell<br />
Township, NJ, and grew to be a pioneering<br />
environmental activist.<br />
Hermia earned a bachelor's degree in education<br />
from Trenton State College and taught in Red Bank<br />
High School from 1926 until 1936, when she and her<br />
husband, the late Robert G. Lechner, moved to<br />
Clinton Township.<br />
From 1936 to 1959 she and her husband<br />
administered the Echo Hill summer camps, which<br />
promoted conservation and preservation of natural<br />
resources. They donated their 74 acres of camp land<br />
to the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Parks Commission in 1974,<br />
retaining the right to live in their home.<br />
Hermia taught environmental education in every school district in the watershed for<br />
the South Branch Watershed Association during 1960-1970, and by 1970 she was<br />
working with more than 2600 children each year.<br />
She joined the Clinton Township Committee in 1971 and served as mayor from<br />
1976 to 1982 and from 1987 to 1990, and during this time formed the Clinton Township<br />
Historic Committee. Hermia left the township governing body when appointed to<br />
administer the state Green Acres program by Gov. Thomas Kean.<br />
A member of the Clinton Township Planning Board from 1987 to 1994, she was<br />
responsible for adopting the Clinton Township limestone ordinance, the stormwater<br />
management ordinance, and a soil erosion sediment control ordinance. Hermia was<br />
also active in developing the Clinton Township Natural Resource Inventory, working<br />
specifically on the groundwater and surface water sections.<br />
Hermia founded the South Branch Watershed Association in 1959, and donated<br />
money and a lifetime of volunteer service and commitment to preserving and protecting<br />
the water resources. Through the Association, Hermia was instrumental in establishing<br />
the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Parks Commission, lobbying and testifying for environmental<br />
legislation, and promoting environmentally sound development through various<br />
programs. She also helped establish other watershed associations, local land trusts,<br />
and more than 15 environmental commissions.<br />
On a statewide level, between 1981-1988, Hermia worked as the administrator of<br />
the Department of Environmental Protection's Green Acres Program. She was<br />
recognized as establishing a direction and plan for the department. Her understanding<br />
of the water resources and watersheds changed Green Acres focus of protecting<br />
recreational sites to also protecting and providing open space. Hermia developed<br />
position papers on the environment for different governors.<br />
40
Hermia promoted alternative wastewater treatment systems by organizing<br />
workshops, establishing a technical advisory committee and producing a model<br />
ordinance and manual for implementing these systems statewide. She promoted the<br />
use of transfer development rights and permanent funding to protect open space. She<br />
also worked on stormwater management for highways and roads.<br />
Her involvement with environmental protection throughout the years is laudatory.<br />
She was a role model and mentor to many people in the environmental field for more<br />
than 50 years. She died in her greenhouse in October 1994 at the age of 81.<br />
As a friend said, “She strode through life; she never shuffled.”<br />
41<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Park System
LOUISE BONNEY LEICESTER<br />
Louise Bonney was born in Eaton, NY, of French<br />
Canadian stock. She worked in the fashion industry and in<br />
public relations, wrote radio mysteries, and eventually went to<br />
work for the manager of the 1939 World's Fair. While at the<br />
Fair, she met William Leicester, a chemist from the Borden<br />
company, who was putting on a demonstration of a new<br />
invention of his -- Elmer's Glue. He also was in charge of<br />
Elsie (the Borden cow) and the division using milk-based<br />
adhesives. They married and moved to <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>,<br />
buying a dairy farm near Pittstown to breed <strong>Jersey</strong>s.<br />
Soon Louise Leicester was attending municipal meetings,<br />
Agriculture Development Board meetings, and a variety of<br />
local affairs. She met with Rose Angell, the first Director of<br />
Welfare in the county, after Mrs. Angell's report to the<br />
Freeholders in 1946 stating the need for a hospital was<br />
accepted without comment. These two intelligent women put their heads together and,<br />
rather than appear before the Freeholders, instead went to the powerful executive<br />
committee of the county agricultural board. All they asked for was a first-quality<br />
hospital. Could they not take on this rural health problem?<br />
Using her personal influence with friends from the <strong>New</strong> York social and medical<br />
worlds, Louise Leicester met with officials of the Commonwealth Fund (who were<br />
interested in funding rural hospitals) and leading public health experts. One key advisor<br />
described how she would "pester and pester" him at the Commonwealth office. Another<br />
said she was very persistent, describing her as a "very flamboyant woman in dress,<br />
jewelry, style of hats, outspokenness."<br />
She kept all of her extensive notes and memoranda, many of them written aboard a<br />
transatlantic liner or from the St. Regis Hotel in <strong>New</strong> York. She focused on such items<br />
as rooming-in on maternity, the chronic illness survey, attention to mental illness, school<br />
health and home care. One community leader was quoted: "Few understood as well as<br />
she the conception of the hospital as a true community health center, geared to the<br />
needs of the county, and... meeting the problems of how best to deliver optimal medical<br />
care."<br />
Subsequently, Mrs. Leicester became a founding trustee of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical<br />
Center. She also was a bold advocate for improved mental health services. She was<br />
on the executive committee of the county Mental Health Association from 1950 to 1955,<br />
and served as first vice president of the state association. She died in 1968.<br />
(See <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center Founders, page 81, for more information.)<br />
42
PEGGY LEWIS<br />
Baltimore-born Peggy Lewis has been influential in the art<br />
and editorial world for four decades.<br />
As a young bride she and her husband Michael moved to<br />
<strong>New</strong> York where she did a short stint with Brand Names<br />
Research Foundation. It was during that time that she planned<br />
and wrote the comic strip Billy Brand, which was carried by 350<br />
country newspapers.<br />
While in <strong>New</strong> York, and with two little boys,<br />
the Lewises began the Charles-Fourth gallery in their own home.<br />
The gallery specialized in debut exhibitions for young artists.<br />
After moving to <strong>New</strong> Hope they continued the gallery, giving<br />
shows to a wider range of artists.<br />
Mrs. Lewis joined the staff of Bucks <strong>County</strong> Life in 1960.<br />
She initiated the book page and eventually became associate<br />
editor.<br />
The family, now numbering four children, father and mother, moved across the river<br />
to Lambertville in 1967. Peggy had been writing for The Beacon, where she reported<br />
the usual range of small-town news. While at The Beacon, she conceived the popular<br />
column,<br />
The Arts. For two years she wrote a weekly arts column for The Times - Advertiser of<br />
Trenton.<br />
As a freelance writer she contributed articles to art catalogues, as well as<br />
magazines all over the state. Joining the staff of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> State Museum as<br />
publications editor, she edited all Museum publications and wrote news media and<br />
features.<br />
In 1971 she joined the staff of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Historical Commission as public<br />
programs coordinator. While there, she was responsible for all programs of public<br />
information and cultural activities. A major activity was coordination of activities for <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Jersey</strong>'s part in the Bicentennial celebration. She became editor-in-chief for the<br />
Commission's newsletter, which was published ten times annually.<br />
Retiring from the Historical Commission in 1989, Peggy Lewis continues to maintain<br />
her contacts in the Lambertville and <strong>New</strong> York art community. She and her daughter,<br />
Nora, were instrumental in raising funds for a severely injured <strong>New</strong> York artist.<br />
43
DOROTHY MacNAMARA<br />
The name of Dorothy MacNamara is synonymous with education of the mentally<br />
disabled child in <strong>Hunterdon</strong>.<br />
Mrs. MacNamara became an advocate for the disabled in 1960 when she<br />
volunteered to assist Mrs. Corey, a teacher at the Happy Day Nursery. This interest<br />
would last all her life.<br />
Moving through the ranks of the fledgling <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Association for<br />
Retarded Children, Dorothy MacNamara worked at everything that would bring the<br />
plight of the disabled youngster to the attention of educational powers. She believed<br />
raising funds to improve and start programs and the dissemination of information were<br />
the keys to helping the less fortunate child.<br />
In the ranks of the ARC, Mrs. MacNamara served on the committee to set up<br />
training for future employment, as recording secretary, several times president, and as<br />
representative to the state council of ARC. Continuing to espouse the cause of the<br />
disabled led her to visit the various training schools throughout <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> to compare<br />
educational methods and add improvements where needed in the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> ARC<br />
programs.<br />
Tireless in her devotion to the cause of the disabled, she helped plan the Teen<br />
Canteen, first held at North <strong>Hunterdon</strong> High School in 1961. She was progressive in her<br />
methods, believing that children with disabilities should be afforded the same social<br />
outlets as other youngsters.<br />
Both she and Mrs. Corey spent many hours showing a film of the Happy Day<br />
Nursery to P.T.A.'s and women's groups of all kinds, in the quest of informing the public<br />
that there was help for the disabled child.<br />
Continuing to bind the community leaders to her far reaching ideas, Mrs.<br />
MacNamara met with Lloyd Wescott in 1962 and explained her idea for a sheltered<br />
workshop. Years later, that idea would come to fruition in the program first called<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Occupational Training Center, which is now known as the Center for<br />
Educational Advancement.<br />
As ARC programs became more visible, and law allowed, in 1963 the <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> Board of Chosen Freeholders donated $1,000 to the Happy Day Nursery school.<br />
Things were looking up as more and more of <strong>Hunterdon</strong>'s prominent citizens were<br />
becoming involved in ARC programs and fundraising. Dorothy MacNamara left no stone<br />
unturned as she sought recognition and help for the benefit of <strong>Hunterdon</strong>'s disabled<br />
children.<br />
From a small group of mothers and fathers of disabled youngsters who desired help<br />
for their children to the large ARC unit of today, Dorothy MacNamara has been an<br />
invaluable worker. Her selfless devotion to the cause was an uphill struggle. She did<br />
everything – maintained an office in her home, taught “patterning,” and obtained grants<br />
and free space for various programs for the disabled. Hers was a love, devotion, and<br />
service never to be forgotten. Her legacy – educational opportunities for all children and<br />
a strong, viable, community oriented ARC.<br />
44
EDNA MAHAN<br />
Born in California, Edna Mahan was educated at the<br />
University of California and did graduate work within the<br />
state Bureau of Juvenile Research and Traveler's Aid. At<br />
age 24, she was named superintendent of the Los Angeles<br />
<strong>County</strong> Detention Home. Three years later, she became<br />
the superintendent at the Correctional Facility for <strong>Women</strong> in<br />
Clinton, NJ, (known locally as Clinton Farms) where she<br />
