Category: Dedicated to Warren Watrel

Asia Society and Museum 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street New York, NY 10021

Asia Society & Museum

725 Park Avenue At 70th Street

New York, NY 10021

(212) 288-6400

AsiaSociety.org/NY

https://asiasociety.org/new-york

Open:

Museum: Tuesday-Sunday-11:00am-6:00pm, Friday-11:00am-9:00pm

Asia Store: Monday-Sunday-11:00am-6:00pm, Friday-11:00am-9:00pm

Garden Court Cafe: Tuesday-Sunday, 11:30am-3:00pm; Reservations: (212) 570-5202

Asia Society is closed on major holidays. Please check AsiaSociety.org/NY for updates on museum, store and cafe hours.

Fee: $12.00 Adults/$10.00 Seniors/$7.00 Students with ID/Free to members and children under 16/Free Admission Fridays, 6:00pm-9:00pm

Adult, Student and Teacher tours:

For information or to schedule a tour, call (212) 327-9237

*Wheelchair accessible/available for use during visits/Complimentary cell phone audio tour available/Assistive listening devices and headsets available for many programs.

TripAdvisor Review:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d531995-Reviews-Asia_Society_and_Museum_Garden_Court_Cafe-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

History of the Museum:

The entrance to the Asian Society Museum

John D. Rockefeller 3rd (1906-1978) , who established Asia Society in 1956, firmly believed that art was an indispensable tool for understanding societies. From 1963 to 1978, he and his wife, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller (1909-1992), worked with art historian Sherman E. Lee (1918-2008) as an advisor to build the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, which was later bequeathed to Asia Society.

The Rockefeller Collection

The group of spectacular historical objects they assembled-including sculpture, painting and decorative arts-became the core of the Asia Society Museum Collection and is world renowned. The Collection, now consisting of approximately 300 pieces, is distinguished by the high proportion of acclaimed masterpieces, to which additional high-quality gifts and acquisitions have been added since the original bequest to Asia Society. The Collection has particular strengths in Chinese ceramics of the Song and Ming periods, Chola-period Indian bronzes and Southeast Asian sculptures.

Extraordinary examples of decorative art in the acclaimed Asia Society Museum collection include a number of superior East Asian ceramics, which make up more than one-third of the Collection. A luminous pair of twelfth-century Korean bowl and saucer sets, covered with the celebrated celadon glaze of the Goryeo period and an extraordinary tea leaf jar, decorated with mynah birds and accented with silver by Japanese ceramic artist Nonomura Ninsei (active ca. 1646-1677) are among the ceramic highlights.

Walking around the museum

An exquisite solid silver Chinese stem up that dates to the late seventh or early eighth century also stands out as an exceptional masterpiece of decorative art within the Collection. The skill of the craftsman is evident in the fine embossing, chasing and engraving of the birds, flowers and scrolling vines on the exterior of the cup.

Two other great strengths of the Collection are Hindu and Buddhist sculpture from South and Southeast Asia. An eleventh-century processional sculpture of the elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesha is an endearing example produced by the South Indian master bronze casters at that time and one of the fifteen important Chola-period bronzes in the Collection.

Another great treasure is a rare eighth-century inscribed and dated inlaid-brass crowned Buddha seated on a lotus rising from water inhabited by serpent deities (nagas) from Kashmir or northern Pakistan. A sculpture of the serene and slender Buddhist Bodhisattva Maitrya stands just over an impressive three-feet tall and represents the pinnacle of Thai metal casting during the eighth-century.

These objects and the Asia Society Museum Collection as a whole continue to be an important means for sharing the talent, imagination, and deep history of the peoples of Asia with audiences all over the world.

(From: Masterpieces from the Asia Society Museum Collection)

We are …Policy

With top-level experts and advisors-including former heads of state and cabinet officials, CEOs, civil society leaders and scholars-the Asia Society Policy Institute creates solutions that advance Asia’s prosperity, security and sustainability. Its projects include working to strengthen regional security institutions and mechanisms in Asia, assessing the impact of China’s rise and tracking its economic reform program, recommending pathways to an inclusive and high-standard Asian trade architecture, charting a path for India’s admission to APEC and designing strategies for Northeast Asian economics to link carbon markets and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Asia Society Center on U.S. China Relations seeks to build mutual understanding between the two countries through projects and events on policy, culture, business, media, economics, energy and the environment.

