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Contest draws
attention to Old Stone House
By Diane Lili Staff Writer
01/17/2008
South Orange Maplewood News Record
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The
South Orange Historical and Preservation Society honored three
middle school students from South Orange Middle School on Dec. 4 at
the Terence Allen Eatery.
The awards given were the culmination of a three-month program that
the society organized in order to draw attention to the Old Stone
House, located in South Orange.
The three students honored were Lucy Schmitz, first place; Erica
Snarski, second place; and Kyla Rayne Taub, third place. The South
Orange Historical and Preservation Society came up with the idea of
running a contest in order to help the local children understand
that, right in their own backyard, they could find a famous and
unique a building dating back hundreds of years.
Gregory Burrus, the president of the South Orange Historical and
Preservation Society, spoke about the contest. “We asked them, if
they had a million dollars, what would they do for the Old Stone
House? They all had different ideas. Some wanted to open up a B and
B, while others wanted to renovate the building so that they could
open it up as a museum, with a Curator living there.” |
Awards were presented to the Old Stone House essay competition
winners at Terence Allen Eatery in South Orange. From left are Karen
Hoare, community relations chairwoman; John Overall, South Orange
Historical and Preservation Society board member; winners Erica
Snarski, Lucy Schmitz and Kyla Rayne; and Gregory Burrus, president
of the West Orange Historical and Preservation Society. |
In
order to help the children fully understand the background of their
subject, the South Orange Historical and Preservation Society
offered a large variety of programs designed to educate them.
“First of all, we had a large exhibition that we placed in the
South Orange Library. This exhibition ran from September all the way
through to November,” Burrus said.
The students from the Middle School were taken in to the library to
view the presentation, along with their teachers.
Nancy Heinz Glaser, a well-known pre-eminent historian, gave a
presentation to the students. Afterward, a movie was shown. “This
was a movie that the actual descendants of the house participated
in, so the children could see real people who had lived in the
house,” said Burrus. The movie showed the two sons and three sisters
who had grown up there. They discussed what it was like to be the
last generation to actually live in the Old Stone House. Three
tables covered with old pictures were shown to the children as well.
Although some of the students were able to go to view the Old Stone
House in person, those who didn’t get there in person got to view a
detailed miniature model of the house.Students studying architecture
at Pratt Institute designed and built the model so that the
residents of South Orange, as well as the children, could actually
see and touch a replica of the house.
The teacher who coordinated the contest, Johanna Wright of the South
Orange Middle School, made sure that the students had ample time and
also the resources of their teachers in order to finish the
project.“ Once the children had written their essays, they were
graded and then submitted for the contest,” she said. The visits to
the library and the hands- on approach definitely work wonders on
the students’ imaginations.
The Old Stone House is arguably the oldest datable house in New
Jersey. It predates the year 1680 and was originally settled by
Dutch families. Most residents may not realize the Dutch settled New
Jersey, as well as New York, well before the English took over the
province in 1664.
Nathaniel Wheeler is the first recorded owner of the house and was
also the first fully recorded European settler in this area.
Although there have been 20 recorded owners of the Old Stone House,
the township of South Orange has owned the Old Stone House the
longest. It is a landmark that both the students of the Middle
School and the members of the Historical Society hope to protect for
many more years to come. |
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Essays are here |
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