Britt Ingersoll - Cumberland County Historical Society

Beacon (00:01.881)

All right, welcome back to the Bridgeton Beacon. I am joined today by Brittany Ingersoll. Brittany is the curator over at the Cumberland County Historical Society, and we're going to talk all things history today. Brittany, welcome.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (00:18.496)

Thank you, thank you so much for inviting me here today.

 

Beacon (00:22.769)

I'm so excited to have you on. And we've been talking about this for a little bit. you are, and here at the Bridgeton Beacon, I'll just start by saying, you know, we focus on people, places, and things in the Bridgeton, Cumberland County area that are doing really neat, interesting things and make it a great place to live, work, and play.

 

And what I have found is that although when we first started the Bridgeton Beacon a couple years ago, we weren't really focused on the past. We weren't focused on history. Our focus was on the present. But what I have discovered over time is that A, the history of our area is just so rich and so wonderful and folks love sharing all of those interesting things.

 

But also I have found that it's really important when I'm speaking with different people to touch on the history and to go back and not forget about how we got to where we are. I've been a history buff my whole life. And so we've really become, I think even more recently here on the Bridgeton Beacon, extremely interested in the history of our area to tie it into the present.

 

And so because of that, and we met through the Cumberland County Historical Society, because of that, I thought it'd be great to have you on as a local history expert to share with our listeners why history is important. Why should we all care about the history of our area? So that's kind of the stage I wanted to set for this conversation.

 

But before we get into that, I want to ask you to tell our listeners a little bit about yourself, the kind of who, what, when, where, and why of Brittany Ingersoll and how you became so interested and so knowledgeable about history.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (02:35.968)

Well, I am from Vineland, New Jersey, which is part of Cumberland. graduated high school, was like a C student, didn't really know what I wanted to do.

 

wasn't saying I'm going to college, ended up going and falling into history. I had a professor who just really got me interested. So I started at Cumberland County College, what was Cumberland County College, now Rowan. And then from there I transferred to Rutgers, Camden. I got really interested in social history, people on the ground, particularly people who

 

found themselves at odds with the law or just working class people who economically struggled a lot. So and then once I graduated with my bachelor's I moved on to the master's program at

 

Rutgers Camden and I got my master's in American history with a certificate in public history and public history is just It's kind of a newer term. It's It's museum work. It's how to work with me work in museums and different and how to work with audiences and stuff like that and then

 

As of recently, have started my library, I'm pursuing my master's in library science and I will be done, which I'm very much looking forward to, in May, this upcoming May. But I started at the, I originally started at the Vineland Historical Society. I was volunteering there in 2013 and Jack Wood, was a former president of the society, who passed away,

 

Britt Ingersoll  (04:31.08)

away several years ago. He contacted Vanya and like, I'm looking, we're looking to hire someone. And so I applied and I started working there in March of 2014. And I just never left. I was hired part time to put the catalog into past perfect. And then

 

I kept taking on more responsibilities, I loved working there, and I learned just the history from being there for so long, and then in 2018 I was promoted to full -time and became the curator of the Historical Society. Yeah, I graduated. no!

 

Beacon (05:20.234)

Wow, that's great. And you went to Vineland High School?

 

Beacon (05:27.571)

All right, there we go. And I'll just note that you had mentioned that you have a master's in American history from Rutgers University. And I should note that that was with distinction. your grades improved over the years. I think that's certainly if you study what you love, you generally will do very well.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (05:37.866)

Yes.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (05:49.45)

Yes, and I thank a lot of my hard work in graduate school to my professors who were so inspiring but also were there if I needed any help and helped push me to get me to where I needed to be academically.

 

Beacon (06:17.342)

Okay, why history though? What was the turn on initially with history?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (06:17.652)

I think I always liked history, but I didn't know it because I didn't like...

 

I'm not good with dates or numbers, which is a pretty common thing amongst historians. And so it was always so boring to me, but I loved going to museums and seeing old houses. And then I had to take a history class when I was at Cumberland. And there was this professor there who did not worry about dates. he would just, we'd walk in and was like listening to a soap opera every day.

 

Beacon (06:33.373)

That's surprising to hear.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (06:53.521)

and it just like made me fall in love with it. That history was just... Yeah, Professor Nicholas Sinyari. I think he's somewhere else. He left when I was still there.

