Galleries at Fairleigh Dickinson University-University Hall
1000 River Road
Teaneck, NJ 07666
(201) 692-2801
Open: Sunday Closed/Monday-Friday 10:00am-5:00pm
Admission: Free but donations accepted
My review on TripAdvisor:
University Hall on the Fairleigh Dickinson Campus 1000 River Road
The entrance to the museum
The entrance to the Art Gallery
I recently visited the Galleries at Fairleigh Dickinson University and I walked through the new exhibition of being featured by artists Cordelia Barney and Makenna Savnik who are local artists to New Jersey. This was an interesting gallery with walls lined with whimsical art.
The Galleries Museum is located on the first floor of the University Building next to the art Department.
The works by the artists lined the walls
The history of the Arts Department at Fairleigh Dickinson University:
(from the University website)
In September 2018, Fairleigh Dickinson University inaugurated the School of the Arts, a robust center of learning for students who seek arts training grounded in a real-world framework. Today, the School of the Arts is a thriving and exciting community fostering talented students and faculty who are dedicated to a wide variety of artistic expression.
School of the Arts students participate in an innovative curriculum that combines a strong liberal arts education, hands-on creative work, valuable opportunities for internships, and an integrated new approach to arts entrepreneurship.
Outstanding and nationally recognized artists and authors empower our students to reach their full creative potential through speaking engagements, workshops, art shows, and performances. School of the arts students are connected to a network of professional mentors and colleagues who help jump-start their careers. Our Florham Campus features a beautiful and inspiring landscape where students can collaborate across disciplines and flourish while the Metro Campus is located closely to Manhattan. Graduates will be equipped to thrive in today’s — and tomorrow’s — complex interconnected world.
The art works by artist Cordelia Barnet were whimsical and fun with bright colors and inviting patterns. These were the works that stood out in her part of the exhibition.
‘The Flags that Represent Us’ by artist Cordelia Barnet
The sign for the art
The work ‘How would Botticelli See Me?’
The sign for the art
Cordelia Barnet also did an interesting collection of works with Cats as a theme. These were the ones that stood out to me.
The work ‘Hold up the Pinnacle’
The sign for the event
The work ‘Sleeping with the Fishes’
The sign for the work
The works on the other side of the Gallery were by artist Makenna Savnik. Her works were interesting in the repeated symbols and characters she created.
The breezeway of the home. This was for entrance of the home
Location of the house:
(from the Borough of Closter, NJ website)
The Harold Hess Lustron House, located at 421 Durie Avenue, Closter NJ 07624, is currently owned by the Borough of Closter and is operated as a house museum by the Friends of the Lustron Committee of the Closter Historic Society. It is open to the public on the second Saturday of each month from noon to 2 p.m. (Boro of Closter, NJ website).
History of the Harold Hess Lustron House:
(from the Borough of Closter, NJ website)
In 1949, Harold Hess, a recently married returning WWII veteran saw a sample Lustron House displayed at Palisades Amusement Park. In 1950, he purchased the Westchester Deluxe model with attached breezeway and one car garage. Originally he wanted the 3 bedroom, two car garage model but felt fortunate to receive what he got as the company was already heading into bankruptcy. Mr. Hess faced six months of planning and zoning board meetings in Fort Lee. He failed to get a permit to erect the modern metal house and turned to the Closter area where more relaxed building codes provided an opportunity to build the novel construction of the all-steel prefabricated house.
World War II vet Hess never lost faith in his house of tomorrow and was the proud owner till his death in 2004. He raised his family here and remained pleased with the house until the end, noting that there were some adjustments such as finding repairmen with enough problem solving creativity to make repairs to a steel house with a combination dishwasher/clothes washing machine next to and filled by the kitchen sink faucet. Other minor matters were hanging pictures with large industrial magnets and interior spring cleaning with automobile wax. The attractive steel walls never need painting or wallpapering so the color scheme never changed.
Closter’s Harold Hess Lustron House, listed on both the state and national registers of historic places, was scheduled for demolition in 2014. Thanks to advocacy by then-mayor Sophie Heymann and positive action by the Zoning Board, an unusual compromise was reached with the developer-owner of the property to donate the historic house to the Borough of Closter. The Borough of Closter applied for a $25,000 grant in 2016 to have a Preservation Plan written for the Lustron House. The grant was awarded by the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office with monies provided by the National Park Service and did not require any local matching funds. The plan was completed in 2017, work has begun and will be implemented fully over time.
The barbecue grill in the breezeway
The Laundry Room as you walk into the house
The display on Laundry room
History of the Lustron House: Current day
(from the Borough of Closter, NJ website)
There are only two Lustron houses remaining in Bergen County. The other is located in Alpine and has no local historic preservation protection. Approximately nine have survived statewide and an estimated 1500 remain nationwide.
“Lustron” is a trademarked name that stands for “Luster on Steel.” The shiny efficiency of these homes mirrors the optimism that was felt by this country as its GI’s re- turned home triumphant from the Great War. Lustron homes are one-story ranch-style houses built on concrete slabs. They are very modest in size, averaging 1000 square feet of living space. Most of the Lustrons built were two- bedroom models, although a three-bedroom model did be- come available towards the end of production.
