Will Willams will bring awareness to the archaeological dig conducted on the Montclair History Center grounds in July 2022. The MHC sits on what was a 300-acre tract of land – initially occupied by the Munsee Lenape – and later owned by Jasper Crane (1605-1681) in the 17th century. It is now the site of the Crane House & Historic YWCA, Clark, and Nathaniel Crane houses. Missing from the public record is the history of the Rose’s, a family of florists who operated a greenhouse and floral business on the site of the Crane House & Historic YWCA from about 1899 to the mid-1930s. Will will discuss the important anthropological subject of gender and equality for women in the early decades of the 20th century. The florist shop and greenhouse was a woman-owned business run by Alice G. Rose. Her business ownership resisted the domestic roles women were expected to follow during this time.

Will Williams is a Ph.D. archeology student at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York city and alumnus of Montclair State University. In July 2022, he and other student and volunteer archaeologists, under the leadership of MSU’s Dr. Chris Matthews, conducted excavations at the Montclair History Center’s 108/110 Orange Road campus.

This event will take place on Zoom, register here.

This program was made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program  do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.