A New Exhibit
By Danielle Harvey
March 30, 2023
Allaire Village offers undergraduate and graduate students the incredible opportunity to engage in an internship within their museum and historical library and archives. I have had such an opportunity while pursuing an undergraduate degree in Information and Library Science with the University of Maine at Augusta. I am in my final semester, my Senior Capstone course, and have been with the library and archive since January. Felicity Bennett, the Museum Collections Manager, and Alex Capobianco, the Library & Archive Coordinator have diligently supervised my educational experience here at Allaire, and I’ve been lucky to work with such excellent people, who truly are an asset to this organization. As part of my internship and a requirement of my coursework, I was to engage in a specialized project within the museum and archival research library. It was determined that the perfect project would be to create an exhibit for the museum, utilizing research and historical materials from the archive, and I’ve completed it just in time for the village’s opening weekend. There is an abundance of incredible historical information and artifacts of the Allaire and Brisbane families, who have both contributed to what the village is today, and from the local area, so it was something of a challenge deciding upon what to focus on for my exhibit. As someone who had, at one time, aspired to be an educator (although librarianship is certainly a field that extends into the realm of education), I decided to formulate my exhibit around the educational opportunities offered at Allaire during its time as a self-sustaining community under the ownership, leadership, and guidance of the Allaire family.
School Origins
James P. Allaire was an advocate of education and not only offered schooling to the children who resided at Howell Iron Works, but required it. Children, both boys and girls, attended the school up until the age of 12.
The first school on the property was established in 1822 and located in various locations throughout its existence, including the existing chapel here at the village. Although it was initially solely intended to educate the children of the village’s employees, it would expand to allow tuition-paying boarder students, and eventually became incorporated into the Wall Township School District. The village school remained in existence until around the year 1900.
On Display
The exhibit features information on the who, what, when, and where of the school, including a brief history of the chapel. The display provides a list of the many teachers who educated students during its nearly 80 year duration and information on specific educators. This includes the Rev. Thomas Tanser, who was key to influencing the school’s curriculum, minister of the chapel’s Sunday services, and resident of the village, George D. Allaire, cousin to James P. Allaire, and James P. Allaire, Jr., as well as Hal Allaire, son and heir of James P. Allaire, who continued the school after his father’s passing and acted as Sunday School Superintendent and President of the Wall Township Board of Education. Also on display, and a particular highlight of the exhibit, are educational texts from the archive and library’s collections, the majority being donations from local residents, dating from the early to late 19th century.
“The History of Education” exhibit is available for viewing within the Allaire Village Visitor Center, and is located at the far end of the museum. The Visitor Center is open to the public starting with the Village’s Opening Day event on April 1, 2023 through November. Hours are from 11 AM to 4PM, Saturdays and Sundays. The Archive & Library remains accessible by appointment only, and is available to access 9 AM to 4 PM, Tuesday through Saturday, from April to November, 9 AM to 4 PM, Tuesday through Thursday in the month of December, and 9 AM to 4PM, Monday through Friday, from January to March. Please contact Alex Capobianco at acapobianco@allairevillage.org or 732.919.3500 ext 17 to schedule an appointment for the archive and library.