Date: Saturday, October 26, 2024
Time: Noon – 3 pm
Venue: The Sapphire Grand Deptford, 1849 Cooper St., Deptford, NJ 08096
The public is invited to the Lawnside Historical Society’s first indoor Anniversary Celebration in years on Saturday, October 26th, 2024 at noon at the Sapphire Grand Deptford, formerly Auletto’s.
This special event will aid the Benson Multicultural History Museum, a separate nonprofit organization, which needs funding to safeguard the collection amassed by the Rev. James and Mrs. Ellen Benson. We believe it is our duty to help save every precious piece of Lawnside history. The Society encourages supporters to join in assisting the museum through their GoFundMe campaign and this event.
The gathering will feature keynote speaker Dr. Synatra Smith, project manager of the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail, an on-going program of the New Jersey Historical Commission. The Borough of Lawnside is among 32 sites in the initial Trail announcement made in April. Dr. Smith is a cultural anthropologist exploring extended reality–which includes virtual, augmented and mixed reality–to enhance special collections and archival records featuring African American art, history, and culture. She sits at the intersection of researcher, gallery, library, archives, and museum professional; and digital humanities practitioner.
The program will include scholars from the Society’s 2024 Summer Underground Railroad Youth Day camp, saxophonist Ron Bass, spoken word by Kenny Scott, music by Bethany Benson King, chair of the Benson History Museum, and a surprise UGRR experience.
The Society was founded in 1990 to save the Peter Mott House from destruction and it took eleven years to open the building as a museum in October 2001. The Society has been blessed these past 34years with grants, first and foremost, to restore the Mott House. Other funding has supported oral histories, State and National Register of Historic Places nominations, lectures, local history exhibits, and three summer Underground Railroad camps.
Tickets
Buffet brunch tickets can be purchased for $80 per adult and $60 for minors on EventBrite.com. To purchase group tickets, call 856-546-8850 or send email to lhs@petermotthouse.org.