spent the rest of her life.<br />
For 40 years, Miss Mahan devoted herself to the<br />
humane rehabilitation of the women placed in her charge.<br />
During her tenure, she became an internationally known<br />
figure in the field of penology. Her philosophy of building<br />
personal restraint and responsibility along with a feeling of<br />
self-worth in her inmates won her the undying respect of<br />
her "girls." Hers was an open prison, run on trust and love<br />
rather than severe punishment -- and it worked.<br />
On her death in 1975, a former inmate wrote: "I loved and respected her more than<br />
any other human being on earth. She gave me back my life, when literally speaking, it<br />
was over. Just by having faith in me when I didn't have any in myself...."<br />
45
VERNITA KAYSER MARR<br />
Vernita Kayser was born in <strong>New</strong>ark, NJ on June 25, 1903, and attended local<br />
schools.<br />
It was uncommon in the early twentieth century for women to pursue higher<br />
education, but Vernita was different. She desired a better education associated with a<br />
profession she could utilize her whole life. Vernita went on to the highly respected<br />
Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, where she -- the only woman in her<br />
class -- graduated in 1926. At the tender age of 23, Vernita Kayser was the first woman<br />
chiropractor in the United States!<br />
Marriage to John Marr and a family of three daughters only served to encourage her<br />
to continue in her chosen profession. She ran a private practice in Somerville until 1975<br />
when she retired.<br />
A former resident of Glen Gardner, Dr. Marr lived the last four years of her life in<br />
Readington Twp., where she succumbed on August 27, 1995 at the venerable age of 92.<br />
46
ANNE STEELE MARSH<br />
Anne Steele Marsh, the distinguished printmaker<br />
and painter, has had a notable impact on the art world,<br />
both in her native state of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> and in her longadopted<br />
home in <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
She was born in Nutley in 1901, the daughter of<br />
Frederic Dorr Steele, best known for his illustrations of<br />
the Sherlock Holmes stories. The family spent<br />
summers on Monhegan Island, ME, with many other<br />
artists, including the young Rockwell Kent whom Mr.<br />
Steele taught the art of printmaking. The family later<br />
moved to <strong>New</strong> York City where Anne attended Cooper<br />
Union Art School, majoring in design. She had further<br />
training in occupational therapy and in the arts of<br />
tapestry and weaving, and taught occupational therapy<br />
for several years. In 1925 she married James R. Marsh, a member of a family<br />
distinguished in the art world.<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Marsh moved to Essex Fells to raise a family. Mr. Marsh had a studio<br />
where he designed fine wrought iron fixtures, and Mrs. Marsh was involved with<br />
printmaking, painting and crafts. In 1948, the family moved to Pittstown in Union<br />
Township, naming their farm Fiddlers' Forge. Mr. Marsh, a cellist, and their son Peter,<br />
now a professional violinist, and other musicians held chamber music sessions on<br />
Sunday afternoons in their barn.<br />
In 1952, the Marshes helped lead a group of local citizens to purchase the old stone<br />
mill in Clinton and found the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Art Center, which is now known as the<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Museum of Art. Mrs. Marsh was in charge of exhibitions. Four years later,<br />
she launched the first Annual National Print Exhibition and began the Museum's<br />
collection of prints from the exhibitions. The "Anne Steele Marsh Collection" now<br />
contains the works of many influential printmakers of the past 40 years.<br />
Over the years, Mrs. Marsh served on the boards of many art organizations,<br />
including the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Art Center, Clinton Historical Museum, Audubon Artists,<br />
Delaware Valley Artists Association, <strong>New</strong> York Society of <strong>Women</strong> Artists, the Society of<br />
American Graphic Artists, American Association of Museums, and Friends of the State<br />
Museum. She was a founder and president of Associated Artists of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>.<br />
Her wood engravings are included in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan<br />
Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Philadelphia Art Museum and the Brooklyn<br />
Museum. Her work is also in the <strong>New</strong> York Public Library, <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> State Museum<br />
and the Museum of Modern Art, as well as in private collections.<br />
Among the many awards she has received are those from the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Art<br />
Center, Philadelphia Print Club, <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> State Museum, Montclair Art Museum,<br />
Audubon Artists, National Association of <strong>Women</strong> Artists and the National Arts Club.<br />
Mrs. Marsh died in 1995 at the age of 94.<br />
47
BARBARA McCONNELL<br />
Recognized as one of the leading political and business<br />
figures in the state for the last 25 years, Barbara McConnell<br />
has held a variety of influential positions both in the public<br />
and private sectors.<br />
She currently is president of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Food<br />
Council, a position she has held since 1982. The council is<br />
the trade association for the state's multi-billion dollar food<br />
industry, representing retailers, manufacturers, distributors<br />
and service companies.<br />
Prior to assuming that post, Ms. McConnell served two<br />
terms in the State Assembly, representing <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
During those terms she was a member of both the Taxation<br />
and Agriculture and Environmental Committees, and<br />
successfully sponsored passage of a number of bills. She<br />
gave up her Assembly seat to enter the 1981 gubernatorial<br />
primary.<br />
From 1973 to 1977, Ms. McConnell was director of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Division of Tax<br />
Appeals, and was instrumental in drafting legislation which abolished that division and<br />
instead established the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Tax Court, an action which saved taxpayers, local<br />
government and businesses millions of dollars.<br />
Ms. McConnell resides in Flemington. She received her B.S. degree from<br />
Tennessee Tech University. She spent eight years in Washington on the staff of<br />
Representative Joseph L. Evins (D-Tenn.), and the House Small Business Committee.<br />
Among her honors is the Woman of Achievement Award from Douglass College in<br />
1982. She also was cited by <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Monthly Magazine as "One of the 10 Best<br />
Legislators in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>" in 1979, and by the Trentonian newspaper as "One of the 10<br />
Outstanding <strong>Women</strong> of the Decade" in 1980.<br />
48
MILDRED PREEN MORTIMER<br />
Mildred Preen Mortimer was a woman of many<br />
"firsts." She was born in <strong>New</strong>ark in 1919, and after<br />
graduating from <strong>New</strong>ark's West Side High School<br />
became the first woman to receive a B.S. in Electrical<br />
Engineering from <strong>New</strong>ark College of Engineering.<br />
She then earned an M.A. in Public Law and<br />
Government from Columbia University. Her thesis<br />
was A Statistical Occupation: Engineer.<br />
She was subsequently employed by Western<br />
Electric Co., <strong>New</strong>ark College of Engineering, and her<br />
father's company, Preen Crushed Stone Co., of<br />
Tewksbury Township. Residents recall seeing her<br />
operate heavy road equipment while paving Route<br />
517.<br />
In 1941, at the age of 22, she was elected as a<br />
Democrat to the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Assembly as the representative for <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>,<br />
becoming the youngest person ever elected to that position. That record still stands.<br />
She was re-elected for two more one-year terms, but left in 1945 to join the Waves.<br />
On her return to civilian life in 1948, she unsuccessfully ran for the State Senate<br />
against the incumbent Republican Sen. Sam Bodine, of Flemington. In a solid<br />
Republican year, the election was marred by accusations of "mud slinging" by both<br />
candidates.<br />
In 1970 Mrs. Mortimer became the first woman -- and one of the few Democrats --<br />
elected to the Tewksbury Township Committee, serving as police commissioner during<br />
her three-year term. The Board of Chosen Freeholders appointed her in 1977 as the<br />
first county administrator, a post she held until her death in January 1979.<br />
She was a licensed private pilot, having successfully completed both Primary and<br />
Secondary Civil Pilot Training Programs. Among her memberships were the American<br />
lnstitute of Electrical Engineers, the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Board of Agriculture, the<br />
Engineering Woman's Club and the National Aeronautic Association.<br />
49
CAROLYN B. NEWMAN<br />
“Excellence in children’s theatre” has been the goal of<br />
Carolyn B. <strong>New</strong>man since establishing The High Bridge<br />
Children’s Theatre Workshop in 1986 with just seven children.<br />
Known since 1989 as ShowKids Invitational Theatre, Inc. or<br />
“SKIT,” its membership has grown to 175 -- and there is a<br />
waiting list.<br />
In addition to performances for charitable organizations,<br />
SKIT stages at least two major musicals each year, with lavish<br />
sets, costumes, and a professional orchestra.<br />
On March 19,1992 Carolyn received the MasterCard<br />
Business Card’s “Leadership in Entrepreneurial Achievement<br />
and Philanthropy” (LEAP) Award for the Eastern region of the<br />
United States, and was profiled in the May 1992 issues of<br />
Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurial Woman magazines. The<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Chamber of Commerce presented her with<br />
its Golden Award in 1994. She was nominated for an award by ACT (Achievements in<br />
Community Theatre) in the categories of Best Director and Best Producer for her<br />
productions of Bye Bye Birdie (1995) and The Sound of Music (1996), and by the<br />
R.E.C.T. Awards in the category of Best Director for her 1997 production of The Wizard<br />
of Oz. Much to her credit, SKIT was nominated for three consecutive years for staging<br />
the best overall community theatre productions in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>.<br />
Prior to forming SKIT, Carolyn served as past president of the High Bridge Parent<br />
Teachers Organization, was a member of the High Bridge Board of Education, and ran<br />
a private consulting practice as a registered dietitian.<br />
50
YOLANDA NIKITAIDIS<br />
While she may be self-effacing about her talents,<br />
Yolanda Nikitaidis has garnered many friends in her years<br />
in <strong>Hunterdon</strong>.<br />
During retirement she has been the very successful<br />
leader of the Senior Chorus, which has its origins in the<br />
Senior Citizens Center.<br />
Born in South <strong>Jersey</strong>, Yolanda showed musical talent<br />
at an early age. She took a B.S. at Glassboro State<br />
College and was a music teacher in the Paulsboro school<br />
system. Several years later she completed her studies for<br />
an M.S. in Education. She won a promotion to the position<br />
of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Helping Teacher in Cumberland <strong>County</strong>, and<br />
eventually in <strong>Hunterdon</strong>.<br />
Helping Teachers are those Master Teachers who go<br />
out into the smaller districts to, literally, "help" the<br />
classroom teacher in methodology and planning.<br />
Over a long career, Ms. Nikitaidis has generously volunteered her off-duty hours to<br />
the Jenny Haver Scholarship Fund Board of Trustees and the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Council of P.T.A., where she is a life member as well as music chairperson. She has<br />
served as past president of Delta, Kappa Gamma and been a member of the Executive<br />
Board of the Community Services Council. Along with this busy schedule she continued<br />