 

Beacon (07:05.171)

Do you remember who that professor was?

 

Beacon (07:14.6)

you

 

Okay, it's neat to hear, you know, when I talk to people and they mention somebody that was instrumental in their lives and it sounds like he kind of gave you that history bug that hasn't left. So that's neat.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (07:26.964)

Yeah, yeah, I always hear people talk about like high school teachers, which my high school teachers, I have some that really stood out and but the ones who, a lot of the educators that really inspired me are the ones that I met in college.

 

Beacon (07:50.138)

Okay. So you, is it safe to say that your focus now, and you know, I've got your resume in front of me and I'm really impressed with how many publications you've been a part of, how many, you know, the books that you've been instrumental in assisting with, the presentations that you have, there's a laundry list of presentations that you have, you know,

 

Britt Ingersoll  (07:51.633)

Thank you.

 

Beacon (08:17.753)

been involved in just in the last several years. mean, your CV is extremely impressive for someone that's, all intents and purposes, had a fairly short, you know, since your academic career. You're still in college. So kudos to you. It seems like your focus has been, to a large extent, on local history. Is that safe to say?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (08:28.48)

Take care.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (08:39.188)

Yeah, I have... no, sorry. I... Yeah.

 

Beacon (08:48.43)

What is it about, you know.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (08:49.266)

A part of it is mainly because of my role at the Historical Society. Our focus is Cumberland County. it's finding the history that I to... I think I found a way to find the history that I love within the geographical area, which has made me love the area a much. I...

 

Beacon (08:53.907)

What is it about our area that's kind of kept your interest?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (09:15.05)

I've mostly focused in Bridgeton since focusing more on history, or the local history. Knowing the history has made me love the city so much more. I just had a meeting with the mayor the other day regarding the Bridgeton Library and I was just like, I love Bridgeton. It's really a pride just wanting to be able to help in any capacity and just learning the really interesting history.

 

Cumberland County as a whole is just a very kooky place, especially like Vineland has a very bizarre history and Bridgeton also does when you start digging. So once you get below the surface, you're like, there's some weird history going on here. I just recently found that Millville does as well. it's it's uncovering those histories.

 

that's made me really appreciate the area more and more. I think because it's just caught that of my historical interests and it's made me value the area more.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (10:36.084)

Yeah.

 

Beacon (10:39.682)

Yeah, that's neat. You say uncovering and I like that because you're almost like a detective, you know, when you're researching. And I have followed, and we'll get into this in a couple of minutes, but I follow your podcast and you really have developed a niche of sorts when it comes to kind of quirky things that other people might not know.

 

And so, know, part of the reason why I like to do this podcast is because I love speaking with people and having these conversations. Like we haven't prepared this at all. We're just having a conversation like we would over the phone. And I really like that. And I'm not a trained historian, but I like to think that these types of oral histories are really, really important.

 

and having these conversations with people and kind of this conversation, right? Somebody might listen to it in a hundred years or maybe not, but it's history, right? Isn't it your primary source? Right. So you mentioned also that you were speaking with Mayor Kelly. You are a member of the...

 

Britt Ingersoll  (11:39.038)

It's constantly being me.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (11:59.178)

Yeah, I was just recently approved as a trustee for their board. I've been working on their processing material in their vault for the last couple months. and thank you. thank you. I'm looking forward to just helping, getting involved in another local institution that is incredibly important and helping it grow.

 

Beacon (12:04.919)

board of the Bridgeton Public Library Board of Trustees, but you were also recently named a trustee, is that right?

 

Beacon (12:23.372)

Well, congratulations. It's well deserved.

 

Beacon (12:37.581)

And the the Brixton Library, you you used to be able to go down there maybe you still can I'm not sure and and Go on to the microfeach and read the old Brixton evening news and there was recently a project Am I correct with the Historical Society where a lot of that was scanned in? Can you just speak about that a little bit while we're talking about the library?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (12:48.299)

Yeah.

