It was 350 years ago, on June 24, 1664, that New Jersey, long before it became a state, became named and acknowledged as a territory. That deserves a celebration – and it’s getting one…
In Trenton and across the state, New Jersey is celebrating its 350th, with celebrations so voluminous they have their own website, OfficialNJ350.com. The New Jersey State Archives released to me the above photo, which is described as the “Release of James, Duke of York, to John, Lord Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret, original proprietors of the Colony of New Jersey, June 24, 1664.”
It’s a story that involves intrigue and betrayal, and, eventually, a very New Jersey-sounding act of cold-blooded revenge: the digging up of the body of Oliver Cromwell, former Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, just so his body could be beheaded, and his severed head displayed on a pike in the public square at Westminster Hall – for 24 years.
Sadly, the New Jersey 350 committee did not think of producing Oliver Cromwell bobbleheads as a party favor. But there’s a party nonetheless.
This weekend and beyond, there’s a roster of events taking place simultaneously – including, on Sunday, June 22, a one-hour lecture I’m giving, with loads and loads of vintage movie and TV clips, about the history of film and television as it relates to the Garden State.
As part of the anniversary, I was asked by the New Jersey Historical Commission to put together a panel of experts to assemble a list of significant film and TV productions produced or set in New Jersey, or prominently featuring New Jersey natives. That list appears as part of the NJ350 website, and I had invaluable help compiling it from veteran Philadelphia Inquirer film critic Carrie Rickey, tri-state native and Cleveland Plain Dealer TV critic Mark Dawidziak, and filmmaker and Rowan University film professor Jonathan Mason. The film list includes that Internet-anticipating 30-second classic from the Edison studios, 1894’s Boxing Cats, and concludes with a trailer for a film opening this weekend: Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys.
As for TV, it covers everything from Trenton native Ernie Kovacs and his groundbreaking television experimentation of the 1950s and early 1960s, up to and including HBO’s The Sopranos and, unfortunately but unavoidably, MTV’s Jersey Shore and Bravo’s Real Housewives of New Jersey.
Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET, June 22, in the auditorium at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton (205 W. State Street, zip code 08625), I’ll be showing clips from all of them, and more, as my contribution to the 350th birthday of the Garden State. And yes, a clip from Zach Braff’s 2004 movie Garden State is in the mix, too. I’ve also written a blog for the NJ350 website, which includes the list in its entirety.
If you’re in the area, come by and say hi. And stay for the mutton cheesesteaks.
That’s a joke. But I wish it weren’t…