We are…Arts

Transforming Americans understanding of Asia through exhibitions and performing arts was at the heart of our founder’s vision. The bequest of the Mr. & Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of traditional Asian art in 1979 spurred the building of our New York headquarters. Today, our ground-breaking exhibitions of traditional, modern and contemporary art-as well as performing arts, film and author programs-are presented to the highest acclaim at our centers in New York, Hong Kong and Houston and at venues all over the world. Global initiatives such as the Arts & Museum Summit bring together museum and cultural leaders from across Asia, the United States and Europe further appreciation of Asian arts.

The gift shop at the Asia Society

We are …Education

A rising Asia requires a rising generation of students to understand its cultures and complexities. The Center for Global Education at Asia Society has developed an internationally recognized approach to foster the global competence of students, aiming to improve the capacity of 100,000 educators to instill global competence in 4 million youth by 2030. We partner with leaders and institutions from around the world to transform teaching and develop global-ready students. We also lead a major effort to bring Mandarin language instruction and the study of China and Chinese culture to children in the United States and to bring global learning to American after school programs, in pursuit of best practices in global education.

(From Asia Society pamphlet)

Asia Society is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization offering dynamic public programming at our cultural centers in New York, Hong Kong and Houston and at our other global locations in the United States, Asia and Europe.

Asia Society appreciates the support of its members, who aid our vital mission of preparing Asians and Americans for a shared future. For more information, AsiaSociety.org.

Disclaimer: This information was taken directly from the pamphlets from the Asia Society in New York City. I give them full credit for all the information. Please see the above hours and programs and call the above numbers for more information.

Gethsemane Cemetery Between Summit Place & Liberty Street north of Route 46 Little Ferry, NJ 07643

Gethsemane Cemetery

Between Summit Place & Liberty Street

(with entrance on Summit Place north of Route 46)

Little Ferry, NJ 07643

Hours: Secured historic site: Open by appointment only.

Contact: (201) 336-7267

Call for accessibility information.

http://www.co.bergen.nj.us/parks

Free admission

My review on TripAdvisor:

The three times I have visited the Gethsemane Cemetery, it was a very quiet place to reflect on the people who are buried here. Located by a stretch of Route 46 West, you would hardly notice it was there. Sitting on a small hill above the highway lies some of our Counties most prominent Black citizens as well as just ordinary people and freed slaves who were denied entry into other church cemeteries. They were interned here in their own cemetery.

Gethsemane Cemetery is located west of the Hackensack River in southwest Bergen County on a one acre sandy hill located in Little Ferry, NJ. The 1860 deed of sale identifies it as a “burial ground for the colored population of the Village of Hackensack.” In 1901, it was turned over to seven African-American trustees and incorporated as Gethsemane Cemetery.

The entrance to the Gethsemane Cemetery in Little Ferry, NJ

Although there are only 50 graves stones, the graves of over 500 people have been documented, including that of Elizabeth Dulfer, who was born a slave (c 1790), freed in 1822 and died in 1880. She became one of the wealthiest business owners and landholders in Bergen County. Three Civil War veterans, Peter Billings, Silas M. Carpenter and William Robinson are also buried here.

Gethsemane Cemetery figured the center of controversy surrounding the burial of Samuel Bass, sexton of Hackensack’s First Baptist Church. When he died on January 22, 1884, his family wanted to bury him in the Hackensack Cemetery but was refused due to his race. Mr. Bass was then buried in Gethsemane Cemetery.

New Jersey Governor, Leon Abbett, protested the denial: “The Legislator should see that the civil and political rights of all men, whether white or black are protected…It ought not be tolerated in this State that a corporation whose existence depends on the Legislature’s will…should be permitted to make a distinction between a white man and a black man.” Two months later in March 1884, New Jersey’s “Negro Burial Bill” was passed desegregating cemeteries in New Jersey.

In 1985, Bergen County acquired the neglected cemetery and dedicated it as a County Historic Site. It was entered into the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 1994 for the historical significance it played in the enactment of N.J.’s early Civil Rights legislation and for containing evidence of West African burial customs.

The County of Bergen marker

In 2003, the county celebrated the dedication of new meditation areas and historic interpretive panels that tell Gethsemane’s story and lists the names of 515 people known to be buried here.