The Lustron house was the brainchild of Carl G. Strandlund, who saw the possibilities of utilizing steel left behind from the war effort to create needed housing. Strandlund had previously worked for the Chicago Vitreous Enamel Products Company that manufactured steel enamelware for refrigerators, stoves, and other household appliances. Connecting this technology to the housing industry was the ticket to success in securing federal funding necessary to start production. The Lustron Corporation opened a one-million-square-foot plant in Columbus, Ohio in 1947. But just as quickly as the company’s star rose, it plummeted, and the Lustron Corporation closed in 1950 due to overwhelming debt.
Elements of streamline design abound in Lustron homes, which feature built-in vanities, bookshelves and dining room/kitchen cabinetry, as well as pocket doors and sliding closet doors – all made of porcelain-enameled steel. Lustron homes were marketed as having “cheerful convenience” and “easy-to-keep-clean brightness.” They cost approximately $10,000 each and came in four colors: maize yellow, surf blue, desert tan and dove gray. All of the pieces of a Lustron home could be carried to the building site in one specially designed truck, and construction could be completed in as little as one week.
Interesting features of the Lustron house included the “Thor” dishwasher-clothes washing machine that was located in the cabinetry next to the kitchen sink. Another unique aspect of these homes was the heating system, which supplied radiant heat through a plenum chamber in the space above the metal ceiling panels. Each Lustron house came fitted with a metal identification tag stamped with the model and serial numbers and located on the back wall of the utility room.
The kitchen looked like a complete replica of my grandmother’s and my aunt and mother’s houses in the late 1960’s and early 70’s.
The late 1950’s kitchen
The kitchen of the past
A closer look to the kitchen of the past
The kitchen’s of the past were designed for efficiency but not for socialization. This is why kitchens have grown over the last seventy years to accommodate socialization of everyone ending up in the kitchen.
The Dining Room area off the kitchen
The seating area for the family had lots of light but could be quite tight
Everything was in its place on the shelves
The next part of the tour was the bedrooms which were off to the back of the house. Each was decorated with period clothing, furniture and other Knick knacks.
The Children’s bedroom was the first stop. I saw many toys from my childhood.
The bed had all sorts of puppets and games on it
The shelves were lined with books and board games from the era of the late 50’s and 60’s
Vintage science sets and clothing were on display in the Children’s room
The Master Bedroom had a display of Easter hats
The selection of hats from the 1950’s and 60’s
The Vanity was stocked with jewelry and perfume while the drawers were filled with girdles, white gloves and corsets
The advertising for this home offered all the wonderful amenities
We next moved onto the bathroom which looked like my old bathroom before the renovation
The bathroom
The last room we toured was the Living Room. The room was designed with Danish inspired furniture and clean lines. The room is full of furnishings and decorations from the 1960’s and 70’s done in the Modern Danish look. The room has a very early 1970’s feel about it.
The Living Room
The Living Room
As we finished our tour of the house, we passed through the breezeway again and the patio area. There was an outdoor seating area on the patio.
The Patio just outside the breezeway
The private desk just outside the breezeway
The fondue pot in the corner
The table on the breezeway
When I got back into the house from the outside, I toured one more time and walked around the Living Room. That’s when they showed us the record player.
Seemed like a good place to hide the household’s records
It really was like walking through a time capsule of my past. As I walked through every room, I felt like I was going to see my Grandmother and Great Aunt walking through the door and my mother in her early 30’s yelling at us again to get off her furniture. For a Gen X visitor, it is a step back into our past. What a unique museum.
Swedesboro City Hall at 1500 Kings Highway in Swedesboro, NJ
Mission Statementof the Museum:
(from the Museum website)
The mission of the Swedesboro-Woolwich Historical Society shall be to collect and preserve the architectural, cultural, commercial and farming history of the Borough of Swedesboro and the Township of Woolwich through records, documents, photographs, artifacts, and other means with the purpose to promote and provide access to this history for current and future generations, encourage preservation and restoration of historic landmarks located both in the borough and township and provide educational programs, guided historical tours and exhibitions to a diverse population.
The historic marker in front of City Hall
The front gallery of town artifacts
I recently visited the Swedesboro Historical Society located in a gallery on the second floor of City Hall in Downtown Swedesboro. It is an interesting little museum with several small galleries each dedicated to a different theme of the history of the town.
The gallery of Swedesboro High School memorabilia
The large gallery to the back of the museum houses an extensive collection of artifact on the school system especially to Swedesboro High School. This includes yearbooks, pictures, trophies and other spirit related items that show the rich history of the town’s school system.
Class picture over the last 90 years
Composites from trips to Washington DC from the high school. Some were taken in front of the Capital and some from Mount Vernon. It depended on the year.
The Cantoria Friezes from the old high school
The Cantoria Friezes from the old Swedesboro High School (now the elementary school)
These paster friezes once lined the Swedesboro High School and were taken down during the school’s renovation. The theme was Education and you can see this with each characters look in the pursuit of a higher education. These are the highlight of the High School gallery.
