Video
Lenni-Lenape Dancing from Past to Present
Video by Kristen Vaughn, Lauren Briede and Sean Randazzo
MULLICA HILL – At an April 2011 event entitled “We’re Still Here,” members of the Lenni-Lenape American Indian tribe of New Jersey gathered to dance, remember traditional ways, and promote cultural awareness. “Our history is a vital part of the history of this state and the country,” said Pastor John Norwood, whose Lenape name translates to Smiling Thunder Bear. “It’s a continuing history. It’s not just in the past. It’s something that is happening right now.” The Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape tribe is still fighting for official recognition from the state of New Jersey.
Roebling Legacy Looms Large on Land, Air and Sea
Video by Robert Stern
ROEBLING – Visitors to the Empire State Building might be surprised to learn that a Trenton company, John A. Roebling’s Sons, made their elevator ride to the top possible. The same goes for some of the most instantly recognizable suspension bridges in the world. Even Charles Lindbergh’s landmark flight across the Atlantic and the first undersea cable linking the United States to Europe depended on wires Roebling manufactured during its heyday.
Roebling anchored Trenton as a major manufacturing hub from the mid-1800s into the second half of the 20th century. It even built a self-sufficient company town alongside its Kinkora Works plant eight miles south of Trenton.
The firm remained family-owned until 1952 but gradually succumbed to economic pressures, shutting down in 1974.
Today, the former company town of Roebling is a bedroom village community where many former plant workers or their descendants still live alongside newcomers.
It is also home to the Roebling Museum, which showcases the history of the company, its people and the community it built.
George Lengel, a retired history teacher and lifelong Roebling resident whose parents, grandparents and other relatives worked in the Kinkora plant, was a driving force behind the museum.
As a museum volunteer and board member, he plays his part in ensuring that Roebling’s special place in history and as a standard-bearer of New Jersey’s industrial glory days live on.
“It’s a remarkable story,” Lengel said. “It would make a good movie some day.”
Raising Jersey Brook Trout, One Fish Egg at a Time
Video by Robert Stern, Michelle Brown and Phil Bolger
CHERRY HILL – Students at Camden Catholic High School are raising brook trout, the official fish of New Jersey, from eggs to maturity and then releasing them back into streams. The project is part of the Trout In The Classroom program, an environmental science project in partnership with the Division of Fish and Wildlife and the conservation group, Trout Unlimited. It is challenging, yet rewarding work for both teachers and students; usually only 8 fish out of 300 eggs survive.
A Way with New Jersey Clay
By Michelle R. Brown
MOUNT HOLLY – Using a recipe of clay from New Jersey and New York, ceramics teacher and potter David Gary Wright has won the highest awards in his field. He shares this knowledge as a teacher at Rancocas Valley Regional High School. “Most people believe they don’t have any talent,” said Wright. “But I don’t buy that. I think people are just not willing to try.”