The cemetery markers

New mediation areas and historic panels tell the story of the cemetery and list the names of 515 people who were buried here.

My International Marketing class at Bergen Community College recently did a complete study and marketing plan for the “Bergen250” on the Revolutionary War veterans buried at graveyards and cemeteries all over Bergen County, NJ:

The project:

Day Three Hundred and Eighty: Three Bergecco-Parc Consulting presents “Bergen 250: Exploring Bergen County’s Revolutionary War Era Cemeteries and Graveyards” April 29th, 2026

For a Mapping of all the historic graveyards and cemeteries, I had the students visit all the sites that the Daughters of the American Revolution had researched and I had the students find all the locations, photo the tombstones and create a bio on each of the veterans. I enclosed a copy of their work above.

My blog on the historic graveyards and cemeteries of Bergen County:

https://visitingamuseum.com/tag/historic-cemeteries-of-bergen-county

The cemetery is open only a few times a year to the public for special holidays and events. I came for the Juneteenth Celebration of the emancipation of slavery from the Union on June 19th. There was an independent tour on your own of the cemetery and the panels. If you had any questions, there are County representatives to guide you through.

(Information taken from the Bergen County Parks System guide).

Disclaimer: This information was taken directly from the Bergen County Parks Directory. Please call or email the above information for more details on visiting the cemetery. It can be opened for private tours.

John Fell House 475 Franklin Turnpike Allendale, NJ 07401

John Fell House

475 Franklin Turnpike

Allendale, NJ 07401

(201) 783-8754

http://www.johnfellhouse.org

http://www.johnfellhouse.org/

http://www.johnfellhouse.org/history/

http://www.johnfellhouse.org/events/

Open: For special events and for corporate events. Please check their website for details.

TripAdvisor Review:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g29737-d10356749-Reviews-The_John_Fell_House-Allendale_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The John Fell House in April 2023 for the Northwest Bergen Historical Coalition event

I visited the John Fell House in May 2016 for the Northwest Bergen History Coalition 6th Annual History Day on “Day Forty-Three” of “MywalkinManhattan.com” blog site. The house is a stately home that sits at a busy point of the Franklin Turnpike, once the main artery of this part of Bergen County.

I was not too sure what this was as it was at the back of the house. I thought it might be a food cellar.

The only problem I found about visiting the John Fell home is that it is barely furnished. Most of these homes in Bergen County have furniture or heirlooms left by the family and this house is more used for entertaining. There are displays all over the house.

The backyard of the John Fell House in Allendale, NJ

The house is operated by the Concerned Citizens of Allendale and sits on 2.8 acres of land which includes the stately home, the Gothic Revival Barn, wetlands and old-growth trees. The house is across from the Celery Farm Bird Sanctuary, which was once part of the estate and is open to walkers year round (BCHS).

The front room of the John Fell Houser

The historic John Fell House is named in recognition of Founding Father, John Fell, a revolutionary war patriot, who purchased the property in 1766.

The Living Room at the Fell House in the late 1800’s addition

The house is located on the march route of Rochambeau’s army, on its way in 1781 to Yorktown, Virginia and the Seige of Yorktown that would decide the American Revolutionary War (Wiki).

The Music Room at the Fell House

The Living Room in the new addition of the house

The history of the Strawberry industry

The inside of the Fell House:

https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/F/FELL,-John-(F000065)/

https://revolutionarynj.org/rev-neighbors/john-fell

John Fell (1721-1798) was an American merchant and jurist. He was born in New York City in 1721, he was engaged in overseas trade and has acquired a small fleet of ships by the time he moved to Bergen County, NJ in the 1760’s and lived at ‘Peterfield’, a home in present day Allendale, NJ (that is now known as the ‘John Fell House’) (Wiki).

The original part of the house from the 1700’s

The main room of the original 1700’s part of the house

The Living and Dining Room of the original house

The original fireplace in the older part of the house

The inside of the Fell House

He served as judge of the court of common please in Bergen County from 1766 to 1774. With the coming of the American Revolutionary War, he became chairman of Bergen County’s committee of correspondence and the committee of safety. He was Bergen County’s leading delegate to the Provincial Congress of New Jersey in 1775. In 1776, Fell was elected to a one-year term in the New Jersey Legislative Council representing Bergen County.

