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Exhibit Update -
Part Two of Civil War Exhibit: “The Home Front”

Release Date: October 15, 2011
Location: 15 West Oak Street, Bernards Twp. NJ
Time: During Operating Hours
For Additional Information: Call 908-221-1770

The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills is installing part two of the ongoing exhibit about the Somerset Hills during the Civil War period. This second installment explores the local impact of the war and will be on view at the Bernards Township Library beginning the week of October 17, in the display case outside the Local History Room.

While husbands, fathers, and sons battled on distant battlefields, there were children to teach, business opportunities to pursue and a municipal government to run here at home. For this new exhibit, organized with the assistance of Ruth Lufkin, Supervising Reference Librarian at Bernards Township Library, Historical Society Archives volunteers Ann Parsekian and Kevin Fox have investigated how the rebellion impacted everyday life here, far from the nearest battle or skirmish.

A highlight of the exhibit will be the fascinating record book of The Basking Ridge Literary Society, a group organized in 1861 by local high school students under the guidance of their teacher, twenty-year-old Walter L. Rankin. The ancient book – recently rediscovered in the Historical Society Archives – documents a series of student debates and publications that reveal war through the eyes of these young scholars. Of special interest is the description of a previously unreported engagement on the Passaic River. Transcriptions of excerpts from the book, a challenging effort handled by Kevin Fox, will be available at the library. “Kevin and I were astonished when we came across the Literary Society records as we began cataloging the Historical Society’s archives,” said Parsekian. “It’s an important and unique discovery that tells us a lot about how sophisticated high school education was in Basking Ridge during the Civil War period.”

Also on exhibit will be a sermon delivered by Rev. John C. Rankin, pastor of the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church, on January 4, 1861, a National Day of Fast called by President Buchanan in an effort to calm the nation. Rankin’s sermon is less than calming, and is an important expression of local sentiment.  A scanned copy of the rare original pamphlet was provided through the courtesy of Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.

Above: Walter Rankin and his young son, c. 1868.
At the start of the Civil War, twenty-year-old Walter Rankin was conducting a private high school on the top floor of the Brick Academy in Basking Ridge, NJ. At age twenty-five, Rankin was recruited to become president of Carroll College in Wisconsin, where he served more than forty years.

Image courtesy Carroll University Archives

New Jersey residents had ambivalent views about the war and the South, and Somerset Hills residents were no less divided in their opinions. The exhibit will also explore how the community experienced war and what their feelings were as revealed through municipal records, church documents, census information, local maps and family letters. In addition to artifacts from Historical Society collections, the exhibit will include several Civil War-era objects loaned by local residents. A wooden hub of the kind made at a local hub and spoke factory for Union Army wagons will also be featured. “Although the Historical Society does not have a wooden hub in its collection, we were happy to find one at the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts in Madison that they were willing to lend for the exhibition,” said Fox, who had contacted the museum about the idea.

The first installment of the multipart Civil War exhibit, “Off To War,” will be moved to the main floor of the Historical Society headquarters at the Brick Academy, 15 West Oak Street, Basking Ridge, where it will be on view beginning Sunday, November 6. “The Civil War continues to fascinate Americans,” noted Anne Meany, Director of the Library.  “Books about all aspects of the struggle are still being written and read.  We hope that many of today’s citizens will take advantage of the chance to stop at the Library and view these exhibits and borrow from the Library’s rich collection of books and DVDs on the Civil War.  The anniversary of the Civil War will be highlighted by other activities at the Library as well, including discussion of James M. McPherson’s ‘Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era’ at both the December 2011 and January 2012 meetings of the Evening Book Discussion Group.  ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ by Harriet Beecher Stowe will also be discussed by this group in 2012.

Bernards Township Library, at 32 South Maple Avenue, Basking Ridge, is open from 9:30am to 9:00pm Monday through Thursday; from 9:30am to 5:00pm on Friday, 10:00am to 5:00pm Saturday; and 1:00 to 4:00pm Sunday.  Learn more about the Library at www.BernardsLibrary.org.

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About The Brick Academy

The Brick Academy (also known as the Basking Ridge Classical Schoolhouse) is a 1809 Federal-style architectural structure located in the center of Basking Ridge in Bernards Township. The Brick Academy has been a boys’ private preparatory school, a public school, a meeting hall for several fraternal and benevolent organizations, and the Bernards Township municipal building. It currently serves as the headquarters of The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills, as well as a schoolhouse and museum to local history. The Brick Academy also celebrated its bicentennial in 2009.

About the Historical Society of the Somerset Hills (THSSH)

Founded in 1928 originally as the Historical Society of Basking Ridge, the mission and name of the society was later changed to The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization including all five communities of the Somerset Hills region: Bedminster Township, Bernards Township, Bernardsville ,Far Hills, Peapack-Gladstone which are all located in Somerset County, New Jersey.

The mission of The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills (THSSH) is to acquire, conserve and share local artifacts and information on matters of local historic interest; cultivate interest in local history; encourage the preservation of local historic resources; facilitate historic research; and preserve, operate, and interpret the Brick Academy.

To further this mission, THSSH sponsors events and activities that promote community awareness and appreciation of the history and architecture of the Somerset Hills. THSSH headquarters is at the Brick Academy in the Basking Ridge section of Bernards Township, where our collections of items of local historic interest are available to the public.