These were original reproductions by artist Pietro Caproni of the ‘Cantoria Friezes’ and are based on masterpieces from museums all over Europe. These friezes were purchased by the school system as part of the furnishings for its opening in 1923. These were cast and housed in his Boston studio (Historical Society website).
The former police department lockers make perfect props for high school artifacts
The museum is housed in what was once the old Swedesboro Police headquarters and the old lockers are the perfect backdrop for the museum’s extensive collection of school artifacts displayed in a classroom setting.
The Swedesboro High School China from the dining room
The Sports Department display
Trophies from the high school spanning 70 years
The next gallery is dedicated to town history and the business district. Many of the businesses have been long closed their memory lives on.
Memories and artifacts on businesses from the past
The museum has a large collection of items from the past from the business district showing how the town has changed and progressed from a farming community to a bedroom community of Philadelphia and New York City.
Pictures of businesses from the past and artifacts from a glass manufacturer whose business was in Swedesboro
Artifacts of businesses from the past
Commemorative plates from churches historic pieces of the town’s past
The back gallery hallway leading to the Swedish Room and the Everything room
Family China from one of the member’s of the Society’s family and era dress
The Indian arrowheads found in town
The town being so close to the water and hunting grounds was a place many local tribes settled in the summer months this there was a large collection of arrowheads and other Native American artifacts. This shows the area influence of the Lenape tribes before the Revolutionary War in this area as a hunting and fishing ground.
The ‘Everything Room’ where everything gets stored which does not have a home or display yet
The next display room was the ‘Swedish Room’ dedicated to the Swedish citizens who settled in the Delaware Bay along with Dutch. Swedish immigrants populated this area along with the Dutch in the late 1600’s and were an influence in the Delaware Bay area. “New Sweden” was established and thrived through the Revolutionary War.
The Swedish Gallery with the theme of “New Sweden” colony
Some of the cultural items from the Swedish population that used to live here including a photo of the Swedish royal family
A recreation of a home of a Swedish family in that time period
Books, maps and artifacts from the Swedish cultural the once dominated this community.
The last small gallery at the museum displayed the town’s Military contributions during the wars and artifacts on the town’s governing body.
The history of the different fraternal orders that were once and still are part of the town of Swedesboro.
More of the awards and accolades of the organizations in town.
The map of the town around the turn of the last century
Members of the Swedesboro community
The Military Gallery with uniforms, pictures and artifacts including medals from the town’s citizens that fought in the wars
What was nice about this gallery is that it shows the contribution of a small town and what they did for the war effort. The collection of uniforms is quite extensive.
The uniform and picture of a soldier from WWI
In the entrance to the museum, there are more displays on the town’s farming past and the people who helped shape this community to what is today.
Artifacts that are part of the town’s agricultural past in farming strawberries
Pictures of the architect and first Mayor of the town that helped shape the town
For such a small museum, the galleries are packed with interesting information of the Town of Swedesboro, its past, its present and its future. The museum tells the story of where the community has been and how it will shape its future.
Take your time to stroll the three galleries and look at the fascinating past of this small New Jersey town. Then head outside and walk its downtown to stroll the present. There are a lot of wonderful stores and restaurant to visit there as well. This is what makes the town of Swedesboro so special.
The History of the Swedesboro Museum:
(from the Museum website)
The Swedesboro-Woolwich Historical Society provides cultural and educational events throughout the year for area residents. Its goal is to obtain and preserve the history of the Borough and surrounding Woolwich Township. To meet this end, the society collects and archives artifacts, documents, books, photos, family histories and items which help to keep Swedesboro’s rich history alive. To add to our collection, volunteer with exhibits, or to give an oral history, click here to contact the Swedesboro-Woolwich Historical Society. To become a member, click here to download a membership application.
Visit our booth on Swedesboro-Woolwich Day in September. Learn about local history, purchase books and other items to support the historical society. Civil War re-enactors also attend town events to educate people about Swedesboro’s rich history and memorialize fallen Swedesboro & Woolwich Township soldiers.
In addition to our presence at local events, the Historical Society participates in programs to excite the community about Swedesboro’s rich history. Twice a year, we visit Fourth Grade classrooms within the Swedesboro-Woolwich School District to encourage interest in the history and culture of our community among students and teachers alike. Our meetings, held on the third Wednesday of every month (except July & August) at 7:00 PM and open to the public, also feature special interest speakers, authors, re-enactors, traveling exhibits from the Gloucester County Historical Society, and special programs throughout the year.
To learn more about our organization and local history, please stop by our booth at town events, strike up a conversation with a re-enactor you meet on the street, or join us at our new location (on the second floor of Borough Hall at 1500 Kings Highway in Swedesboro) for a meeting. To support the Historical Society, click here to purchase Historic Swedesboro Merchandise. New publications are researched, written and printed each year!
Video at the Swedesboro Historical Society-A Special Visit
This visit showcases the pictures that I took all over the museum. This gives a more detailed description of all the artifacts in the museum.
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 