her love of music by serving as choir leader and organist for her church, retiring in 1993.<br />
51
ORLIE A. H. PELL<br />
Dr. Orlie Pell's civic contributions touched both <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> and the international scene. Born in Paris in 1901, she was<br />
an alumna of Bryn Mawr College and received her Ph.D. from<br />
Columbia University in 1930.<br />
A staunch worker for world peace, she joined the <strong>Women</strong>'s<br />
International League for Peace and Freedom in 1948, serving on its<br />
executive committee for six years and as its president from 1957 to<br />
1961. She organized an international conference with Russian<br />
women in 1961 at Bryn Mawr with the goal of promoting world<br />
peace. This led to her attendance in 1964 at an exchange<br />
conference in Moscow to promote better understanding between the<br />
two countries.<br />
Dr. Pell moved to Flemington in 1961 and became president of<br />
the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> League of <strong>Women</strong> Voters in 1966. After her<br />
death in 1975, she was remembered by Edgar Van Zandt, of the<br />
Citizens' Housing Council of Raritan Township, as "one of the most public-spirited and<br />
concerned people I've ever met. She espoused many causes, some of which did not<br />
make her popular with all the people. But she believed in what she was doing and<br />
never became discouraged."<br />
The Dr. Orlie Pell Fund was formed in her memory in 1976 to continue her legacy of<br />
community spirit. By agreement with the Fund, the Division of Social Services<br />
determines the eligibility of persons in need; it relies on tax-deductible donations from<br />
individuals, service groups, businesses and churches in the county.<br />
52
ELIZABETH ORBEN PERRY<br />
Mrs. Elizabeth Perry represented the finest of volunteer<br />
characteristics in all she did with her life. Her selfless dedication --<br />
to improvement in livestock agriculture, to founding and leading<br />
the first, most active and largest, 4-H sheep club in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>,<br />
and to people in general -- earned her the undying devotion of<br />
countless hundreds of young and old alike.<br />
Over her long and productive life she instilled moral and<br />
ethical values in everyone whose life she touched. As a<br />
recognized breeder of premier Dorset sheep, she maintained a<br />
standard of accountability second to none.<br />
Because of her many contributions in the field of agriculture,<br />
she was the recipient of the prestigious Block and Bridle Award<br />
from Rutgers University for service to <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> agriculture.<br />
Mrs. Perry was the first woman elected to the Readington<br />
Township Board of Education, where she served for nine years.<br />
Those were the days of the one-room schoolhouse and many were the times when she<br />
had to haul coal to the Pleasant Run School because the coal pile was depleted and the<br />
stove was burning low.<br />
Being a dedicated educator and possessed of a keen intellect and curiosity, in 1938<br />
she was founder and first chairman of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Adult Education School, which<br />
was held in Stanton School. Each attendee contributed five cents per meeting to defray<br />
the cost of materials for courses in conversational French, civics, geology and local<br />
history.<br />
By 1948, perceiving a need in this rural county for children to learn how to improve<br />
and care for livestock, she founded the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> 4-H Sheep Club, and served<br />
as its leader until 1988.<br />
The 4-H movement was conceived to assist the farm child to improve the skills<br />
needed to become a successful agriculturalist. The fact that this country literally feeds<br />
the world gives credence to the 4-H programs. Beth Perry made every monthly<br />
4-H meeting a learning experience for her club members.<br />
When Beth retired in 1988, the children and grandchildren of the original members<br />
were raising and showing sheep and becoming members of the club.<br />
Perry, whose reputation as a 4-H leader was legendary, also served on the State 4-<br />
H Advisory Council.<br />
Readington Township used her talents on its Planning Board Advisory Council, as<br />
did The League of <strong>Women</strong> Voters, who chose her to serve on its first Board of Directors.<br />
As one of the founders of the N. J. Dorset Club, and proprietress of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong><br />
Sheep Breeder’s store, Mrs. Perry continued her busy life and was elected to the Board<br />
of Directors of the National Continental Dorset Club. Life became even more busy!<br />
53
During those years of community activity she raised two sons, continued to improve<br />
her Dorset flock, assisted her husband, Jack, with his award-winning Holstein herd, and<br />
maintained a household.<br />
In 1989 the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Chamber of Commerce honored Beth Perry for her<br />
contributions to her fellow man by awarding her the prestigious Golden Award for<br />
service to the community.<br />
Holcombe-Jimison Farmstead said it all when, in 1992, she was included in their<br />
Honor Roll of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Farmers.<br />
54
INEZ POST PRALL<br />
Appointed in January 1949 by governor<br />
Alfred E. Driscoll to fill an unexpired term, Inez Post Prall<br />
was the first woman surrogate in the State of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>.<br />
Mrs. Prall, a Republican, served as deputy surrogate<br />
from 1918 to 1926. She then served on the <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> Board of Taxation from 1943 to 1949, as well as<br />
on the Lambertville Ration Board during World War II. In<br />
between her civic commitments she raised three sons.<br />
After her appointment as surrogate, Prall went on to<br />
win elections in 1949, 1954, 1959, and 1964 – often<br />
running at the top of the ticket. So popular was she that in<br />
1954 she was nominated by Republicans and Democrats.<br />
A friendly, helpful personality caused Mrs. Prall to be<br />
amongst the most successful civil servants in <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>.<br />
55
INEZ CALLAWAY ROBB<br />
A nationally known syndicated columnist, Inez Robb retired in 1969 from a<br />
newspaper career which spanned 50 years. For decades, her column was a weekly<br />
feature of The Democrat. Assignment: America, appeared in 140 newspapers, first<br />
under the aegis of International <strong>New</strong>s Service, then, in 1953 it was syndicated by United<br />
Features under a different title. In addition to her five-day-a-week column, she<br />
contributed to magazines.<br />
She began her journalism career as a teen-age reporter in Boise, ID. After earning<br />
a degree from the University of Missouri school of journalism in 1924, Inez worked in<br />
Oklahoma as a general assignment reporter on the Tulsa Daily World. Hardly more<br />
than two years later she was in <strong>New</strong> York, writing the society column for the <strong>New</strong> York<br />
Daily <strong>New</strong>s, and after 18 months as “Nancy Randolph” she was named the society<br />
editor.<br />
Inez joined INS in 1938 as a correspondent, and traveled in some 40 countries,<br />
covering nearly every important event. Among them were the coronations of George VI<br />
and later his daughter Elizabeth, as well as her earlier wedding to Prince Philip. Inez<br />
also reported on the wedding of the Duke of Windsor to Wallis Warfield, interviewed<br />
Argentina’s Evita Peron, and covered national political conventions, noteworthy prize<br />
fights and trials.<br />
She and her husband, advertising executive and author J. Addison Robb, made<br />
their home at Wild Oat Farm in Stanton – and made news themselves. Prior to 1956,<br />
postal regulations permitted only white or aluminum color rural mailboxes; Inez painted<br />
hers yellow. A two-year battle ensued, the government capitulated, and their victory<br />
over post office regulations has had lasting national repercussions.<br />
56
ABIGAIL ROBERTS<br />
Abigail Roberts was born in 1791 and began a career of evangelism in Ballston, NY<br />
in 1816.<br />
Her preaching was said to be spellbinding and, probably because of that and the<br />
perceived threat to established religions, she was many times denied the pulpit. Her<br />
message was simple -- she preached a simple Christian doctrine which became<br />
annoying to her fellow men preachers.<br />
Abigail Roberts moved to <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> where she continued her preaching. It was<br />
she who was instrumental in establishing the Christian churches at Locktown, Milford,<br />
Little York and Finesville.<br />
By 1830 she was stricken by severe rheumatism. Her preaching continued on a<br />
limited basis for many more years. As the disease progressed she gave up the pulpit<br />
and moved with her family to Dunmore, PA. where she died in 1841.<br />
In 1855 her body was exhumed from her Pennsylvania grave and reinterred in the<br />
cemetery in Milford, NJ where she rests today.<br />
57
NANCY ROTH<br />
"The <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Hills are alive with music because of<br />
Nancy Roth's work in the community." These were the<br />
words announcing the Chamber of Commerce’s Golden<br />
Award in 1991 to Mrs. Roth. The driving force behind the<br />
establishment first of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Symphony Orchestra<br />
and then <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Musical Arts, Mrs. Roth has been a<br />
fixture of the musical scene since the early 60's.<br />
A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music, she<br />
taught privately for many years.<br />
In 1980, she co-founded the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Symphony, an<br />
orchestra for the instrumental musicians, adult and student,<br />
amateur and professional, of the county. In the nearly two<br />
decades of its existence, the orchestra has performed for<br />
almost 100 events in the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> community, in four of<br />
the county's high schools, and in area churches. In the<br />
summer, it performs in outdoor locations of Deerpath Park, Clinton Historical Museum,<br />
Riegel Ridge, and at the Delaware River.<br />
In the mid-eighties, the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Choral Union was formed to perform choral<br />
works with the orchestra. And to coordinate these groups, Mrs. Roth founded<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Musical Arts, a non-profit organization that serves as support and<br />
administration for the orchestra and chorus, for a professional chamber music series,<br />
and for the youth program of ensembles and string orchestra.<br />
Nancy Roth has also served as a concertmaster of the Plainfield, Central <strong>Jersey</strong><br />
and <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Symphonies. She has also been a member of the violin sections of the<br />
Colonial Symphony, the Princeton Chamber Orchestra and the Lehigh Valley Chamber<br />
Orchestra.<br />
Before becoming so involved in musical activities, she was active for ten years with<br />
the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Unit of the American Cancer Society, starting as a solicitor in the<br />
annual fund drive and becoming president of the unit.<br />
She and her husband, Flemington attorney Lee Roth, have raised their two children,<br />
and are now grandparents of four. Her 60 th birthday was marked with a special concert<br />
inaugurating the new professional chamber orchestra series, in which she performed<br />
Vivaldi's Four Seasons with three of her former students.<br />
58
HENRIETTA SIODLOWSKI<br />
In the mid-fifties, the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Public Health<br />
Association began to explore public health nursing resources<br />
in the county. At that time, there were only some part-time<br />
school and municipal nurses who had no special training, but<br />
were assisted by a supervisory nurse from the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong><br />
Department of Health.<br />
After visiting other communities and agencies, members<br />
of the Association determined to open a visiting nurse service<br />
