The Historical Society of Princeton (HSP) has reopened its museum at Updike Farmstead, 354 Quaker Road. The new hours are: Wednesday through Sunday, 12:00pm to 4:00pm. Admission remains at $4 per person. Thursdays will have extended hours until 7:00pm, with free admission from 4:00pm-7:00pm.
Visitors will enjoy a brand new multimedia exhibition, The Einstein Salon and Innovators Gallery, which celebrates the worldly and entrepreneurial spirit of the citizens of Princeton. Albert Einstein, renowned scientist and thinker, anchors the gallery, while changing displays highlight others from the galaxy of Princeton stars.
Photographs, documents, and other interpretive material contextualize the captivating highlight pieces from HSP’s Einstein Furniture Collection, painting a fascinating and comprehensive picture of Einstein’s time in Princeton from 1933 to 1955. Visitors can expect an intimate and up-close encounter with furniture from Einstein’s home at 112 Mercer Street, including his writing desk – complete with ink spill – situated with Einstein’s favorite chair.
Throughout 2016, the gallery will also explore featured innovator John von Neumann, the Hungarian-born mathematician who led the team that pioneered one of the first modern, stored-program electronic digital computers – initially dubbed “MANIAC” – at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Visitors will come to understand von Neumann’s involvement in the Manhattan Project and see his ID card for the Los Alamos assembly plant. Also on view are the original physical components from the MANIAC computer, generously loaned by the Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Every Sunday at 2:00pm in January and February, a “virtual” tour of Princeton will be lead by HSP’s walking tour guides. The tours focus on early Princeton, including the founding of the University and the Revolutionary War. For the January 31 program, Shirley Satterfield will present a tour of the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood. These special tours at Updike Farmstead are included with museum admission, and refreshments will be served. Downtown walking tours will resume in March, and will continue to launch outside Bainbridge House, the Society’s former location, at 158 Nassau Street.
Upcoming programs include a two-part lecture series in February on the Revolutionary and Civil Wars; part two of our Inspirational Speaker Series in March, an April program celebrating the life of Paul Robeson; walking tours of historic Stony Brook; a music series featuring Charlotte Kendrick and friends; an American Girl doll themed event; spring and fall family fun days. Visit www.princetonhistory.org for updates.
