An opportunity to learn about New Jersey’s history is coming to Battlefield State Park, Route 33, Manalapan.
The 11th annual New Jersey State History Fair will offer visitors an experience that covers five centuries of the state’s past. The history fair will be held 11 a.m.-5 p.m. May 9. Admission will be free.
Monmouth Battlefield State Park historian Mike Timpanaro said this is the first year the history fair will be held in Manalapan. He said bringing the event to western Monmouth County is part of an effort to try new locations and attract the most visitors.
Beverly Weaver, supervisor of the New Jersey Office of Historic Sites, said the event started in 2004 and attracted about 1,500 visitors.
About 5,000 people are expected to attend the event in Manalapan.
“We have gained a reputation as being a great event for the history community,” Weaver said, adding that the fair “reflects good research and scholarship.”
The history fair has grown to be a statewide event over the years, Timpanaro said.
“Every state park has been involved, in addition to local historic groups, county groups, national state parks and nonprofits,” he said.
The 2015 edition of the history fair is expected to feature about 180 exhibits, including displays from the Monmouth County Historical Association, Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park, New Jersey Scout Museum and New Jersey Civil War Heritage Museum.
The event will offer activities for all age groups. Guests may watch a baseball game played with 19th-century rules, shop at a crafters market, use a drop spindle to make yarn and savor the aromas of Quaker cooking.
There will be military re-enactors, living history demonstrations, and period music and dance.
“The fair offers a broad-based opportunity to learn about New Jersey history and the role of New Jersey in the nation’s history,” Weaver said.
According to Karen Grieco, education and volunteer coordinator for the Monmouth County Historical Association, the history fair allows attendees to “get a feel for what people did” in the past. Her organization will exhibit 18th-century wool spinning, embroidery and quilting by experts in period attire.
“People like to see costumes,” Grieco said.
She said because all clothing years ago was made by hand, these crafts showed an individual’s knowledge.
“Someone would want to marry someone who was proficient in these arts,” Grieco said.
Lora Capozzoli, vice president of the Battleground Historical Society, Englishtown, will exhibit books that detail local history.
She said a significant amount of research went into the books and noted that information found online is often inaccurate. Capozzoli emphasized the importance of local history and of trying to get new people involved in preserving it.
“History has to be saved because it is going out with each generation,” Capozzoli said.
Ted Latham, a trustee of the Edison Memorial Tower Corp., said the Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park will create a special exhibit displaying the history of the three monuments that mark the spirit of Menlo Park.
Latham said this year’s participation is especially important, as it will help bring attention to the Oct. 24 rededication of the restored Thomas Edison Memorial Tower in Middlesex County.