in cooperation with the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center. The <strong>New</strong><br />
York University School of Nursing suggested candidates to<br />
head this new agency. After nine years of work in Hoboken,<br />
Henrietta Siodlowski, one of the candidates, was very ready<br />
for a change. She was interviewed on two different<br />
occasions, asked to tea, and offered the position -- which she<br />
accepted. She began work in midsummer 1959.<br />
Henrietta Siodlowski was born in <strong>Jersey</strong> City and raised in Hoboken, where she<br />
attended local public schools. She remembers that from an early age she always<br />
wanted to be a nurse, although she couldn't say why. She chose a five-year program<br />
through the <strong>Jersey</strong> City School of Nursing, leading to a degree in Health Administration,<br />
RN, and certification in school nursing. She later studied part-time for a master’s<br />
degree in Public Health Administration, which was awarded in 1957 by <strong>New</strong> York<br />
University. She worked in <strong>Jersey</strong> City and Hoboken in public health nursing.<br />
Her work with the Family Nursing Service began in small quarters in the <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
Medical Center. There was considerable resentment at first from the nurses who had<br />
already been working in schools and for the towns. The Family Nursing Service<br />
proposed to contract to provide services by well-trained nurses both to schools and<br />
municipalities. After several months of negotiations, the State Department of Education<br />
provided rulings that spelled out the training for the school nurse; similar rulings were<br />
developed for municipal nursing by the Department of Health. These negotiations were<br />
performed between home visits and bedside care because Mrs. Siodlowski was both<br />
director and the entire staff for the first few months of operation.<br />
After some months the first nurse was hired. Several years went by before the<br />
workload justified a third nurse. But under Mrs. Siodlowski's leadership the Service<br />
expanded, eventually to include the Crippled Children's program and work with the<br />
Cancer Society. In 1962, the agency moved to a small building on the hospital grounds.<br />
The full-time staff grew, and the nurses in their blue uniforms could be seen all over the<br />
county, providing home health services wherever needed.<br />
In later years, the Family Nursing Service was merged with the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical<br />
Center, primarily as a result of changes in Medicare reimbursement regulations.<br />
Mrs. Siodlowski retired from full-time professional work but continues to be active in a<br />
number of voluntary agencies. She and her husband have lived for many years in their<br />
home in Oldwick.<br />
59
MICHELE SMITH<br />
The year 1996 was the first for women's softball to be<br />
recognized as an Olympic sport -- and when Team U.S.A. took to<br />
the field in competition with teams from seven other countries at<br />
Golden Gate Park in Columbus, GA, <strong>Hunterdon</strong>'s own Michele<br />
Smith ascended the mound as pitcher.<br />
Recognized as the fastest ever clocked, she is considered the<br />
nation's best all-around <strong>Women</strong>'s Fastpitch player. The lanky<br />
5'10" Smith delivered her 74 m.p.h. pitch and intimidated other<br />
world class pitchers, just as she had over the previous two years<br />
when she was pitching in Japan's industrial softball league.<br />
She grew up in Lebanon Township and started her softball<br />
career in the High Bridge Softball League, later joining the<br />
Lebanon Township Wildcats school team. Michele graduated<br />
from Voorhees High School, where she was an All State softball<br />
player from 1981-85, and an all-conference basketball and field<br />
hockey player. She won an athletic scholarship to Oklahoma State. For the five years<br />
prior to her participation in the Olympic games, she taught English to Toyota employees<br />
in Kariya, Japan. Michele speaks Japanese, loves the Asian culture and earned the<br />
nickname of "The Lion" as a pitcher in Japan.<br />
The way to the Olympics was not paved with rose petals, but rather a reward for<br />
diligence, hard work, and suffering. It was just ten years earlier that Michele endured an<br />
accident that threatened to terminate her athletic career forever. While her father was<br />
driving her home from an appointment, her door opened on a turn and the sleeping<br />
Smith was thrown from the truck out onto the pavement of Route 78. Her pitching arm<br />
was shattered and torn. "It was like losing my identity," she said.<br />
Doctors at <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center did marvelous repair work. Oklahoma State<br />
University insisted that she return and enter its rehabilitation program which was geared<br />
to athletic injuries. It was there that she underwent rigorous therapy to repair the<br />
damaged muscles, nerves and bone. This, and Michele’s sheer determination to<br />
succeed, proved to be the key to complete healing.<br />
Within a year she was back, pitching a shutout against Puerto Rico in the '95 Pan<br />
American Games final and leading her team in home runs. And at the age of 29,<br />
Michele was the power behind the Gold Medal winning 1996 U. S.<br />
<strong>Women</strong>'s Olympic Softball Team. Smith throws five pitches, including a<br />
knuckleball that she learned at Oklahoma State.<br />
"If you'd have asked me five or six years ago, I'd have thought I'd be a<br />
thoracic or cardiovascular surgeon by now," she said. "But I realized that<br />
the central theme of what I wanted to do was to help people and make a<br />
difference in lives. On the field, I can help little kids. It might not be in an O.R. suite,<br />
but to put your hands on their shoulders and see their eyes light up and hear them say<br />
they want to be like me someday, that's my proudest moment as an athlete."<br />
In 1999 the softball field at Woodglen School was dedicated in her honor.<br />
60
MELDA CHAMBRE SNYDER<br />
Born in Rochester, NY in 1907, Melda Chambre<br />
Snyder's family later moved to Morris <strong>County</strong>. After<br />
graduating from <strong>New</strong>ark State College she went on to<br />
receive a master's degree and completed all work, except<br />
for writing her dissertation, towards her doctorate.<br />
Melda worked in the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> schools as a<br />
supervisor employed by the state for service in rural<br />
schools to teachers, who often had little more than a high<br />
school education. These supervisors were called "helping<br />
teachers," and did much towards fostering 4-H and<br />
extension activities. When the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Board of<br />
Agriculture hired its first Home Demonstration Agent in<br />
1938, they appointed Miss Melda Chambre, of Flemington,<br />
to the <strong>Women</strong>'s Advisory Committee to oversee the agent's<br />
work. It was through this work that she met Board of<br />
Agriculture member Clifford E. Snyder, whom she later married.<br />
Clifford taught her farm management, and Melda worked with him running Cliffields,<br />
their 500-acre grain and dairy farm in Franklin Township. When her husband died in<br />
1967, she was faced with tremendous debt due to the estate tax. Enlisting the aid of the<br />
<strong>County</strong> Board of Agriculture and the State Farm Bureau, she started a movement that<br />
eventually led to farmers' widows and families no longer forced to sell their land to pay<br />
estate taxes.<br />
She ran the farm and became active in farm organizations. With her election as<br />
president of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Board of Agriculture, she became the first woman to<br />
serve in that office, and <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> became the first county to elect a woman to<br />
that position.<br />
Mrs. Snyder also served as a director of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Farm Bureau, president of<br />
the Board of Managers of Cook College of Rutgers University, vice-president of the<br />
State Board of Agriculture, and president of the American Association of University<br />
<strong>Women</strong>. She served on the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Planning Board, helped organize the<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Visiting Homemaker Service, and was on its state board. Melda<br />
received distinguished service awards from local and state agricultural and educational<br />
organizations, and in 1978 received the Golden Award from the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Chamber of Commerce.<br />
She and her husband had no children, so when she died in 1987 the bulk of the<br />
farm was left to Rutgers University as a research farm, as it is today. Proceeds from the<br />
sale of the house and assets were used to set up the Clifford E. and Melda C. Snyder<br />
Scholarship Fund, to go to a graduating high school senior who will major in agriculture<br />
or a related field. Thus Melda remembered her two fields of interest, agriculture and<br />
education.<br />
When interviewed by Working Woman Magazine, she was asked why, with the<br />
career opportunities available from her college degrees and background as a<br />
coordinator of school systems, she was seen driving a farm<br />
wagon, going to Pennsylvania for a machine part, and<br />
spending her evenings with the county or state Board of<br />
Agriculture. Her answer was that of a woman satisfied with<br />
her life. "I couldn't be happier living any other way."<br />
61
STEPHANIE B. STEVENS<br />
Stephanie B. Stevens is an outstanding member of the<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> community.<br />
An untiring volunteer dedicated to historic preservation,<br />
she is known throughout the state as a speaker and an oldhouse<br />
expert, and as a researcher who was instrumental in<br />
attaining historic site status for many local sites as well as<br />
inclusion of Readington's historic districts on the state and<br />
national Registers of Historic Places. She was officially<br />
designated historian for Readington Township in 1980 and,<br />
as chairman of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Cultural and Heritage<br />
Commission to which she was appointed in 1979, has<br />
served as <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Historian since 1986.<br />
Mrs. Stevens received a B.S. in Elementary Education<br />
from Glassboro State College, took graduate courses in<br />
Special Education at Trenton State College, and taught one<br />
of the first classes for the handicapped in Flemington. She worked in the classroom for<br />
ten years, administered Title I programs, and later did private tutoring as time allowed<br />
with her family of five active children. Her concern for those with special needs led to a<br />
continuing involvement as a board member and treasurer with the ARC of <strong>Hunterdon</strong>.<br />
She was a founding member of the Readington Train Station Library as well as the<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong>-Somerset Jetport Association. Mrs. Stevens initiated the campaign and<br />
directed the restoration of the 1800's Eversole-Hall House, which was to become the<br />
Readington Township Historical Museum. She serves there as director, plans and<br />
supervises year-round programs and exhibitions, and conducts summer living-history<br />
day camp sessions for fourth through sixth grade students, as well as programs for<br />
eighth grade history classes. Her penchant for delving into old records garnered<br />
enough information to win state and county grants, the financial support of local<br />
companies, and the "sweat equity" contributed by a group of volunteers to restore what<br />
remained of the 1828 stone one-room Cold Brook School in Readington Township. It is<br />
now a local museum offering history programs for Readington Township fourth grade<br />
students.<br />
In 1964 her interest in politics led to her election to the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Republican Executive Committee. She was treasurer of the county Republican<br />
Committee for 20 years. She was mayor of Readington Township in 1996.<br />
She is a founding member of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Museum Association and life<br />
member of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Historical Society. In 1995 she was named by<br />
