The moving image has fascinated people for centuries. With the invention of Johannes Kepler’s precision-grounded lenses, photography in the 1830s and Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope in 1891 at his laboratory in West Orange, NJ, all the elements of movie making had come into being. Edison was a genius - starting with a modest store-front arcade and morphing into the Kinetoscope parlor (image above shows man peering into Kinetoscope), the public had a place "to go" to see a movie. Lights! Camera! Action! at the Cornelius Low House/Middlesex County Museum, follows this progression with examples of flip books, early hemispheriums, magic lanterns and three replica Kinetoscopes that have been carefully constructed following Edison’s design. Visitors to the Museum may have the "film experience" as if they were in one of Edison’s parlors. The exhibition and student workshops are available thru December of 2012.

But before Universal Studios, Samuel Goldwyn and D.W. Griffith moved their operations to California – New Jersey was the capital of the movie world! (Madge Kennedy of the Goldwyn Studios seen here)

The film project abounds with sights, sounds and images. here you will find a photo of Alice Guy Blaché - the first woman film director and owner of Solax Studios; Lillian Gish – whose 75 year career began in Fort Lee, NJ; Theda Bara – called "the vamp"; Mary Pickford, Mack Sennett, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and so many more. One room continuously shows old films so pull up a cushion or chair, while other rooms display artifacts, movie posters, coming attraction glass slide images and more film clips. The exhibit also looks at the roles of African Americans in the film industry and the important part they played, the television industry in New Jersey in its early days and notable people who influenced the film industry. Working on the exhibit as guest curators are Richard Koszarski, Professor of English and Cinema Studies at Rutgers University and Hisani Dubose, independent filmmaker/author/college instructor.

2011 is a landmark year for the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission - our 40^th anniversary. Established in 1971 when the Freeholders adopted state enabling legislation, our original mandate was to develop programs in recognition of the Nation’s Bicentennial – at that time, five years away. But, the Commission’s services/programs were  so much appreciated that Legislators and Freeholders were asked to make the Commission (and others like it in NJ counties) a permanent part of the cultural landscape. They did so.

I have been on staff since 1980, and at the helm of this wonderful agency since 1983. The journey has been challenging and stimulating, as each year brought a new adventure: acquisition of the Cornelius Low House (recently voted "Best Loved Museum in Central NJ"); creation of our Folklife Program; acquisition of East Jersey Olde Towne in 1989 - then unusable because of code and infrastructure problems, and today a thriving museum of 11 restored structures (two more will open in 2012); development of our arts and history grant project; VSAartsNJ serving people with disabilities; the American Indian Cultural Center at the Lodge in Thompson Park; our publications division, winning national and state awards for excellence.