By Sally Deering

Imagine a collection of written documents that date back to 1629 before America was even a country, or a series of photos chronicling Jersey City life in the 40s and 50s? Then thereâ€s the “Douglass Map of 1841” the first of a genre of maps of Jersey City depicting property owners and their land lots.  Cynthia T. Harris manages these treasures housed in the New Jersey Room of the Jersey City Free Public Library on Jersey Avenue in Jersey City. The New Jersey Room holds some of the most important documents in the history of New Jersey and specifically Hudson County and Harris its very own history detective.

As Manager of the New Jersey Room, Harris oversees the cataloguing – and deciphering – of documents and photographs housed in the archives on the top floor. There, Harris and her staff of librarians – John Beekman and Daniel Klein, library assistants and volunteers assist visitors, especially those researching  their family trees and searching for clues to events that are extremely personal to their lives.

“We had Rosie Oâ€Donnell stop by because her great-grandfather died in Jersey City in 1903,” Harris says,” and (the TV show) ‘Who Do You Think You Are†contacted us to come and film Rosie.”

Then there was the time a woman called the New Jersey Room because she had been looking for her grandmotherâ€s grave, but didnâ€t know exactly where her grandmother died.

“We had her grandmother in our database,” Harris says. “When I told her she started to cry and said, ‘I was looking for 10 years for my grandmother.†We have different databases for Hudson County obits, birth announcements, marriage announcements and high school graduations.”

Harris is on a mission to collect every year book from every high school in Hudson.

“We have 1, 160 yearbooks so far,” Harris says, “and of that 1160, there are photocopied versions because people donâ€t want to give up their yearbooks. When St. Maryâ€s announced they were closing, I asked if we could archive their yearbooks and Iâ€m only missing 4 from their entire run. We need ‘66, ‘67, ‘68 and ‘70.”

Sometimes Harris helps people find missing pieces to their past as was the case of a woman whose uncleâ€s mother was murdered by his father when the family lived in Jersey City.  He was a boy then and after it happened, no one told him the truth of what really happened. He never even knew where his mother was buried.

“We had articles on microfilm on the murder,” Harris says. “She was buried in Jersey City in Harsimus Cemetery.”

The woman, whose uncleâ€s mother was murdered, came to the New Jersey Room from her home in Pennsylvania to thank Harris personally for her help.

“She thanked me for giving her uncle closure after 70 years,” Harris says. “Helping people put the puzzle pieces together; itâ€s a very heartwarming part of the job.”

Harris has been at the New Jersey Room since 2001 and she still delights in some of the special treasures in the collection like books that date from 1629; and negatives of a group of photographs taken by Stan McNulty, Jersey Cityâ€s resident photographer in the 1940s. Probably the most important document in the New Jersey Roomâ€s collection, Harris says, is the Douglass Map of 1841, the first of a genre of maps depicting the demarcation of the Heights, Bergen-Lafayette and other sections of Jersey City.

Jersey City history is a passion for Harris who was born in the Heights and holds a Bachelorâ€s Degree in Elementary Education from St. Peterâ€s College in Jersey City and a Masterâ€s Degree in Library Science from Rutgers School of Information and Library Science in New Brunswick.

She poured her passion for history into the book she co-wrote with professional photographer Leon Yost also of Jersey City. “Changing Jersey City: A History in Photographs” is a beautifully illustrated book that tells the story of New Jerseyâ€s second largest city in archival pictures and text.  Harris and Yost worked on the book for 3 years, using many of the photos and writing the text based on documents from the New Jersey Roomâ€s archives.

“Once we had all the pictures, it took us about a year to do the digging on the history,” Harris says. “We had a picture of a boxing match at Paulus Hook and all I had to do was go to the microfilm. It was a lot of research in the microfilm.”

At the New Jersey Room, donations of historical materials continue to pour in. When Jersey City sold the Jersey City Medical Center, the city donated all of the blueprints of renovations to the hospital done through the years to the New Jersey Room.