Gov. Whitman to the Task Force on <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> History, and in 1998 named to the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Jersey</strong> Historic Trust.<br />
Mrs. Stevens was responsible for the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Cultural and Heritage<br />
Commission's hosting of a workshop for Preservation <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> entitled The Right<br />
Stuff: Techniques and Materials for Old House Interiors.<br />
62
Through the years she has continued to utilize her teaching skills when conducting<br />
classes in Tracing Your Old House at North <strong>Hunterdon</strong> High School as an extension<br />
course offering of Raritan Valley Community College. In 1979 she chaired the Rural<br />
Preservation Conference, the first to bring farmland preservation to the attention of the<br />
residents of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, and subsequently served on a Board of Agriculture<br />
committee to explore various planning options for farmland preservation. She has been<br />
a driving force in the effort to preserve the official records of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, and as<br />
chairman of the Cultural & Heritage Commission, has applied for and received grants to<br />
microfilm records dating back to the late 1700's. The <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Board of<br />
Chosen Freeholders appointed her to the <strong>County</strong> Facilities Committee, which helped<br />
design the new justice center. Her advice has been sought for the planned archival<br />
records retention center and preservation of county-owned buildings.<br />
After "getting her feet wet" by doing much of the research and writing for the 1976<br />
Bicentennial publication of a brief history of Readington Township, Readington<br />
Reflections, she authored For a Better Life: A History of the Polish Settlement in<br />
Readington Township, which explores the significant Polish settlement that occurred in<br />
Whitehouse Station at the turn of the century, and the Forgotten Mills of Readington.<br />
Stone Houses of Readington is a work-in-progress.<br />
Mrs. Stevens’ many volunteer efforts have been recognized with the presentation of<br />
awards by state historical societies and commissions, as well as the 1991 <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> Chamber of Commerce Golden Award and the Soroptimist International <strong>Women</strong><br />
of Distinction in 1997. In 1999 the NJ Legislature recognized her as a NJ Woman of<br />
Distinction.<br />
63
ANN STEVENSON<br />
Ann Stevenson, a resident of Lebanon Township, contributed her talents to bring<br />
quality education and health care to <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
In 1943 she spearheaded the drive to make Blue Cross coverage available to<br />
county farmers and their families through the <strong>County</strong> Board of Agriculture. Her efforts to<br />
establish the program, and sign up the initial 100 farmers needed for eligibility, brought<br />
this valuable insurance to hundreds of people in the county in the following years.<br />
Her perseverance and knowledge in health care were called on again when just a<br />
few years later, the first committee was formed to explore the possibility of building a<br />
hospital in the county. The efforts of this committee led to the organization, funding and<br />
building of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center which opened in 1954.<br />
In addition to pursuing health care issues, for many years Mrs. Stevenson also<br />
served on the Lebanon Township Board of Education and was a member of the first<br />
Board of the North <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Regional High School.<br />
64
DOROTHY STICKNEY<br />
A Broadway actress whose stage role as “Mother” in Life<br />
with Father gained her stage immortality and a place as one<br />
of the great leading ladies of the legitimate theater.<br />
Born in Dickinson, ND, she attended school in<br />
Minnesota and Massachusetts. Her early career was on the<br />
vaudeville stage and in stock companies. <strong>New</strong> York<br />
performances included The Way of the World, On Borrowed<br />
Time, and Life with Father. In 1940 Eleanor Roosevelt<br />
presented her with the Barter award for the best<br />
performance of the year for Life with Father. Stickney has<br />
also published poetry and a book.<br />
Married to playwright Howard Lindsey, Stickney and he<br />
bought a weekend country home in Readington Township in<br />
1935. They owned the farm with its 1741 Dutch style house<br />
until 1997 when it was sold to the Township of Readington.<br />
Holidays, weekends and special times were spent at the farm where the Stickney-<br />
Lindseys became part of the Stanton community. Many stars of Broadway and movies<br />
weekended with the family over the years.<br />
65
TOSHIKO TAKAEZU<br />
Toshiko Takaezu is an internationally acclaimed<br />
artist-craftswoman best known for her ceramics, but<br />
who also weaves and paints. She was born in<br />
Pepseekeo, HI, one of 11 children of a Japanese farmer<br />
who had come to Hawaii to find work in the sugar cane<br />
fields. Teaching pottery and elementary school classes<br />
enabled her to attend the University of Hawaii. She<br />
studied sculpture and ceramics, and soon realized the<br />
need to leave Hawaii and seek advanced instruction in<br />
ceramics. She enrolled at Cranbrook Academy of Art in<br />
Bloomfield Hills, MI.<br />
A great deal has been said about the Oriental<br />
influence in her work. In 1955-56, she traveled to Japan<br />
to find out more about her own culture and racial<br />
heritage, especially as it might apply to her ceramics.<br />
She lived in a Zen Temple for three months, and visited many well-known Japanese<br />
potters.<br />
For a number of years, Ms. Takaezu was head of the ceramics department at the<br />
Cleveland Institute of Art. She has taught at several universities and in 1966 came to<br />
Princeton University, where she taught in the Visual Art Department for 25 years. She<br />
retired in 1992, and Princeton honored her with the esteemed Behrman Award. She<br />
received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Hawaii.<br />
Toshiko's home and studio in Quakertown was often visited by groups of Princeton<br />
students and others learning the craft of raku and other pottery skills.<br />
Ms. Takaezu was a trustee at <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Museum of Art in Clinton for many years.<br />
Through her service on the exhibition committee she influenced and promoted the work<br />
of many artists.<br />
She also brought teachers of international stature to teach at the museum and<br />
organized the Friends of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Art Center, which is still functioning as a strong<br />
support group of volunteers and financial help to the museum.<br />
For two months in 1998, all three floors of the museum were turned over to an<br />
exhibition of ceramics selected from a vast collection of Toshiko’s work.<br />
Her work is included in public collections throughout the world, including the<br />
Smithsonian Institution and over 50 other prestigious museums.<br />
66
ANNE MOREAU THOMAS<br />
A life-long resident of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, Anne Moreau<br />
was one of three daughters of Howard Moreau, owner and<br />
publisher of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Democrat. Born in 1930,<br />
she grew up and attended school in Flemington. After<br />
graduating from Flemington High School in 1947, she went<br />
north to attend and graduate from Middlebury College in<br />
Vermont. It was there that she met her future husband<br />
H. Seely Thomas, and they married in 1952.<br />
After a stint as home economics teacher at North<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> High School, she went on to teach adult education<br />
classes. With a background in newspaper writing and<br />
publishing and her great interest in food, it was natural that<br />
she should become Home and Food Editor for the Democrat,<br />
a post that she has filled since 1954.<br />
After the death of her father, Anne and Seely Thomas<br />
bought out her sisters and became the sole owners of the newspaper. Under their<br />
leadership the newspaper then expanded its readership and community influence,<br />
moved into larger quarters, modernized its equipment and became a prize-winning<br />
journal. During these building years, Anne Thomas served the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Press<br />
Association as trustee, president and chairman, a testimony by her peers to her abilities<br />
in the newspaper business.<br />
These busy years saw her as importantly as the mother of growing children and a<br />
devoted wife and homemaker. However, she also found the time and energy to<br />
contribute her talents to the community she loves so dearly. She has served as trustee<br />
to the Flemington Borough Library, <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Historical Society, the <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
Heritage Conservancy, NJ Museum of Agriculture, and Board of Trustees of Rutgers<br />
University and as chairman of the Board of Governors of Rutgers. A deacon in her<br />
church, Mrs. Thomas also is a member of the Flemington <strong>Women</strong>'s Club, D.A.R., and<br />
the <strong>Hunterdon</strong>-Princeton Chapter of Chaine des Rotisseurs.<br />
In 1990, her dedication to community activities was recognized with the Golden<br />
Award from the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Chamber of Commerce. The Rolling Hills Girl Scout<br />
Council honored her with its <strong>Women</strong>'s Achievement Award and Soroptimist International<br />
with its International <strong>Women</strong> of Distinction Award.<br />
After a long illness, Seely Thomas died in 1994, ending a strong family partnership.<br />
Anne Moreau Thomas is now Corporate Board Chairman of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Democrat.<br />
67
MABLE TOMPKINS<br />
Once described as a "one-woman juvenile center," Mable<br />
Tompkins spent half a century helping the youth of<br />
Flemington. It was not uncommon to find her talking to<br />
teenagers in the park, on the corners, anywhere they<br />
congregated. For several years she invited them into the<br />
<strong>Women</strong>'s Club on weekends for "rap" sessions, thereby<br />
keeping many out of certain trouble.<br />
Mrs. Tompkins was a graduate of Cornell University, with<br />
a master's degree from the University of Chicago. She had<br />
been a home economics teacher before her marriage in 1945<br />
to Dr. Tompkins.<br />
She actively sought out youngsters who needed guidance<br />
and help, employing them in jobs around her home. She<br />
taught them to garden, would pay and train them for two years<br />
or so, then encourage them to seek better jobs elsewhere in<br />
town. Some of "her boys" learned to plan and handle larger, more difficult jobs. Her<br />
efforts with young people played a major role in the formation of the <strong>County</strong> Youth<br />
Center.<br />
Although her chief interest was in young people, she found time to serve both her<br />
church and community. Among her civic activities were the League of <strong>Women</strong> Voters,<br />
the Mental Health Association, the United Church <strong>Women</strong> and the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical<br />
Center Auxiliary. She also was active with the county Community Services Council and<br />
Social Services Board, the Flemington Board of Heath, and the South Branch<br />
Watershed Association, and taught Sunday school at the Flemington Baptist Church.<br />
Mrs. Tompkins died in 1990 at the age of 94.<br />
68
MARJORIE SCHUYLER VAN NESS<br />
Marjorie Van Ness grew up in Plainfield, where she attended the Hartridge School.<br />
She went on to graduate from Nightingale-Bamford School in <strong>New</strong> York City. On<br />
returning home she became a member of the Junior League of Plainfield, part of a<br />
national organization that trains young women for volunteer work and eventual board<br />
membership of community groups.<br />
For 22 years she served as a hospital volunteer for the <strong>Women</strong>'s Auxiliary of<br />
Muhlenberg Hospital, later becoming president of the auxiliary and a member of the<br />
