HOW HISTORY WAS MADE… AND KEPT IN OLD BRIDGE

By Jeffrey Kagan

Sylvia Marcin was a teacher at the Cheesequake school in 1964. One day a novel idea popped into her head — it was to create an exhibit of historical artifacts for her students. She brought the idea to other teachers and friends, including Mildred Low, and something amazing began to take shape. They pooled their efforts and collected more artifacts for the exhibit which would take place at the Whited Brown School (now the Cheesequake School). It was the talk of the town. John Partridge, a local farmer called Mildred. “Millie, I have a book for you.” It was a government publication called ‘How to Organize Your Local Historical Societies’. The Madison Township Historical Society was founded later that year and the school house became its official home. Mildred Low was elected as the first president. “We needed a place to meet and we asked the Board of Education for either the Morristown School or the Cedar Grove School, the latter being the last of seven one-room schoolhouses in town. The Board of Education agreed to lease it to the historical society for $1 per year. This would become a place for the school children to look back into history. Even the Town Clerk, Mary Brown got involved after Mildred told her, “The Whited Brown School was named after your son, but none of the kids know anything about him.” This inspired Mary to get a photo of him and create a display listing all of his activities throughout World War II.

The Thomas Warne Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm-4pm. Learn more about Old Bridge’s history by visiting www.thomas-warne-museum.com.