Historical Society Summer Intern Program
Millburn Short Hills Historical Society
For the third consecutive year, the Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society has offered a 6-week summer internship program to Millburn High School students and alum. Interest in the program has expanded three-fold, with 18 individuals attending this year’s program. As in past years, the interns impressed us with their commitment to the study of our local history and the diligence with which they undertook the tasks of researching, cataloging and archiving material from our collection.
To mark the end of this year’s program, the Historical Society held an informal birthday party for Short Hills founder Stewart Hartshorn at the Historical Society Museum on Tuesday, August 15th. We used this occasion to celebrate the amazing work of our interns, by offering them an opportunity to mount an exhibition highlighting their research.
The exhibition filled the large meeting room of the museum and featured the following:
A display of photographs and ephemera, including a detailed timeline, relating to Taylor Park, which will celebrate its centennial in 2024 (Kira Pramanik (MHS Class of 2026) and Vivaan Pande (MHS Class of 2027).
A historical overview of the founding and development of Short Hills, featuring items relating to Stewart Hartshorn’s life, the Hartshorn Roller Shade Company, and the Hartshorn Real Estate Company by Sophie Shen (MHS Class of 2025) and Lydia Brubaker (MHS Class of 2020) and photographs of Short Hills sites today by Julian Chua (MHS Class of 2025).
A section devoted to Notable People of Millburn-Short Hills, containing profiles of well-known individuals who have lived in town. Among those featured in this section were: Walter Johnson, Thomas Watson, Anne Hathaway, Cora Hartshorn, C.W. Kelsey, Grace Hartigan, Bob Dunn and Frank Jewett by Oren Weinstein (MHS Class of 2024), Justin Selan (Class of 2024), Noah Hrung (MHS Class of 2024), Sanjana Srivastava (MHS Class of2026), Dhruv Gupta (MHS Class of 2027), Ariana Nazir (MHS Class of 2025), Ryan Finklestein (MHS Class of 2025), Ben Huang (MHS Class of 2025), and Jason Li (MHS Class of 2027).
An examination of scrapbooks from the 1950s and 1970s by Eshaan Patwardhan (MHS Class of 2027) and Tanvi Telang (MHS Class of 2027).
In addition to the exhibition, visitors were taken on a walking tour of the Short Hills Park area led by Shrey Aggarwal (MHS Class of 2026) and Arya Gandhi (MHS Class of 2025).
The interns were supervised by Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society Museum Curator-in-Chief Dorothy Kelly. Attendees to the party included: Members of the Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society Board, Millburn Schools Superintendent Dr. Christine Burton, Millburn Schools Director of Communication Nancy Dries, Maplewood Historical Society Board Members Susan Newberry, Millburn Mayor Magee Miggins, Former Millburn Mayor Jacqueline Lieberberg, parents, and friends.