Board of Governors of that hospital. This interest in health care continued with her<br />
activities as a board member of the Visiting Nurse Association, treasurer of the Visiting<br />
Homemaker Service of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, and as a trustee of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical<br />
Center. She also served as a trustee and president of the Clinton Historical Museum,<br />
the State Coordinating Committee to Save Open Space, and the 200 Club of <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>.<br />
Her husband Eugene died in 1977. They had four children, and Mrs. Van Ness<br />
shared her love of American Saddlebred horses with her daughter Joan. A familiar sight<br />
at horse shows, they bred horses at their succession of Hope Farms, the first in<br />
Millstone, second in <strong>Hunterdon</strong>'s Franklin Township and the last in Raritan Township.<br />
Marjorie's dedication led her to become chairman of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Equine<br />
Advisory Board, member of the Executive Committee of the American Horse Council,<br />
board member of the National Foundation for Happy Horsemanship for the<br />
Handicapped, chairman of fundraising for the Committee for the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Horse<br />
Park, president of the American Saddlebred Horse Association, member of both the<br />
American Horse Shows Association and the United States Equestrian Team, organizer<br />
of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Horse and Pony Association, vice-president of the Gladstone<br />
Equestrian Association, member of the NJ Professional Horsemen's Association,<br />
treasurer of the Middlesex <strong>County</strong> Horse Show, and member of both the US Pony Club,<br />
and the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> 4-H Advisory Council. Marjorie was appointed by Governor<br />
Cahill in 1971 to be the first woman to serve on the State Board of Agriculture. She also<br />
became the first woman to be president of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Agricultural Society, and the<br />
first woman accepted for membership in the 200-year-old Philadelphia Society for<br />
Promoting Agriculture.<br />
In 1986 the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong> Chamber of Commerce honored her with its Golden<br />
Award for her community service. She also received the Gold Medallion of the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Jersey</strong> Agricultural Society, and distinguished service awards from the State Board of<br />
Agriculture and the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Farm Bureau.<br />
69
SALLY T. VOGEL<br />
Sally Vogel was educated as a social worker with a minor in psychology. She<br />
continued her education to receive a master’s degree in Pupil Personnel Services.<br />
From 1970 to 1984, she served as part-time school social worker for Delaware<br />
Valley Regional High School. Overlapping a portion of that time period, she performed<br />
the duties of guidance counselor for the Holland Township school system.<br />
A current resident of St. Clair Shores, MI, Sally Vogel immersed herself in various<br />
community activities that gained her friends the length and breadth of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> during<br />
her many years in the county. Her constant and continuous concern for the singleparent<br />
child with whom she came in daily contact caused her to realize a need for<br />
special friendship and counseling on a continuing basis. It was this interest in the<br />
single-parent child and the emotional problems particular to the child that inspired her to<br />
found the <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Big Brothers and Sisters, a non-profit organization that matches<br />
children with the missing influence of a father or mother figure.<br />
Big Brothers and Sisters serves to offer friendship to children in need of attention.<br />
Volunteers agree to visit a certain child for a long period of time, sharing special trips<br />
and fun times. The outcome is confidence-building for the child.<br />
Sally is to be congratulated for having left <strong>Hunterdon</strong> a better, more caring place.<br />
70
ELIZABETH VAN FLEET VOSSELLER<br />
Under the tutelage of "Miss Bessie," the Flemington<br />
Children's Choir School became a nationwide model for training<br />
of children's choirs.<br />
Born in 1874 in Flemington, she and her twin were the<br />
children of Elias and Julia Vosseller, both accomplished<br />
musicians. The twins' early education was at the Reading<br />
Academy in Flemington, followed by further study and musical<br />
training in <strong>New</strong> York and Brooklyn. Returning to Flemington, she<br />
first taught piano to children. She soon realized that this rural<br />
area had no children's choirs. In 1895, with her friend Miss<br />
Bessie Hopewell, she founded the Choir School when four little<br />
girls were taught the rudiments of group singing. They performed<br />
in the Flemington Presbyterian Church. Other enthusiastic<br />
children joined the little choir which soon attracted so many that<br />
rented quarters were needed. As the Choir School grew, so did<br />
its reputation.<br />
Miss Vosseller continued her studies of vocal music; she and Miss Hopewell, "the<br />
two Miss Bessies," were invited to train children for choir work in other Flemington<br />
churches. Singing good music became part of the religious and secular life of the town.<br />
Youngsters entered the Choir School in fourth grade, with graduation being held<br />
after eighth grade. They then could enter senior choirs.<br />
After hearing a performance of the Children's Choir in 1909, the principal of the<br />
Somerville Schools invited Miss Vosseller to head the music department. One of her<br />
most grateful students was Paul Robeson, who never forgot that she was the first to<br />
recognize and encourage his talent.<br />
71
JOSET WALKER<br />
During the 1940's and '50's, Joset Walker's clothing designs<br />
were regular cover features of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar<br />
magazines. Born in France and educated at a convent school,<br />
she soon became aware of the contrast between high fashions in<br />
Paris and the uniformity of the school. At age 14, she came to<br />
America, eventually completing her education at the Parsons<br />
School of Design in <strong>New</strong> York.<br />
Her ability landed her a job at Saks Fifth Avenue. When her<br />
boss left for Hollywood to work for RKO Studios, she went with<br />
her. After several months, Walker's boss quit, and she found<br />
herself elevated to the top position at the age of 26.<br />
As head designer, she did all of the sketches for stars such as<br />
Katherine Hepburn, Irene Dunne, and Constance Bennett. But<br />
after one year of Hollywood, which she hated, she returned to<br />
<strong>New</strong> York.<br />
Almost immediately her sportswear designs appeared in the leading fashion<br />
magazines. Her world travels exposed her to native styles and fabrics which were<br />
incorporated into designs that left a lasting impact on the fashion world.<br />
Joset Walker and her husband made their home in the beautiful Reading Mansion<br />
at Flemington Junction. They were parents to three adopted children and a number of<br />
grandchildren.<br />
72<br />
1946 Life Magazine Cover
MARIE WARFORD<br />
There was no one more devoted to a better high<br />
school for Lambertville students than Marie Warford.<br />
As president of the Lambertville P.T.A., Mrs. Warford<br />
realized that the old high school was crowded and in<br />
poor repair. There were no science labs to serve the<br />
students, no cafeteria or showers. So she organized<br />
a campaign to form a regional district and build a new<br />
high school, no easy task since many Lambertville<br />
citizens held the opinion that the old high school was<br />
just fine.<br />
Her campaign paid off when in 1956 the county<br />
superintendent named her to the first regional board<br />
of education for the proposed South <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
Regional High School. By dint of extremely hard<br />
work, the school was built and Mrs. Warford stayed<br />
on the Board for 30 years, 12 of them as president.<br />
When her children were grown, she returned to work as secretary to the<br />
Lambertville School Board. Before her appointment, Lambertville voters had twice<br />
turned down proposals for an all-purpose room addition to the school. Feeling that<br />
there was a strong need for the room, Mrs. Warford found a federal program that offered<br />
school funding for small communities. Undaunted by critics who claimed she was<br />
wasting her time, she applied on behalf of the Board of Education, and got the grant.<br />
Over the years Mrs. Warford served her community both at the local and county<br />
level as a trustee for the Jennie Haver Scholarship Fund, board member of the Cancer<br />
Society, on various committees of both the local and state School Boards Association,<br />
and as Democratic <strong>County</strong> Committeewoman.<br />
After a busy life devoted to the betterment of her city and the education of<br />
children,Mrs. Warford retired in 1990 to spend time with family and friends.<br />
73
BARBARA HARRISON WESCOTT<br />
A noted collector of fine works of art, Barbara Wescott's<br />
appointment to the Advisory Council of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> State<br />
Museum proved to be the turning point in the museum's existence.<br />
Prior to her influence, the museum was largely "a collection of<br />
arrowheads." It was her knowledge, taste, and love of fine art that<br />
propelled the museum forward in its quest for a collection that would<br />
distinguish the state museum.<br />
Mrs. Wescott's wide and varied interests included women's<br />
rights, world government, care for the mentally ill, the arts and<br />
literature. Her concern for those with mental illness led her to<br />
establish the Karen Horney Clinic in <strong>New</strong> York City. The clinic<br />
provided free service for its patients.<br />
Her interest in world government may have been prompted by<br />
her childhood travels. Her father was Governor General of the<br />
Philippines during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. Later, she<br />
studied at Oxford University in England, and then moved to France, where she<br />
established Harrison of Paris, a small press publisher of fine literary paperbacks.<br />
After her marriage to Lloyd B. Wescott, she moved to <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, living first<br />
near Clinton until the property was taken for Spruce Run Reservoir, and then on<br />
Mulhocaway Farm in Rosemont. As a patron of the arts and literary world, Mrs. Wescott<br />
had two best-selling novels dedicated to her during her lifetime. Upon her death in<br />
1977, a sculpture garden at the State Museum was dedicated to her memory.<br />
74
DORIS GNAUCK WHITE<br />
Growing up on a farm in Granville, Wisconsin led Doris White to spend her life in the<br />
agricultural research business. When she was nine years old, her mother, a teacher,<br />
gave her a baby chick. That prepared her for later when her mother brought home 100<br />
chicks and announced that they were Doris’ to raise. Dr. White says that she has “been<br />
in chickens” ever since!<br />
Due to the poor health of her father, and a series of childhood hardships, Doris<br />
literally had to fend for herself when it came time for her to attend high school in<br />
Wisconsin. Since Granville had no high school, Doris accepted an invitation to attend<br />
Shorewood High School – eight miles away. Without transportation, she rode her<br />
bicycle daily with her lunch stuffed into the bell of her French horn.<br />
High school completed, Doris won one of the eight University of Wisconsin Regents<br />
scholarships reserved for men. She completed college with honors in just two years<br />
and eight months. Self-supporting, Doris worked at the University of Wisconsin Poultry<br />
Experimental Farm on genetic lethals, vitamin deficiencies and di-ethylstibesterol (DES)<br />
hormone.<br />
Admitted to the University of Wisconsin Graduate School at the age of 19, she was<br />
too young to teach science in the high schools of Wisconsin. She could, however, teach<br />
in the U.S. Army Military Prison -- which she did under guard. Reaching the proper age,<br />