 

So recently, so most of the time when you come to the historical societies on this library, we have genealogy bank, which is like a paid service like newspapers .com and they have majority of the britchdon evening newspapers. And so there was ended at like 1929. So we scanned from 1929 to 2008, I believe is when it ended and

 

And then in the Bridgeton library loaned us some of the missing reels that are there was some of the reels we missing. So after the scans, we gave them a copy and I know they're in the process of making that accessible to the public.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (13:46.836)

Yeah, I love it.

 

Beacon (13:50.846)

That genealogy bank is great. We have started, we meaning the Brichton Beacon, we have started utilizing that genealogy bank and you would actually turn me on to that. yeah, we actually, check it out, my producer Tom actually did this on his own, but we are gonna start doing a little clip where we pick a front page of the Brichton Evening from a hundred years ago and just read some of the old articles, which is,

 

Britt Ingersoll  (14:03.485)

fine.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (14:13.086)

Yeah, that's I do the posting T are one of our our administrative assistant and she's also a docent Tia Antonelli has been writing all this up for us and Going through our ephemera collections and everything So we're It's a tour guide it's a fancy term for tour guide

 

Beacon (14:20.307)

That's kind what you do for the Cumberland County Historical Society. I see on the Facebook page you do that. I love reading that. That's kind of neat.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (14:40.922)

No, I take care of... it's kind of hard to explain. I take care of almost everything. Like, it's like, I do like administration work, I do exhibits, I wear lots of hats. But that's just kind of the setup most of the time in smaller historical societies. But...

 

Beacon (14:44.135)

Right. You said docent. What is a docent for our listeners who may not know that term? A tour guide? Got it. And a curator is kind of the same thing or?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (15:02.646)

I have a hard time saying that Cumberland County Historical Society is very small because I don't think it very - it is. I think it's a pretty good, pretty large institution with a number of museums. Mm -hmm. Yeah, since 1905.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (15:28.927)

Yes.

 

Beacon (15:29.725)

Well, and it's got a rich history.

 

You know.

 

That's impressive that the historical society began in 1905. So that says a lot. A lot of history there. One question that I have for you, and this has come up a lot recently, when you are conducting your research, do you primarily look to newspapers or

 

prior publications and what I'm getting at is I'm curious, you've got a master's in history, you're working on a master's in library science with a concentration in archives and preservation. AI, artificial intelligence, what is the, I guess, official position of true historians on

 

Britt Ingersoll  (16:29.502)

I know in library school, I took a class last semester, and I forget what the class was called, but we discussed different ways in which we could use AI. It was just like an idea session of different ways to start bringing how we could use AI in different ways. I unfortunately don't remember the details of it. I am not privy to, I don't know a lot about AI.

 

Beacon (16:33.158)

How, if at all, you can utilize AI in your research? And is it a matter of kind of just fact checking or is it completely off limits?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (17:00.189)

Yeah, so I know it's a lot of concern in academia amongst...

 

professors about students using like chat GBT to write papers and everything. But it's also pretty, I have heard a lot of people say it's also very easy to catch because it's not very detailed. So it's like very surface level. so I don't know, I know in the library science circle, they're trying, they're thinking of different ways, but

 

Beacon (17:16.506)

Right. Well.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (17:35.86)

I'm not sure about the history spectrum, what they're looking at. When I begin research, I start at newspapers. I have key terminology, key terms that I go through to try to find stories because a lot of the time there's...

 

really nothing pre -written outside of the newspapers on individuals that I'm looking for except for like maybe vital records and census records. And sometimes I do, yes. I love Genealogy Bank and actually my last, I just wrote a paper that the sojourn, that's under,

 

Sojourn is the Stockton magazine is currently looking at to see if they want with if they would if they will accept it But yeah, so I would I usually begin at genealogy bank and I have like like I said pre turn key terms I look up to try to see if I catch any articles of my interest

 

Beacon (18:28.868)

Do you start with genealogy bank?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (18:47.072)

But since his last research assignment, think also going to the courthouse and looking at their 19th century court records would also be an interesting avenue to start beginning at as well.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (19:11.306)

Yeah, it's a great source.