“Itâ€s wonderful,” Harris says. “Thereâ€s so much to be done and so much to be organized.”

The New Jersey Room

Jersey City Free Public Library

472 Jersey Avenue

Jersey City

(201) 547-4503

www.jclibrary.org

 

“Changing Jersey City: A History in Photographs,”

By Cynthia T. Harris and Leon Yost is available at www.amazon.com.  ($29.99)

 

 

 

The post History Detective: Author and Historian Cynthia T. Harris Sees the Beauty – and Importance – of Dusty Old Pictures and Faded Yearbooks first appeared on River View Observer.

The post Jersey City Public Library Community Listings and Special Programs first appeared on River View Observer.

            Five Corners will re-open on Friday, August 10, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., barring any further need for water shut-off by United Water.

For the latest on programs, events, and special announcements please follow the Library on Facebook or Twitter at Jersey City Free Public Library. Visit us on the web at www.jclibrary.org for all information on the Library, including all press releases in The Press Room. As of today, August 7, 2012, the Jersey City Free Public Library has 216,932 valid card members.

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The post Five Corners Branch Library to Close Thursday, August 9 due to Water Shut-Off by United Water first appeared on River View Observer.

            But that wasnâ€t the only reason…

            When Library Director Priscilla Gardner found out that Ms. Stanis would be appearing that evening, she made sure to be there with a Jersey City library card in tow.

            “I started this in 2004, when Glenn Cunningham was mayor, since he loved our library – the New Jersey Room, especially, where he did research on Jersey Cityâ€s African Americans,” said Director Gardner. “Next, was Mayor Healy, and then asking for – and getting – support of the Jersey City library just snowballed!”

            Bern Nadette Stanis is just the latest in a series of 13 JCFPL supporters, to date. Ms. Stanis is best known as Thelma on the TV comedy, Good Times, still keeping in contact with cast members Ralph Carter, John Amos, Janet Dubois and Jimmie Walker. This graduate of the Julliard School of Music, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., has raised a family (two daughters, Dior Ravel and Brittany Rose), co-produced several off-Broadway plays with her husband, and written the aforementioned books. According to her Facebook page, she is the owner of the publishing company, The Worthingham Group, and redirects her followers to a new fans page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thelma-of-Goodtimes/19516519272?ref=ts, saying, “I am truly humbled by all the love!”

            So is the Library Director, whose local library support campaign indicates how much “love” there is for libraries from everyone, everywhere.

For the latest on programs, events, and special announcements please follow the Library on Facebook or Twitter at Jersey City Free Public Library. Visit us on the web at www.jclibrary.org for all information on the Library, including all press releases in The Press Room. As of May 22, 2012, the Jersey City Free Public Library has 213,400 valid card members.

ATTACHED:  List of Celebrities Holding Up JCFPL Cards

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The post ‘Thelma’ of TV’s “Good Times” Proudly Supports The Jersey City Library first appeared on River View Observer.

THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES – Performance Artists Antonia Wright (L) and Ruben Millares (R) of Miami, Florida, recently came to the Jersey City Free Public Library in search of books for the latest incarnation of their art installation – a wall of books. With 14 boxes of weeded books to spare at the Main Library shown packed into their vehicle, Antonia and Ruben built a small wall, checking out a couple of titles. Notice Ruben is reading Ray Bradburyâ€s seminal work, Fahrenheit 451, a book after his own heart, for this wall is an homage to books!

JERSEY CITY, NJ   April 4, 2012 – Performance artists Ruben Millares and Antonia Wright recently came to the Main Library in Jersey City to abscond with 14 boxes of books that were weeded from the library branches†collections. The use for the books can raise an educated eyebrow…

            They came in search of books for their art installation at the Fountain Art Fair, which was held in mid-March in New York City. From Miami, both artists have been doing this installation of books as a “homage to the book, a celebration” and a commentary on how reading in libraries has gone digital.