she eventually did teach chemistry, biology, physics and math in high schools in<br />
Wisconsin.<br />
At the age of 22 she had been granted a M.S. degree and had completed all of her<br />
research for a Ph.D. Continuing to be self-supporting, Doris worked for the University of<br />
Wisconsin Hill Farm for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the field of genetic<br />
resistance of wheat to wheat stem rust, barley smut, ergot of rye, and hessian fly larvae<br />
damage to wheat. These resistance cereal grains are now commercial varieties.<br />
While writing her thesis in horticulture for her Ph.D., she became seriously ill and<br />
was hospitalized for a lengthy period. Upon returning to the field of academia, Doris<br />
found that her assigned professor had retired – only to be replaced with a newly<br />
graduated “Yaleie” who refused to accept her academic credits. After all, horticulture<br />
was a man’s field!<br />
At that point she started over in graduate school, this time in science education, with<br />
a Ph.D. minor in entomology, and received a Ph.D. in 1956. Because of the ruling of<br />
her professor, she now has two masters degrees and two Ph.D.’s.<br />
Doris came east to <strong>Hunterdon</strong> when her former husband, a physicist, took a position<br />
with Bell Labs in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>. At that time she joined the faculty of William Paterson<br />
College as an associate professor of mathematics and science. In three years she was<br />
granted tenure and, a year later, was made a full professor at the age of 33. Currently<br />
she is a senior faculty member at William Patterson.<br />
Her four sons are all scientists. It must be in the genes! Dr. White’s early research<br />
was in genetics, with a focus on improving field crops and livestock. More recently, she<br />
has worked in the field of environmental problems. One of her projects is drought and<br />
its devastating effects on people and market prices.<br />
75
Dr. White has worked on ways to use wave and tidal pumps to move the fresh pure<br />
water from glaciers to drought-stricken areas – all using natural energy.<br />
Most recently she has concerned herself with the many uses of incinerator ash.<br />
Inspired by a trip to an incinerator, Dr. White did some research into cost-efficient and<br />
environmentally safe uses for ash. She determined that the ash could be used on roads<br />
instead of rock salt to melt snow. Cheap and environmentally safe.<br />
Her superb brain continues to search and seek ways to contribute to the quality of<br />
life for her fellow man. We are pleased to have Dr. Gnauck White as a fellow<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong>ian.<br />
76
CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>'s first woman governor was born in <strong>New</strong> York<br />
City in 1946 to Webster and Eleanor Todd, and raised in the<br />
Oldwick section of Tewksbury Township on the family farm. She<br />
attended Far Hills Country Day School, followed by the Chapin<br />
School in <strong>New</strong> York City. In 1968 she received a bachelor's<br />
degree in government from Wheaton College in Massachusetts.<br />
Interest in government was natural as Christine grew up in<br />
the midst of politics. Her father was the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> state<br />
Republican Chairman, while her mother was the vice-chairman of<br />
the Republican National Committee. Her first job was with the<br />
U. S. Office of Economic Opportunity, followed by work with the<br />
Republican National Committee. While with the committee,<br />
Christine instituted a program to attract new party members from<br />
groups not traditionally aligned with the Republican Party,<br />
meeting with minority citizens, seniors, students, and gang<br />
members.<br />
She married financial consultant John Whitman and they both taught English as a<br />
second language while living in <strong>New</strong> York City. They are the parents of a daughter,<br />
Kate, born in 1977, and a son, Taylor, born in 1979.<br />
In 1982 Mrs. Whitman was elected to the Somerset <strong>County</strong> Board of Chosen<br />
Freeholders, and re-elected in 1985, serving as director and deputy director during her<br />
terms on the board. She was instrumental in the opening of the county's first homeless<br />
shelter and its first transitional housing program for alcoholic male teenagers.<br />
In 1988 she was appointed by Gov. Thomas Kean to fill an unexpired term on the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Board of Public Utilities and designated to serve as its president. She<br />
resigned in 1989 to run for the U. S. Senate seat held by Bill Bradley, garnering 49% of<br />
the vote.<br />
Among the boards she has served on are the Community Foundation of <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Jersey</strong>, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, the National Council on<br />
Corrections, The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> Advisory Council on Corrections, The North <strong>Jersey</strong><br />
Transportation Coordinating Council, and in Somerset <strong>County</strong>, the Board of Social<br />
Services, College Board of Trustees, Youth Services Coordinating Commission, and<br />
Planning Board.<br />
The Whitmans moved back to her childhood home in Oldwick after the death of her<br />
mother. She then ran in the 1993 Republican primary election for the position of<br />
governor, facing incumbent Governor James Florio. On Nov. 2, 1993 she was elected<br />
the 50 th governor of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>, becoming the first candidate to defeat an incumbent<br />
governor in a general election and the first woman governor of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>. During the<br />
week Governor Whitman and her husband live in the official Governor's residence in<br />
Princeton, but spend many weekends on the Oldwick farm. “Being able to get home to<br />
the farm is critical to my sense of balance. Taking long walks by the river with the dogs,<br />
or going mountain biking gives me a chance to get away from the pressures of<br />
governing,” said Whitman.<br />
In January 1995 she was spotlighted on the national political scene when she was<br />
chosen to give the Republican response to President Clinton's State of the Nation<br />
address.<br />
77
Long a civil rights activist, Governor Whitman appointed the first African-American<br />
to sit on the state Supreme Court. Her feelings on this issue were summed up in an<br />
address before Renaissance <strong>New</strong>ark, Inc. in 1994. "When Racism or Hatred speak, it is<br />
incumbent upon the rest of us -- the vast majority of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>ans who believe in<br />
tolerance, in diversity, and equality -- to exercise our First Amendment rights to<br />
confront this disease head on."<br />
78
PRIMROSE WOOLVERTON<br />
The descendant of a signer of the Declaration of<br />
Independence, Primrose Woolverton was born in<br />
Pocomoke, MD on March 7, 1886 and died more than<br />
100 years later. On the celebration of her 100 th<br />
birthday, she maintained that reaching the century<br />
mark was “no big deal.”<br />
She was the daughter of a distinguished<br />
Presbyterian minister, and as a young woman lived in<br />
a house that her family had owned since the<br />
Revolutionary War. Today, that Stockton home is<br />
known as the Woolverton Inn.<br />
She was graduated with honors from Vassar<br />
College in 1906, and went on to work in a physics lab<br />
and then to teaching physics at Vassar. After further<br />
work in Tarrytown, NY, she became an English<br />
teacher at Reading Academy in Flemington.<br />
From 1916 to 1944, she served as executive director of a number of YWCAs on the<br />
east coast -- in Trenton, the Oranges, Manchester, NH, and Hartford, CT where<br />
Woolverton Hall was named in her honor.<br />
Returning to Stockton in 1944, she took up residence at the family homestead. Her<br />
active mind and enthusiasm propelled her into all sorts of activities. Miss Woolverton<br />
was known for her stenciled tinware and dried flower prints. She became president of<br />
the League of <strong>Women</strong> Voters and the Delaware Council of Church <strong>Women</strong>, a member<br />
of the Lambertville Kalmia Club, a Sunday school teacher and church trustee. It was<br />
only when she was in her late 80's and could no longer drive, that she moved with her<br />
niece to a small house near Flemington. The once active woman was later confined to<br />
a wheelchair and spent her remaining years in a convalescent center.<br />
79
FLEMINGTON WOMAN'S CLUB<br />
One of the oldest clubs in the state of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>, the Flemington Woman's Club is<br />
just four years younger than the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> State Federation of Woman's Clubs. On<br />
November 15, 1898, Mrs. L. D. Temple, wife of the pastor of the Flemington Baptist<br />
Church, asked a few women to attend a meeting at the home of Mrs. John B. Ramsey<br />
to discuss forming a woman's club. Her suggestion was well received and an ad was<br />
placed in the newspaper inviting women to come to a meeting and become charter<br />
members. Thirty-four women joined at the first meeting. The club was named The<br />
Woman's Club of Flemington and its object was "To promote the intellectual and social<br />
life of its members and to engage in such philanthropic work as opportunity may<br />
present, and for the general improvement of the village of Flemington as to cleanliness<br />
of streets, promotion of literary interests, and every other thing tending to the<br />
advancement of the best interests of the village".<br />
The Club's first outside work was the opening of a reading room for the public in the<br />
Deats’ Building. The next was the opening of a Free Public Library. In 1899 a social<br />
was held, open to the public, with admission the donation of a book. One-hundred-andfifty<br />
books and eight dollars were collected. In addition, Mrs. Hiram Deats donated<br />
close to 500 books. The library was launched, and, on request by the Club, the Village<br />
of Flemington agreed to take over the library.<br />
In 1900 a Village Improvement Committee was formed. This Committee provided<br />
wastebaskets along Main Street and improved the grounds around the railroad station.<br />
A stone drinking fountain was erected in front of the Court House in 1902, and the Club<br />
turned the weedy lot behind the Court House into a park. In 1905 a sewing class was<br />
started for children and 125 children participated; a boy's club, the George Junior<br />
Republic, was also organized. From 1906 through 1909 a carnival, including a street<br />
parade with floats, was held to raise money to buy land adjoining the "<strong>County</strong> Lot" for a<br />
park. The Village Improvement Committee received special recognition from the State<br />
Federation of Woman's Clubs. In 1913 the Club furnished an office for the YMCA and<br />
provided part of the salary for a community nurse. Members worked for the Red Cross<br />
during World War I, and in 1919 adopted a child patient at Glen Gardner Sanatorium. A<br />
public restroom was opened in 1923. The Club pledged $1,000 in 1924 to the Music<br />
Building at <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> College for <strong>Women</strong>. Among the projects in 1928 were<br />
donations to the ambulance fund, street signs at the entrances to Flemington, and<br />
sponsorship of a Shade Tree Commission. Funds were raised to build the present<br />
Woman's Clubhouse, which opened in 1936.<br />
In 1950 the Club furnished a room on the 5th floor of the newly completed<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center. Eleanore Roosevelt addressed the club in 1952 on "The<br />
Search for World Understanding." The first academic scholarship was presented to a<br />
deserving <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Central High School senior in 1957, while in 1960 the vandalized<br />
bandstand in the park was re-built.<br />
In addition to the annual scholarship, recent recipients of the Club's fundraisers are<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Hospice, <strong>Women</strong> in Crisis, <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Drug Awareness, Parkland<br />
Preservation, sponsorship of a young woman to the Citizenship Institute at Douglass<br />