The antique dishware and tea pots in the kitchen at the John Fell House

The house is open for all sorts of special events and can be rented out. Please check out their website above for more details.

The Van Allen House/Oakland Historical Society 3 Franklin Avenue & Route 202 Oakland, NJ 07436

The Van Allen House

Oakland Historical Society

3 Franklin Avenue & Route 202

Oakland, NJ 07436

(201) 337-9652

Open: Seasonally; please check their website

http://www.oaklandhistoricalsociety.org

http://www.oaklandhistoricalsociety.org/

TripAdvisor Review:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46693-d10359401-Reviews-The_Van_Allen_House-Oakland_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The Van Allen House in 2023 during the next History Coalition

I visited the Van Allen House on my first trip on the Northwest Bergen History Coalition 6th Annual History Day tour of Upper Bergen County in 2016 and in 2019. It is mentioned on ‘Day Forty-Three’ of my blog, ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’. It had been my last stop of the day. The historic home is currently closed due to renovations on the house and will open in the Fall of 2019.

The Van Allen House during the renovation in 2023 with the added dormers

Of all my stops that day, I found that the Van Allen House was in need of a renovation. From the outside, it is very quaint. On the inside, the house needed a lot of fixing up and restoration work. The upstairs had water marks all over the ceilings. The gardens also needed some serious weeding and planting. IN 2023, the renovations of the upstairs had been completed and the home was replastered and painted. Most of the artifacts were stored in a few rooms that were being finished.

The kitchen is as you enter the home

During the renovation, a lot of the artifacts were being stored in the addition to the house that took place in the early 1800’s. Many of the things that had been donated were showcased in this room off the kitchen and shows the wide variety of the society’s collection. There were all sorts of items from the home, decorative pieces and a variety of things that would have been used at the house as it being a working farm. There were also many Native American artifacts.

Some of the artifacts in the downstairs room

Artifacts in the room downstairs

Household items donated to the society

More household items of the Van Allen House

More artifacts of the Van Allen House Collection

The vast array of items in the downstairs addition of the house will be used all over the house once the renovation is completed sometime in the next two years. There was still a lot to do around the house. There had been so much damage to the house over the years that it needed a major renovation.

The upstairs had been finished with the addition of the domers which a few of the society members had said that these were not part of the original house. They can debate about it but the house looks really nice with them and makes the house look realistic. Still from what the people said that they were not part of the original design.

You could see the vast improvement in the house over the last three years and the extent of the work that had been done already. All the outstairs rooms had been plastered and painted. The rooms looked very modern,

The upstairs has been nicely restored

The upstairs rooms now house many of the home furnishings of the collection along with clothes and personal items of families that have donated them over the years. The upstairs is just finishing the renovation so things will have to be organized in the future but at least you can see the things that the Historical Society has in the collection.

Household items in the collection upstairs

Clothing and bedding items at the Van Allen House

The smaller bedroom of the Van Allen House

One of the best things of the house is its gift shop. It has some of the most unusual handmade gifts that it was worth the trip out to the house. One of the members makes handmade cloth dolls for $5.00 that are just quaint and make a beautiful gift.

The Oakland Historical Society, who operates the house, was putting a lot of time and effort in the renovations of the house and their volunteers I was told would be working on the gardens. Either way, it is an interesting house to visit and it is steeped in history.

The upstairs beams leading to the bedrooms

The toy collection at the top of the stairs

The History of the Van Allen House:

The Van Allen House was built around 1740 as the home of farmer Hendrik Van Allen. During the Revolutionary War, it served as the headquarters for George Washington on July 14, 1777. At the time, he moving his troops from Morristown, NJ to New York (Wiki).

In 1778 and 1779, Bergen County used the house as a court. Edward Day Page, a dairy farmer, businessman and Oakland’s second mayor, owned the house as well as the northern fourth of Oakland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century (Wiki).

Household items at the Van Allen House

It was saved from demolition by the Oakland Historical Society with aid from the Woman’s Club of Oakland. It is now maintained as a museum displaying colonial Dutch life. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1973. There were several branches of the family in the Paterson, Passaic and Bergen Counties in New Jersey (Wiki).