            The actual installation is a wall of books, which create a chance for people to view the titles, pick up the books – even walk away with a book – while demonstrating an appreciation of The Book.

            Once done, what do they do with the books? “We either use them for another performance,” said Antonia Wright. “Store, sell them, or re-create the installation, as they are cite-specific,” added Ruben Millares.

            The two links below illustrate the installation. The first is the artists†statement, submitted on Antonia Wrightâ€s website. The second is a video of the performance.

http://antoniawright.com/projects/3/23.mfw

http://rubenmillares.com/video.php

For the latest on programs, events, and special announcements please follow the Library on Facebook or Twitter at Jersey City Free Public Library. Visit us on the web at www.jclibrary.org. As of April 3, 2012, the Jersey City Free Public Library has 211,641 valid card members.

 

The post 2 Performance Artists Request & Receive Weeded Books from Library for Art Installation Honoring The Book first appeared on River View Observer.

NJ Room Receives NARA Files!

 JERSEY CITY, NJ   December 29, 2011 – Instead of traipsing over to New York City to research the buried files of oneâ€s ancestry, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)  has agreed to house its microfilm files on all Hudson County immigrants to the Jersey City Free Public Library, storing the files within the New Jersey Room, where all genealogy searches are conducted, on the Third Floor of the Main Library, which is located at 472 Jersey Avenue in Jersey City, NJ.

            Cynthia Harris, manager of the New Jersey Room, worked with Kathie Pontus of the Hudson County Genealogical and Historical Society in creating the opportunity for the files transfer. Ms. Pontus dealt with the New York NARA office to acquire microfilms they were “giving” to responsible groups that would continue to make the films available for “public” use.

            The microfilms are considered “on loan” to the Jersey City Free Public Library from the Hudson County Genealogical and Historical Society.

            Approximately 1,800 films were obtained for public use, to be held in a special cabinet donated from the Church of Latter-Day Saints, which has been known for its genealogical research archives, whose office is in Emerson, NJ. Some microfilms are still in boxes, waiting for another storage cabinet to be secured. The Jersey City Free Public Library picked up the donated cabinet, and Bob Murgittroyd and Jane Mackesy of the Hudson County Genealogical and Historical Society picked up the first group of approximately 1,200 films from the NY NARA office.

            The National Archives and Records Administration was more than cooperative to the Jersey City Free Public Library, in that, NY NARA shipped, free to the library, the balance of the microfilms for New Jersey, after the original agreement. The very accommodating and pleasant people from NY NARA who assisted in this endeavor were Diane LeBlanc, Sara Pasquerello and Carol Savo.

The films cover a variety of subjects, including, but not limited to, arrivals of immigrants (mostly to New York), various Federal census years from the 1830s to the 1920s for New Jersey.

Intense research of the film information was done by Kathie Pontus and Deirdre Berry, who placed labels on each film box and put the films in the cabinet or in boxes, noting on each drawer and box what was contained therein. This painstaking labeling was done voluntarily, breaking down what each film contained, including its beginning and ending entries, and starting and ending “letter” or “year” or “location” covered. Ms. Berry did the “time-intensive, intricate typing of these many labels obtained in an unbelievably short period of time,” according to Ms. Pontus.

“The addition of this microfilm expands exponentially our ability to locate residents and ancestors across the entire state of New Jersey,” said Cynthia Harris, manager of the New Jersey Room.

The New Jersey Room is a collection of materials about New Jersey with an emphasis upon Jersey City and Hudson County. The collection includes both current and historical information and numbers about 20,000 volumes. While the New Jersey Room is the main resource of information on the history of Jersey City, many of its patrons come in search of information on local real estate, development, business information, and genealogy research.

For the latest on programs, events, and special announcements please follow the Library on Facebook or Twitter at Jersey City Free Public Library. Visit us on the web at www.jclibrary.org.