College, Flemington Free Public Library, <strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center, American Cancer<br />
Association, American Red Cross, Heart Association, March of Dimes, NJ Special<br />
Olympics, Flemington Rescue Squad, CROP, Pearl Buck Foundation, and the<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Developmental Center.<br />
80
HUNTERDON MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDERS<br />
Still waters run deep probably describes Rose Angell best. This quiet, unassuming<br />
lady left an indelible mark on the county she inhabited from 1924 to 1965. It was she<br />
and Louise Liecester who were the inspiration behind the founding of the <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
Medical Center.<br />
A registered nurse, Mrs. Angell became the first Director of Welfare in <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>. As such she soon came to know first-hand the woeful lack of medical care<br />
available in this rural farm county. The nearest hospitals were in Doylestown,<br />
Morristown and Belvidere. By the time a severely injured farmer got to the hospital it<br />
was often too late. All medical care devolved upon the local physician, and there were<br />
few enough of them.<br />
Working as she did with the poor, Mrs. Angell soon came to the bitter realization<br />
that other hospitals wanted no part of <strong>Hunterdon</strong>'s indigent. After years of coping with<br />
the sick and injured in somewhat primitive conditions, Mrs. Angell determined that<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> should have a hospital of its own.<br />
In her annual report to the Freeholders in 1946 she stated the need for a hospital;<br />
the report was accepted without comment. Refusing to accept that a hospital could not<br />
be part of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, Mrs. Angell went to her friend, Louise Leicester.<br />
A newer resident of <strong>Hunterdon</strong> <strong>County</strong>, Louise Bonnie Leicester lived in Pittstown.<br />
She had come from <strong>New</strong> York where she was a successful public relations<br />
businesswoman. During that era, Louise Leicester was considered to be one of the<br />
most assertive persons in the county.<br />
So these two intelligent women put their heads together and -- rather than appear<br />
before the Freeholders -- went instead to the powerful Executive Committee of the<br />
<strong>County</strong> Agricultural Board. All they asked for was a first quality hospital. If this group of<br />
farmers could improve livestock and poultry breeds, could they not take on the rural<br />
health problem?<br />
Reluctance and skepticism greeted their efforts, but they persevered. Finally the<br />
Agricultural Board, partially to prove the impossibility of the idea, formed a committee to<br />
study the suggestion. The seed was planted.<br />
Using her influence with a <strong>New</strong> York acquaintance, Mrs. Leicester persuaded the<br />
eminent public health expert Dr. E.L.H. Corwin to do a survey of a rural community's<br />
health needs. Corwin's report received somewhat casual attention from <strong>Hunterdon</strong><br />
residents, but evoked much interest in Trenton where <strong>Hunterdon</strong>'s health needs were a<br />
subject of consternation. Mrs. Leicester also sought the advice of the NJ State Dept. of<br />
Health. No stone was left unturned by this determined woman -- <strong>Hunterdon</strong> was going<br />
to have a hospital or she would die trying!<br />
Federal monies became available, but they had to be matched. Men, women and<br />
children all over this county set out to match the Federal donation. Children shined<br />
shoes, mowed grass, worked the Fair -- anything so that they could make a donation.<br />
Farm women went from farm to farm seeking pledges. <strong>Hunterdon</strong> farmers had little<br />
wealth and one hundred dollars was an enormous donation that took months or years to<br />
pay off. But raise the money they did! Today we have a Medical Center that was<br />
brought up out of a corn field, and paid for by the people themselves.<br />
81
From the time Rose Angell conceived the idea and Louise Leicester carried the<br />
torch, seven years passed. Never in the social health history of this county were seven<br />
years more productive.<br />
<strong>Hunterdon</strong> Medical Center opened its doors In 1953 and has never taken second<br />
place to any hospital. Its staff and care have always been top notch. That's what Rose<br />
and Bonnie asked for and got!<br />
HUNTERDON<br />
MEDICAL<br />
CENTER<br />
82
KALMIA CLUB<br />
Back in 1892 when 45 daughters of the genteel middle class got together and<br />
formed a "Reading Circle" -- the last thought on their minds was the future. Their<br />
purposes were much more immediate. The pragmatic ladies were seeking a break from<br />
their day-to-day lives, a place to use their intellect, and most of all an opportunity to<br />
gather with other like-minded women.<br />
A year after it was formed, the Reading Circle changed its name to the Kalmia Club,<br />
after the botanical name for the mountain laurel kalmia latifolia. That year it also<br />
acquired its clubhouse at 39 York Street. The building, built in the mid-1800's as a<br />
private school, was a gift to the newly formed club by the Quakers, who had used it as a<br />
meeting house until membership dwindled and they moved across the river.<br />
The Kalmia Club has met without interruption for over 100 years, making it the<br />
oldest continuously running women's club in the state of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong>. Much has<br />
changed since the club was formed more than a century ago. The afternoon teas have<br />
given way to evening meetings where the women no longer dress up grandly in gloves<br />
and hats. Gone also is the old-fashioned custom of restricting membership to a<br />
particular social class. Today any woman is welcome to join Kalmia.<br />
The club remains an active civic as well as literary organization. Through its<br />
membership in the State Federation of <strong>Women</strong>'s Clubs, it contributes to various<br />
statewide activities. While keeping up with the times the club remains ever mindful of its<br />
sisters in history and its place in the annals of the city of Lambertville.<br />
83
INDEX<br />
Adams, Harriet Stratmeyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4<br />
Anderson, Betty M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5<br />
Angel, Rose Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 42, 81<br />
Boggs, Elizabeth Monroe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8<br />
Bray, Mary Woolverton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9<br />
Brown, Valerie L.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10<br />
Carpenter, Ruth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11<br />
Case, Sarah Clark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12<br />
Cole, Louisa Bauer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13<br />
Conkling, Helen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14<br />
Crane, Almena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15<br />
Dahl-Wolfe, Louise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16<br />
Dahme, Maud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17<br />
Deats, Mrs. Hiram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80<br />
Doremus, Rosemarie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18<br />
Doyle, Beryl L.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19<br />
FLEMINGTON WOMAN’S CLUB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80<br />
Gag (Humphreys), Wanda. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20<br />
Goger, Pauline Rohm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21<br />
Grainger, Nessa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22<br />
Grammar, June Amos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23<br />
Grandin, Elizabeth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24<br />
Greenwood, Lela. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25<br />
Harger, Eone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26<br />
Haver, Ella M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27<br />
Haver, Jennie M.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 28, 35, 51, 73<br />
Henneberg, Jill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29<br />
Herr, Anne Cowles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30<br />
Herr, Marilyn Rhyne. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31<br />
Herson, Edythe M.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32<br />
Hopewell, Bessie Richardson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71<br />
Horn, Edna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33<br />
HUNTERDON MEDICAL CENTER . . . . . . 5, 6, 15, 21, 30, 34, 42, 59, 60, 64, 68, 69, 80<br />
Founders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81-82<br />
Knocke, Lazelle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34<br />
KALMIA CLUB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79, 83<br />
Kornitsky, Lillian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35<br />
Kursinski, Anne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36<br />
Larason, Mildred . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37<br />
Lauck, Anne Marie Letko. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38<br />
Lawson, Evelyn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39<br />
Lechner, Hermia M.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40-41<br />
Leicester, Louise Bonney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 42, 81<br />
Lewis, Peggy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43<br />
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INDEX, continued<br />
MacNamara, Dorothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44<br />
Mahan, Edna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45<br />
Marr, Vernita Kayser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46<br />
Marsh, Anne Steele. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47<br />
McConnell, Barbara. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48<br />
Mortimer, Mildred Preen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49<br />
<strong>New</strong>man, Carolyn B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50<br />
Nikitaidis, Yolanda. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51<br />
Pell, Orlie A. H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52<br />
Perry, Elizabeth Orben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53-54<br />
Prall, Inez Post . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55<br />
Robb, Inez Callaway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56<br />
Roberts, Abigail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57<br />
Roth, Nancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58<br />
Siodlowski, Henrietta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59<br />
Smith, Michele. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60<br />
Snyder, Melda Chambre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61<br />
Stevens, Stephanie B.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62-63<br />
Stevenson, Ann. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64<br />
Stickney, Dorothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65<br />
Ramsey, Mrs. John B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80<br />
Takaezu, Toshiko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66<br />
Temple, Mrs. L. D.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80<br />
Thomas, Anne Moreau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67<br />
Tompkins, Mable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68<br />
Van Ness, Marjorie Schuyler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69<br />
Vogel, Sally T.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70<br />
Vosseller, Elizabeth Van Fleet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71<br />
Walker, Joset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72<br />
Warford, Marie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73<br />
Wescott, Barbara Harrison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74<br />
White, Doris Gnauck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75-76<br />
Whitman, Christine Todd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77-78<br />
Woolverton, Primrose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79<br />
85