Items in the family collection

The Oakland Historical Society:

The mission of the Oakland Historical Society (Oakland, NJ) is to bring to life and help maintain the history of the Borough of Oakland by activating and preserving especially the Van Allen House site, with the Vygeberg Farm Office Building and by keeping a museum there showing living displays and memories of Oakland’s past. We support living displays and memories of Oakland’s past. We support the Borough’s efforts to continue and complete the renovations of both buildings with the help of the Bergen County Office of Historic Preservation (OHS).

The Children’s bedroom at the Van Allen House

During the year we offer opportunities from people to visit the Van Allen House and experience local life as it was in the 18th and 19th Centuries on a farm settlement in northern New Jersey. The Lenni-Lenape Indians are known to have used the path which followed the Ramapo River Valley north and south and has now become an interstate roadway, Route 202, which goes from Maine south into Maryland and beyond. Copies of letters George Washington wrote at the House are available there during open-houses, usually the 3rd or 4th Sunday afternoon many months during the year. Please check our events page to see when the house will be open (OHS).

The Van Allen House on that gloomy Saturday morning

The site also has a building from 1902, built by Edward Page, one of the industrialists who settled along Route 202 to develop agricultural for the growing cities of Northern New Jersey, such as Paterson or Newark (OHS).

The Van Allen House Marker

The house was really interesting to visit during the Northwest Bergen Historical Coalition. The docents were really nice and they gave some interesting insights about the family and the house itself.

The Christmas holiday event celebrating Sinterklaas and the Dutch Christmas:

The outside of the house decorated for Christmas

The front door wreath

The wreath

In December of 2025, I visited the historical site for the Sinterklaas celebration for the Christmas season. It was a nice festival with making in the hearth and gingerbread man decorating for the kids. These were delicious.

Baking in the hearth

Decorating gingerbreadmen

Indulging in freshly baked gingerbreamen

There was a woman playing Christmas songs on the harpsichord to the group of patrons in the main room of the house and an old fashioned Christmas tree decorated for the holidays.

The colonial woman playing the harpsichord

The performance

Sinterklaas, the Dutch version of Santa Claus was on hand to talk to the children and give out well wishes to everyone.

Sinterklaas talking to the guests

The jolly man greeting all of us

The house both inside and out was decorated for the Christmas holidays and had that early colonial look about it. Back then things were not as elaborate as the Victorian era and were simple pines, green and berries.

The simple table tree

The pines and greens decorating the mantle

The wonderful artifacts that are part of the collection

In the gift shop area there were very reasonably priced handmade dolls and ornaments made by one of the members. These one of a kind pieces are a perfect gift for the holidays. These are a very special gift for a lucky child.

The handmade items in the gift shop area

The grounds of the house and outside doors were decorated with wreaths and greens as well.

The wreath outside the Dutch doors

It was a nice event and the perfect way to start the holiday season. These Oakland Historical Society did a nice job with popular family event. It was a nice way to start the holiday season. The house was beautifully decorated for the season and the Society was planning all sorts of events for the Spring.

The “Brides and Mother’s” exhibition and tour of the home in May of 2026:

I went to visit the Van Allen House for a special exhibition they were having during Mother’s Day of 2026 entitled “Brides and Mothers”, a show displaying the bridal mementos of residents of Oakland, NJ.

The exhibition of “Brides and Mothers”

Family wedding pictures

George and Martha Washington marriage

The Washington’s pictures

Family bridal pictures of local residents

Some of the bridal gowns from the exhibition

The bridal gown and accessories of a local resident

The Spoon Collection hanging on the wall

The Bridal and baby items including blankets and dolls

The baby items for a new family

One of the antique China dolls from the exhibit

The wedding pictures and announcements of local couples, mostly from the 1960’s and 70’s

The display of wedding gowns and hats plus some children’s items

The hats on display

A closer look at the wedding gowns

The bridal gown on display with a wedding registration

The very fancy wedding registration

After touring the exhibition and talking with the docents on the display, I toured the rest of the museum whose displays were being remounted by the current board members.

The refreshed historical kitchen

The historic kitchen

The history of the Cast-iron stove

The display of farm equipment

The antique voting box from Oakland, NJ

The antique toy display

After touring the rest of the displays in the house, I visited their small gift shop filled with home cloth dolls and glass pieces that were stamped with George Washington’s face.

The beautiful handmade dolls

The glass coasters

I then had enough time to tour the grounds on this beautiful afternoon. Some of the volunteers were cleaning up the gardens while I was there and the lawn had been freshly cut.