The post Genealogy Searches for Hudson County Immigrants Just Got Easier: first appeared on River View Observer.

With over a half century of librarianship under his belt, Assistant Library Director Dennis J. Hayes, MLS, 77, has decided to shelve his decades-long career amongst the book stacks for the relatively calm existence of retirement on Saturday, October 1^st.

            A Jersey City-native, Dennis J. Hayes earned his B.A. degree from St. Peter’s College in 1956 and his Masters in Library Science from Rutgers University in 1958, taking additional coursework in 1960 at then-Jersey City State College and in NJ Civil Service policies and procedures in 1976.

Dennis J. Hayes began his career at the Jersey City Free Public Library in 1951, starting as a Junior Library Clerk on July 3, 1951, progressing through the ranks as Junior Library Assistant, Senior Librarian, Principal Librarian, Supervising Librarian, Deputy Director, and Director. In 1985, Dennis was named Deputy Director, the only such time that title has been used. In 2002, Hayes stepped down as Director, and has remained as Assistant Director, in charge of outreach.

When reflecting upon his career, as to, why? Hayes recounted his first assignment from Library Director Miller, in the School Extension Department (no longer in operation), where he would choose books for distribution to the public, private and parochial schools in Jersey City. Seems fitting that Dennis should begin and end his career finding a way to put books in the hands of others. He worked in every place but the Medical Center library, which distributed books to patients.

Hayes credits several people throughout his career with giving him “exceptional training”: Eleanor Corridon and Gertrude McNeice (working with children / children’s literature), Nelly Kaiser (reader’s services), and from the NJ State Library, Myrtle Comes (reference).

In his 56 years of service to the Jersey City Free Public Library, Dennis J. Hayes has served, in succession, under the esteemed Edmund W. Miller, whose own 60-year career dovetailed with Dennis’ at the end; William Roehrenbeck; Benjamin Grimm; Steven Welsh; Rita Roque; and currently, Priscilla Gardner.

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After 56 Years, Dennis Hayes Retires from the Library

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“For Dennis J. Hayes, it has been a 56-year engagement of dedication to the Jersey City Free Public Library. We all love, appreciate and thank our friend and colleague, Dennis, for his many years of service and wish him well in his most deserved retirement,” said Library Director Priscilla Gardner. “Dennis is a person who never meets a stranger. His pleasing personality, jovial laughter and jokes bring closeness to staff and patrons alike; all who know him, love him. I want Dennis to remember that retirement is a time to enjoy life, a time to do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it. This is the great finale of his career… Enjoy it!”

“On behalf of the Library Board, we acknowledge Dennis’ conscientious, dedicated and loyal service to the library system and staff over his 56 years of employment,” said Library Board President James K. Morley.

An affable man, Hayes praised Library Director Miller as a “friend to all” and Library Director Roehrenbeck, along with his Assistant Library Director Mary Duffy, as people who “made the library like a family.” Dennis has praise for Library Staff, too: “In all my years here, I was always taken with the dedication and high morale the staff had in all those 56 years.” Hayes has served under many a Board of Trustees, as well, and he describes all trustees as “dedicated, and they received no recompense.”

“Dennis has been a pillar of the JCFPL and a steadfast staff member; but most of all he’s been a good friend and colleague. I wish him the very best and hope he enjoys his retirement,” said Assistant Library Director Sonia Araujo.

“Now that Dennis is retiring, I will always remember his calm attitude when he interviewed me back in the summer of 1987. I appreciated his help throughout the years, and wish him the very best,” added Chief Librarian Hussein Odeh.

