Join The Old Barracks Museum as they recognize the achievements of Linda Shockley, a remarkable woman involved in New Jersey historic preservation. On Wednesday, March 16th, from 4:30-6:30pm, The Old Barracks Museum will be serving wine and hors d’oeuvres as they honor Mrs. Shockley with the 2016 Beulah Oliphant Award. Click here to register.
Linda Shockley is President of the Lawnside Historical Society, which owns the Peter Mott House Underground Railroad Museum in her hometown of Lawnside, NJ. Her efforts were instrumental in preventing the demolition of the Peter Mott House in 1989 and the preservation of the home in the early 1990s, as well as the formation of the Lawnside Historical Society. The Peter Mott House was added to the National and State Registers of Historic Places in 1994. Mrs. Shockley continues to write, seek funding for the house, guide tours, coordinate oral history projects, and organize the annual Jessie Redmon Fauset Day, commemorating the Lawnside native who wrote four novels and was literary editor for The Crisis magazine during the Harlem Renaissance. She is supported and inspired by a dedicated group of officers, members, trustees and donors who keep the association moving forward.
Mrs. Shockley works as Managing Director of the Dow Jones News Fund, Inc. in Princeton, NJ, a nonprofit foundation at Dow Jones & Co., which promotes journalism careers through college internships, scholarships, and summer workshops. She earned a BA in journalism from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. Before joining the News Fund in 1988, she was an education reporter, news editor, bureau chief, columnist, and city editor for Gannett Suburban Newspapers (now called The Journal News) in Westchester County, New York. Mrs. Shockley has been a member of the Lawnside Scholarship Club since 1992. She was a recipient of its top scholarship when she graduated from Haddon Heights High School.
ABOUT BEULAH OLIPHANT: Through her foresight and determination, Beulah Oliphant ensured the preservation of The Old Barracks Museum in 1902. She served as the first President of the Old Barracks Association from 1902-1903. She is one of the women recognized on the NJ Women’s Heritage Trail. This award is named in her honor, and is presented to New Jersey women in recognition of their outstanding contributions to New Jersey history in historic preservation, education, or scholarship.
