Author Gordon Bond will discuss his book, To Cast a Freedman’s Vote, the story of the first African American voter after the Civil War under the Fifteenth Amendment, at the April meeting of the Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25, at the Shady Rest Country Club, 820 Jerusalem Rd. (at the corner of Plainfield Avenue) in Scotch Plains.

On May 30, 1884, citizens of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, pinned a gold medal to Thomas Mundy Peterson’s coat in honor of his having done something that, in another part of the nation, a noose might have been put around his neck for daring. It had been proven that on March 31, 1870, Peterson was the first African American to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment. Ever since, the story of his historic vote has been told in terms of how unusually progressive Perth Amboy’s white community had been, having both encouraged and celebrated his suffrage as a matter of civic pride. Yet, in the process, Peterson himself has become a prop in his own story. The event that lifted his name out of obscurity had ironically obscured him.

“Token on the Freedman’s Coat” not only gives the background of this extraordinary event, but places it in a broader historical context that both underscores its significance and puts Peterson’s vote in a new and more complex light. This talk is based on Bond’s latest book, To Cast a Freedman’s Vote: Thomas Mundy Peterson at the Intersection of Suffrage, Citizenship and Civil Rights, which he will have available for sale and signing following his program.

Bond is an independent historian, author and lecturer. He is the founder and ePublisher of www.GardenStateLegacy.com, a resources website dedicated to New Jersey history. He is the author of six books on aspects of New Jersey history, and has written a large number of articles and reviews for Garden State Legacy. He is currently working on two new books. One is about the Rev. Hannibal Goodwin and his invention of roll photographic film in Newark, New Jersey. The other explores the business and personal relationships between Benjamin Franklin and James Parker, New Jersey’s first printer.

Bond also operates a freelance graphic design business, Gordon Bond Design. He designed and guest curated exhibits for the Middlesex County Office of Arts and History, the Abraham Staats House in South Bound Brook, and the Historical Association of Woodbridge Township.

We are hoping to be able to webcast this event.  Further info will be posted on our website and FaceBook page as our plans develop.

The upcoming meeting is free and all are welcome. Refreshments and fellowship will follow the presentation. For questions, please email Info@HistoricalSocietySPFNJ.org or call 908/322-6700 Extension 230.

The March meeting of the Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood will feature the return of popular storyteller Carol Simon Levin with a new program called “Mothers of Invention.” Levin will tell the stories of women who overcame the combined barriers of gender and race to create inventions that changed our world. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28, at the Shady Rest Country Club, 820 Jerusalem Rd. (at the corner of Plainfield Avenue) in Scotch Plains.

Portraying Lillian Moller Gilbreth, motion study pioneer and the mother of 12 children in the semi-autobiographical novel, Cheaper by the Dozen, Levin will share the stories of overlooked women innovators, including many women of color. From Margaret Knight, known as the 19th century’s “female Edison,” to Hollywood superstar Hedy Lamarr, these “mothers of invention” changed our lives, yet their accomplishments were all too often ignored, discounted or credited to others.

In addition to performing lively historic portrayals, Levin is the author of Remembering the Ladies: From Patriots in Petticoats to Presidential Candidates, which profiles 69 women—well-known and unknown—who worked tirelessly for women’s rights in America. She holds a bachelor’s degree focusing on women’s history and history of technology from Cornell University and a master’s degree in library services from the University of Arizona. She is also the founder of the website tellingherstories.com.

The upcoming meeting is free and all are welcome. Refreshments and fellowship will follow the presentation. For questions, please email Info@HistoricalSocietySPFNJ.org or call 908/322-6700 Extension 230.

CANCELLED Due to Weather

This presentation will be rescheduled for May 23rd.

History and Civil War buffs won’t want to miss this month’s meeting of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Historical Society, when local author William McClintock Jr. will present a fascinating educational program on his great-great-grandfather, Commodore Reigart Bolivar Lowry, a member of the first graduating class of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and a career naval officer who served in the U.S. Navy from 1840-1880.

The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 28, at the Shady Rest Country Club, 820 Jerusalem Rd. (at the corner of Plainfield Avenue) in Scotch Plains.

McClintock’s presentation, based on his 2021 book, Commodore Reigart Bolivar Lowry, will explore Lowry’s storied career, beginning when he joined the Navy at age 14, and including his active role in many key naval operations of the time. Lowry was on a ship off Fort Sumter when the first shots of the Civil War were fired. He fought in the Mexican-American War and accompanied Commodore Matthew C. Perry when he opened Japan to American trade in 1854. Based on family letters and other documents, McClintock’s thoroughly researched biography goes beyond Lowry’s life to examine the Navy in which he served and the politics and corruption that Lowry and his fellow naval officers encountered as they sought to prevent a captain with less seniority from being promoted ahead of them.

A resident of Scotch Plains since 1981, the author earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Oberlin College, where he began his research on Commodore Lowry and the Navy. He went on to complete a master’s degree in American history from New York University. Mr. McClintock previously served as township mayor and councilman, and is active in the Rotary Club, notably with the Frazee house Restoration Project. Career highlights include serving as an officer at Bankers Trust Company and as Chief Financial Officer at Corporate Annual Reports. In 1993, he formed William McClintock Associates, a political consulting firm that provides targeted consulting and direct mail services. Commodore Reigart Bolivar Lowry is his first book.

The upcoming meeting is free and all are welcome. Refreshments and fellowship will follow the presentation. For questions, please email Info@HistoricalSocietySPFNJ.org or call 908/322-6700 Extension 230.