When considering the many organizations Dennis Hayes has, or continues to participate in, his retired life may not be much different from his working life. Of the many organizations, old and current, listed on his résumé, these are included: Lay Representative of St. Bridget’s to Deanary Council II; Lay Representative to Archdiocese of Newark Synod (1994); Brett Triangle Block Association; Kiwanis Club of Jersey City; Knights of Columbus, Star of the Sea, Bayonne; Journal Square Advisory and Action Committee; American Library Association; Hudson County Library Association, past president; Supervisor’s Association, past president; St. Peter’s College Alumni Association; Rutgers University Alumni Association, Graduate School of Library Science; Afro-American Historical Society Museum, Jersey City; Jersey City Library Literacy Advisory Board; Hudson Health Partnership; and two Filipino organizations, PACCAL and the Knights of Rizal.

One particular employee came to Dennis Hayes’ mind – John Shine, Supervisor of Technical Services – with a remembrance of this quote, “Make sure they go out of the Library with a smile on their faces.” It’s clear as the ever-present smile on Dennis Hayes’ face that Shine’s quote served as his life motto. Dennis’ personality and demeanor always radiates sunshine to everyone he greets.

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The post Jersey City Public Library’s Dennis J Hayes Retires from Library After 56 Years of Service first appeared on River View Observer.

 Like a femme fatale in a “dime novel” Jersey City has had its share of bumpy roads, raw deals and men that done her wrong. But the past is the past and take a look at her now, bustling with new construction and waterfront with a skyline of skyscrapers that have given the old girl a much-needed facelift and a shot at the brass ring.  

At the 4^th annual Book Fair hosted by Jersey City’s Free Public Library on Sat, Sept. 10^th in Jersey City’s beautiful Van Vorst Park, twenty local and no-so-local writers will exhibit their newly published books – all with some connection to Jersey City.  Many of these writers have taken their experiences and/or fascination with Jersey City’s past and placed them on the pages of their new books, not just as a backdrop to the action, but as one of the characters that grabs your attention like a cold-blooded blonde with a pearl-handled Derringer.

The event is free and run by Jersey City’s hard-working library staff hip to fostering new and established writers.

When you stroll over to the park that day, you’ll meet Eunie Guyre, author of  “Happy Victory: Celebrating a Jersey City Childhood,” (publisher: Xlibris, 2011) the story of a little girl who revisits the Polish household she shared with her father, grandmother and aunt in Jersey City when her mother was hospitalized in a sanitarium. And although it seems like a sad story, Guyre emphasizes that hers was a happy childhood nurtured by a loving Jersey City family.

“The book is a tribute to my father,” Guyre says from her New Hampshire home. “I was 14 months-old when my mother went into a sanitarium for tuberculosis and she died there when I was 7. The book is a collection of short stories from birth to eighth grade. We lived on 3^rd Street in Jersey City, that was our first house, and then we moved to Greenville. I attended Sacred Heart and the book has a lot of funny Catholic and Polish stories. My Polish grandmother would read the obits. If the dead person had a Polish name, off we went to the funeral parlor.”

Fascinated by Heavyweight Champion Jack Demsey, a colorful boxing figure and World Heavyweight Champ from 1919-1926, writer Jim Waltzer’s book “The Battle of the Century: Dempsey, Carpentier, and the Birth of the Modern Promotion” (Praeger Publishing) tells the story of the infamous bout that took place in Jersey City on Montgomery and Cornelison Streets and promoter Tex Rickard, described as one of the best fight promoters of the 20^th century. Rickard erected a special stadium for the heavyweight champ and his opponent, Georges Carpentier, and 90,000 spectators came to Jersey City to see them fight.  

“The focus of the book is how the promotion came to be in the first place,” Waltzer says. “It was promotion that went beyond sports and entertainment. This was the one that set the standard for those that followed in the 20^th century. This was the first event in a big way to bring together celebrities, prominent people from all different fields – bankers, Hollywood stars, roughnecks, you name it. They were at ringside. This took the whole promotional arts to another level for a single event.”

Waltzer, a Philadelphia resident, has written more than 600+ features, mostly for regional magazines. In 2001, Rutgers University Press published his nonfiction book “Tales of South Jersey,” and in 2007, Five Star Mysteries published his first novel, “Sound of Mind.” He’s now working on a new book, a crime novel based in Atlantic City.

