"Stranger Stop and Cast An Eye": An Introduction To New Jersey's Historic Burial Grounds

Far from being scary, spooky places, New Jersey’s historic burial grounds are treasure troves of information for historians, genealogists, archaeologists, and art historians.

This richly illustrated presentation by speaker Richard Veit examines New Jersey historic cemeteries from High Point to Cape May. It provides a chronological overview of New Jersey’s historic burial places from the colonial period to the present. Exceptional examples of colonial, Victorian, and modern memorials are all presented and discussed.

Audiences leave with a new appreciation for gravemarkers and burial places as important sources of information about local history.

Richard Veit is Associate Dean of the Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor of Anthropology at Monmouth University. His research focuses on historical archaeology in the Middle Atlantic region from the late 17 th through 19 th centuries. He has published widely on gravemarkers and commemoration, military sites archaeology, and Native Americans in the Northeast.

He has conducted fieldwork at several significant historic sites including Joseph Bonaparte’s Point Breeze, the Philadelphia Lazaretto, Raritan Landing, Sandy Hook Lighthouse, and Morristown National Historical Park. He has also participated in fieldwork in Puerto Rico, India, Ireland, and Jamaica. He is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles and reviews and seven scholarly books. Two of his books, Digging New Jersey’s Past and New Jersey: A History of the Garden State are listed on the New Jersey State library’s 101 Great New Jersey books list. He is President Elect of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Chair of the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology, and serves as a gubernatorial appointee to the New Jersey Historical Commission. His research has been featured in PBS documentaries, on NPR’s academic minute, and in Archaeology Magazine and he has been a TED speaker.

No registration is required to attend this program, and it is made possible with the support of The Friends of the Livingston Public Library.