Upcoming Events
Aprons - An Exhibit and Conversation about Domestic Servants, Domestic Work, and the Women In That Space
Sunday, March 16, 2025 - 2 pm
In the Visitor Center
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Multidisciplinary artist Beverly Keese-Kelley returns to the Trent House with an exhibition of aprons and to lead a conversation about women doing domestic work in their own homes and in the homes of others.
A Trenton native, Beverly began creating art as a youth, under the tutorials of her mother Sudie Keese who taught her sewing, art, and decorating. She compiles her artwork from a 'sustainable' point of view, using what's readily available such as found, thrifted and recyclable items, all the while using techniques and methods long known to African Artisans. Come see Beverly's collection of aprons hung around the Visitor Center - and feel free to bring your favorite apron to show off. Join the conversation with a story about how a woman in your life has influenced you. |
Working at Woodlawn - Domestic Service in the Gilded Age
Saturday, March 29, 2025 - 2 pm
In the Visitor Center
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When Joseph Wood bought what is now known as the Trent House in 1851, he named it "Woodlawn." After Wood's death in 1860, the house passed on to Edward H. Stokes who had married Wood's daughter Permelia. The Stokes family remained owners of Woodlawn until 1929 when Edward A. Stokes deeded it to the City of Trenton to be restored and used as a cultural institution.
During those almost 70 years at least seventeen people worked and lived on the estate, as documented in the U.S. Census. A grant to the Trent House Association from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities is supporting a project to learn more about these individuals. Denise McCormack who is conducting the research will describe what she has uncovered so far about some of the women who worked there and her methods and sources. Denise McCormack is a multifaceted professional whose talents span independent research and writing, performance artistry and storytelling, web/graphic design, and video editing. With a focus on historical narratives, Denise has collaborated with the William Trent House since 2021 on various projects. |
Woodlawn - 1899
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Restoring Sacred Relationships - Bringing Back Lenape Squash
Saturday, April 5, 2025 - 2 pm
In the Visitor Center
Photograph by Mian Jun (https://www.mianajun.com/) and published in Edible Jersey November 2024 for an article written by Fran McManus, "Ancestral Gifts: The Revitalization and Rematriation of the Maycock & Nanticoke Squash".
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The Trent House welcomes back Karelle Hall, a member of the Nanticoke Indian Tribe of Delaware and an expert and activist in the revitalization of the Nanticoke and Lenape languages and cultures.
On Saturday, April 5th, Karelle will describe the work being done to cultivate ancestral varieties of corn, beans, and squash and reconnect Lenape and Nanticoke people with these foods and foodways. She will connect this work with the broader effort to revitalize the language and cultural practices of these tribal communities who were the first to call what is now known as New Jersey their homeland. Karelle Hall holds a doctorate in anthropology from Rutgers University and is a member of the Nanticoke language revitalization team, reclaiming Nanticoke words, concepts, cultural teachings, prayers, and songs. This team has published a beginner Nanticoke language book titled "Once It Has Been Spoken...It Cannot Be Unspoken: Kutiikiitowaakanun." Recordings of Karelle's previous talks for the Trent House - "Lenape Relationship with the Natural World" and "Ties That Bind: Nanticoke and Lenape Language and Revitalization" can be found on the videos section of our website. |
Edward H. Stokes & Photography of the Mid-19th Century
Sunday, April 27, 2025 - 2 pm
In the Visitor Center
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The last owners of the Trent House, then known as Woodlawn, were the Stokes family. Edward Harris Stokes was born in 1824. He became an accomplished artist, photographer and daguerreotypist in the 1850s.
After his marriage to the wealthy heiress Permelia Wood in 1860, Stokes retired from this business to become active in Trenton civic affairs and investments, while his nephew, Stockton Stokes, remained a photographer for many years in Trenton and Philadelphia. This illustrated lecture by Gary Saretzky explores both the early history of photography in Trenton and the life of Edward H. Stokes, who became one of the wealthiest men in Trenton. Gary D. Saretzky, archivist, educator, and photographer, worked as an archivist for more than fifty years. He has published more than 100 articles and reviews on the history of photography, photographic conservation, and other topics, including “Nineteenth-Century New Jersey Photographers,” in the journal, New Jersey History, Fall/Winter 2004, a revised version of which is available at http://saretzky.com. |
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