Maureen K. Wlodarczyk, who lived in Jersey City until she was five and whose family has been a part of Jersey City’s fabric since the 1840s will be at the fair promoting her second book, “Young & Wicked: The Death of a Wayward Girl (Publisher: Ultra Media Publications, 2011) The story is about the doomed relationship between two petty criminals, William Flannelly and Polly Sexton. They were criminals in love, who lived in the fast lane of the 1890s in Lower Manhattan.

 Wlodarczyk was researching her Irish ancestors when she came upon her distant relative, Flannelly, and accounts of his relationship with Sexton who lived like “Bonnie and Clyde” outlaws.

“A few months later, down in the Bowery, they had a falling out and she wound up dead by his hands,” Wlodarczyk says. “He goes to trial on the Lower East Side for murder. He’s sitting in the Tombs and crosses paths with people who are famous and infamous of the 1890s, the Tammany Hall people like William Devery who was to become New York City’s Chief of Police. I wondered how a little punk from Jersey City jailed in the Tombs could cross paths with Devery and top Tammany Hall commissioners.”

Also at the Book Fair, photographer and writer Alina Oswald of Jersey City will present her three books: “Vampire Fantasies”  a collection of vampire-inspired photographs; Journeys Through Darkness (a biography of  a blind photographer), and “Infinite Lights: A Decade of 9/11 Tribute Lights,” which is a collection of 9/11-related photography.

“Although I wasn’t in New York on 9/11, I made it a point when I moved here in 2003 to photograph all the ceremonies, the lights in the night,” Oswald says. “I made it a point to take pictures.”

The Book Fair will also feature Thomas Belton and his book, “Protecting New Jersey’s Environment: From Cancer Alley to the New Garden State,” Cherese Bracey and her mystery “The Case of the Withering Books,” Elijah M. Brown and his book, “Missing Pages, Out of My Life,” “Taco” by John E. DeJesus, “Those Sweet Nothings” by Cynthia Fabian, Jacqueline Hallenbeck’s “Poem-atic,” Sandra Guzmán’s “The New Latina’s Bible: The Modern Latina’s Guide to Love, Spirituality, Family, and La Vida,” Judith Natelli McLaughlin’s “Poems on Fruits & Odes to Veggies,” Clarence Matthews’ “Jacob’s Rite of Passage & Teen Jacob,” Valerie A. Mitchell’s “Emotional Rollercoaster: A Depicted Mind,” Peter O’Reilly’s “Oh Really, O’Reilly,” Jane Pedler’s “Wisteria Rose,” Alyssa Pierce’s “Caroline & Rebecca’s Day at the Beach,”  Keith Smith’s “Men in My Town,” JoAnne Williams “Escaping from the Victim or Volunteer Role in Your Relationship,” and Edna C. Zalenski’s “Los Cuentos de mi Abuelito,” (“Stories of My Grandfather”.)

Many of the fair’s featured writers praise the Jersey City Library, especially the New Jersey Room and the help they received during their research. “They allowed me to use images from their collection,” Wlodarczyk says. “They’re wonderful people and a valuable resource.”

The annual book fair is co-sponsored by the City of Jersey City’s Cultural Affairs Division, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and the Municipal Council. Chairwoman of the Book Fair is Assistant Library Director Sonia Araujo.

“We are so happy it’s the fourth annual,” Araujo says. “When we see all the people who come to the book festivals, we know we’re on the right path.” 

 A Tale of Our City

Jersey City Free Public Library’s

4^th annual Book Festival

Sat, Sept. 10, 2011, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Van Vorst Park

Opposite Main Library

472 Jersey Avenue

(Corner of Montgomery Street)

Jersey City

For more info: (201) 547-4500

 

 

 

 

 

The post TALES OF OUR CITY: Jersey City becomes the Main Character at Upcoming Book Fair first appeared on River View Observer.