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The Julian Abele Project

The Public History Minor at Monmouth University hosted the first annual Julian Francis Abele “Out of the Shadows” Virtual Public History Symposium via Zoom in 2021. Free for presenters and attendees alike, the Symposium is intended as a welcoming place for public history practitioners at all levels, established and emerging scholars, and graduate and undergraduate students to share their public history work on individuals or groups in history whose legacies have been purposefully or inadvertently suppressed, overshadowed, or underappreciated. We hope to bring these parties out of the shadows and into the fuller appreciation that they so richly deserve.

The Symposium is named in honor of pioneering African American architect Julian Francis Abele, who contributed greatly to the design of Monmouth University’s Great Hall (previously known as both Shadow Lawn and Wilson Hall). Everyone who has attended Monmouth University has personal memories of the building, a National Historic Landmark. But if you ask them about it, they are probably more likely to mention Woodrow Wilson’s brief time at the original Shadow Lawn (not “ours”), or the current mansion’s starring role as Daddy Warbucks’s home in the movie Annie than they are the fact that it was designed in large part by perhaps “the greatest American born Beaux-Arts architect,” Julian Francis Abele. Monmouth University’s Fall 2020 Museums and Archives Management Basics class sought to increase awareness about Abele’s role in the creation of what is perhaps our University’s most beloved landmark by creating “The Julian Abele Project.” Now, we hope to honor Abele’s name with this annual virtual public history symposium, designed to bring regular attention to Abele’s story and to highlight work focused on other figures underrepresented in the historical record. 

The Third Annual Julian Abele “Out of the Shadows” Public History Symposium (Virtual)

Sponsored by the Public History Minor at Monmouth University

December 12, 2023 (9AM-12PM)

Free and Open to All

View a recording of the event here

Keynote

(30 minutes of remarks with 15 minutes for Q&A)

9:00-9:45

Abele’s Legacy Beyond Monmouth University: The Stuart Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania’s Julian Abele Endowed Fellowship in Architecture

Mark Gardner, Board of Advisors, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design and Principal at Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects

Heather Isbell Schumacher, ArchivistUniversity of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design Architectural Archives

William Whitaker, Curator and Collections Manager, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design Architectural Archives

Break

Sessions

(10 minutes of remarks with 5 minutes after each for Q&A)

10:00-10:15

The Story Behind the Story: Telling the History of Colonel Tye at Sandy Hook

Brett Palfreyman, Wagner College

10:15-10:30

Seeking Untold Histories of the Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield

Nicole Skalenko, Kean University

10:30-10:45

They Secretly Helped Many a Fugitive…Siting Paterson, New Jersey, as a Station on the Underground Railroad with special attention to the site known as “Huntoon’s Corner”

Flavia Alaya, Ramapo College of NJ, and Jimmy Richardson

10:45-11:00

Uplifting the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at Monmouth University 

Eugene L. Hardy, MU '24, and Sharina M. Read, MU '24

11:00-11:15

Singing Waiters & Cake Walks: Asbury Park’s Grand Hotels and the Evolution of Early Black Music and Dance

Charlie Horner, Asbury Park Museum

11:15-11:30

An Early Black Photographer in New Jersey: Albert T. Moore

Gary D. Saretzky, Princeton Preservation Group

11:30-11:45

Hinchliffe Stadium: A National Historic Landmark with a New Lease on Life

Kelly Ruffel, Passaic County Office of Culture and Heritage

11:45-12:00

MU Julian Abele Commemorations: An Update

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Schedule updated 11/20/2023. Subject to change.

Contact Professor Melissa Ziobro with questions: mziobro@monmouth.edu.

See more at: https://guides.monmouth.edu/abele.

The Second Annual Julian Abele “Out of the Shadows” Public History Symposium (Virtual)

Sponsored by the Public History Minor at Monmouth University

December 13, 2022 (9AM-12PM)

View a recording of the event here

Keynote

(30 minutes of remarks with 15 minutes for Q&A)

9:00-9:45

“Newark’s Plane Street Colored Church and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Network”

Noelle Lorraine Williams

Director, African American History Program

New Jersey Historical Commission

Break

Sessions

(10 minutes of remarks with 5 minutes after each for Q&A)

10:00-10:15

“Shady Rest Golf and Country Club: The Nation’s First African American Country Club”

Ruby Simmons

10:15-10:30

“Saving the James Howe House”

Dr. Johanna Foster

10:30-10:45

“Oral History Efforts at the Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County”

Jessica Solomon

10:45-11:00

“Shared Bodies: Social Patterns in Rural East Jersey and the Formation of an African American Community”

Will Williams

11:00-11:15

“History on Film: The Great Migration and Asbury Park”

Erin Fleming

11:15-11:30

“Creating a Heritage Walk for Asbury Park’s West Side Community”

Diane Shelton

11:30-11:45

“The Audacity to Persist: The Homophile League and LGBTQA Student Resistance at Rutgers University (1969-1992)”

Dr. Zaneta Rago-Craft

111:45-12:00

“Monmouth University’s Stewardship of Julian Abele’s Great Hall: An Update”

Tim Orr

Last updated 11/19. Schedule subject to change. Contact Professor Melissa Ziobro with questions: mziobro@monmouth.edu.

 

PREVIOUS YEARS 

 

The Inaugural Julian Francis Abele "Out of the Shadows" Public History Symposium (Virtual)

December 14, 2021

View a recording of the event here

Keynote

(30 minutes of remarks with 15 minutes for Q&A)

9:00-9:45

"The Great Hall’s Julian Abele: Architect of the Beaux Arts"

Dreck Spurlock Wilson

Break

Sessions

(10 minutes of remarks with 5 minutes after each for Q&A)

10:00-10:15

"The Julian Abele Project at Monmouth University"

Gillian Demetriou, Monmouth University ‘22

10:15-10:30

"Whispers of the Enslaved at Marlpit Hall"

Joe Zemla, Monmouth County Historical Association

10:30-10:45

"The Northeast Slavery Records Index"

Rick Geffken, Independent Scholar

10:45-11:00

"We’re Still Here: Indigenous History and Persistence in New Jersey"

Claire Garland, Director, Sand Hill Indian Historical Association

11:00-11:15

"Documenting Diversity with Oral History"

Dana Howell, Monmouth County Historical Association

11:15-11:30

"Segregated Seashore: Capturing Asbury Park’s Full Story"

Kay Harris, Asbury Park Historical Society and Museum

11:30-11:45

"Teaching Timbuctoo: Raising the Profile of Antebellum Free Black People in New Jersey History"

Guy Weston, Managing Director, Timbuctoo Historical Society, and Visiting Scholar, Rutgers University

Break

1:15-2:15

"Monmouth University’s Own Hidden Figure: Dr. Walter McAfee"*

Melissa Ziobro, Specialist Professor of Public History, Monmouth University

* Note: this session was co-sponsored by the Monmouth University Works in Progress series.

The inaugural Julian Francis Abele "Out of the Shadows" Public History Symposium was sponsored in part by a Diversity Innovation Grant from Monmouth University.