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Ridgewood NJ, Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
Senator Pennacchio Objects to Efforts to Remove Columbus Statue in Parsippany
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Parsippany NJ, Senator Joe Pennacchio (R-26) released the following statement in reaction to a published report of the launch of an online petition seeking the removal of the Christopher Columbus monument in Parsippany.
A bust of Columbus was installed on a granite base on Parsippany Boulevard in 1992 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Italian explorer landing in the Americas.
The American flag has gone through many changes since it was adopted in 1777 by the Second Continental Congress. As the adoption of the Stars and Stripes is commemorated on Flag Day, find out more about Old Glory’s mysterious origins and its rise to iconic prominence.
Continue reading Flag Day : The Mysterious Origins of the American Flag
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Ridgewood NJ, In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. The United States Army also celebrates the U.S. Army birthday on this date; Congress adopted “the American continental army” after reaching a consensus position in the Committee of the Whole on June 14, 1775.
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Sidney Spiegel was with General Dwight D. Eisenhower in England in the early spring of 1944. Eisenhower was at a D-Day planning meeting and awaiting the arrival of top-secret film of the French Coast.
The courier who was to deliver the film had a hole in his satchel. When he arrived at the meeting, they discovered that he had lost it somewhere along the way.
Continue reading The New Jersey State Trooper that Saved D-Day
James Carafano
“I’ll bet they’re asleep in New York,” muses Rick in “Casablanca” as he realizes there’s no sitting this war out. “I’ll bet they’re asleep all over America.”
It’s an important line to recall as we prepare to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Rick’s conversion from pacifist to patriot in the classic 1942 film mirrored America’s transformation after Pearl Harbor from isolationism to taking its fights to the frontier of freedom.
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Washington DC, President Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 means the statute could be used for the first time in the 21st century.
The U.S. federal law allows the president to deploy military troops within the nation to suppress civil disorder, insurrection and rebellion, among other threats. It allows the president to federalize the National Guard and use U.S. armed forces to combat insurrections against states and the federal government.
Continue reading The Insurrection Act of 1807 has been invoked 14 times in US History
Bergen County Historical Society
New Bridge Landing NJ, As we continue on this Memorial Day we mourn not only the absence of each other’s company but in the true spirit of the day, the honored war dead from our nation’s past. From the founding of the United States through today, thousands of Bergen County residents have answered their nation’s call to arms in defense of liberty and freedom, at home and abroad. Many never returned to enjoy their homes and families. Each Memorial Day in the recent past, we in the Bergen County Historical Society have chosen to gather at the Hackensack grave of Brigadier General Enoch Poor, as representative of those in the American Revolution who gave their lives during the fight to establish what the Declaration of Independence proclaimed.
We do not know the names of all of those from Bergen County who fell during the American Revolution, though we do know some, particularly the ones named below, all of whom served as captains in the Bergen County Militia:
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Ridgewood NJ, May is dedicated to National Preservation Month. Also known as Historic Preservation Month, the month celebrates the nation’s heritage through historic places. Organizations across the country promote a variety of activities on the local, state and national levels.
In the Village, Zabriskie-Schedler House restoration is finally moving along . We must admit we had our doubts . The home has officially been added to the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. Built in 1823 by John A. L. Zabriskie, the house sits on a triangle of land between Route 17 and Saddle River Road, part of Bergen County’s dwindling stock of 19th-century Dutch wood-frame homes. This area play a significant roll as a cross roads during the American Revolution .
Continue reading Village of Ridgewood Zabriskie-Schedler House Restoration Moving Along
photo courtesy of Bergen County Historical Society
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
the staff of the Ridgewood
Roxbury NJ, New Jersey is called the diner capital, mostly because of the sheer number of diners in the state. New Jersey has the most diners in the world and is sometimes referred to as the diner capital of the world. The state didn’t invent the diner, but New Jersey did popularize it. New Jersey had all the right ingredients for diners to flourish and proliferate.
Continue reading SAVE TOM’S DINER! A NJ AND NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK!
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Ridgewood NJ, from the Bolger Heritage Center, at the Ridgewood Public Library , by now, you should know it’s 2020 “census time.” We at Bolger Heritage Center thought we’d start a new feature—occasionally looking back at the 1920 census to see who lived in Ridgewood at the time of that century-old census.