 

Beacon (19:19.673)

Okay. And I'll just note for our listeners that anybody can go on to genealogybank .com. I think it was only like 25 bucks a year to get a subscription. It is. what does what you were instrumental in scanning in from the Bridgeton Library that's currently housed at the Historical Society in Greenwich, how is what is contained in those

 

Britt Ingersoll  (19:35.318)

Actually, it's just so funny, so when I was trying, when we were doing that project, I kept contacting Genealogy Bank to see if they would like our microfilms to scan them to add and I couldn't find the right person to talk to and so we did the project and everything is now updated on Genealogy Bank's idea. So now it looks like everything's similar, which is fantastic.

 

Beacon (19:48.726)

I guess, archives different from what you'd get on Genealogy Bank or is there an overlap?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (20:08.032)

Yeah.

 

Beacon (20:22.664)

Okay, so now that means that anybody can just sit from their home and go on the genealogy bank. Okay, that's great. So what was your, you mentioned just a second ago that you were working on an article to submit to Stockton's Sojourn Magazine. What's your most recent research been about?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (20:27.514)

have, it was on, it was looking at the, cause in, archive studies, there are a lot, there's a lot of discussion over voices and representation that you're not finding in the archives due to just either maybe material's not saved, but also,

 

how archivists themselves choose what to keep and what not to keep and what they find important and what they don't find important and how that can affect whose voices are preserved in the archives. I did that. So I took that argument and then I did a case study with three women who were living in Bridgeton, Millville, and Vineland and whose lives not real, whose lives

 

lives other than like newspaper articles and vital records, nothing further was preserved. Which gives us like snapshots into their lives and doesn't give us this fuller richer history. But the one woman who was really interesting, her name was Anne Garrison and

 

Bill Saundrel and helped me get some vital statistic records, was instrumental. she was a, she was just, she just found herself in a lot of trouble. She was hanging out. She was from Millville.

 

And there was this area, I forget where it was at, but was in Millville and it was called the Sandro. And it was this bad area. she was involved in a disorderly house there. So disorderly houses are really kind ambiguous terms because they can be brothels, but they can also just be a rowdy house. Sometimes they can be almost like

 

Britt Ingersoll  (22:29.064)

bars they'll sell beer illegally sometimes but she was her and her roommate were arrested her roommate was found not guilty but Anna was found guilty but

 

One of the funniest things I've ever seen was she was accused for just cursing all the time and having a foul mouth and her rebuttal to it was, I only curse when I'm mad and I just love the documented in a newspaper.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (23:09.099)

Yeah.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (23:14.772)

Yes.

 

Beacon (23:24.304)

That's great. Well, what made you pick her? mean, and I'm going to segue in a minute here to your podcast because in reviewing the articles that you've written, there's quite a few on brothels, which I think is kind of neat. And also the podcast that you do with two of your colleagues kind of focuses on this idea of women's history and how women have been portrayed in history. But before we get to that,

 

Britt Ingersoll  (23:33.032)

I was just, I think I was just googling disorderly houses because the term brothel and prostitutes are not really, they're not printed in the Bridgeton papers very well so it's kind of like finding and reading between the lines. Sometimes they have the name of their disorderly house and you're like, there's no way that wasn't a brothel by the name. I think one of them was Burning Bush.

 

Beacon (23:54.095)

What made you pick Ms. Garrison to study?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (24:02.888)

I just kind of sometimes they'll print really long in -depth stories And I think that's how I hooked on to Annie Garrison But it's so funny because she had several husbands throughout her life her first husband deserted her and They got divorced and he remarried and he ended up Killing his wife his second wife six months after they were married and then so her second husband was an inger

 

soul and I was telling my mother -in like I didn't think anything of it and she pulled up the family tree and was like yeah we're related to him so that was fun to see like yeah but yeah

 

But yeah, just kind of, if the story's real thick and then like, it's like real, like, if it's a hefty story and then I just kind of look up, I'll look up the person's name and if there's more attached then I just kind of fall down a rabbit hole, which is always an amazing feeling when you're just like hooked. When you're like, I just need to find as much as I can. Yeah.

 

Beacon (25:08.006)

That's kind of Little family history.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (25:24.672)

Thank

 

Beacon (25:39.915)

know more. Yeah, it goes back to what you said a couple minutes ago about kind of uncovering those quirky, neat stories that other people may not know about, right? And so, you know, along those lines, I mean, that does seem to be maybe your area of specialty, history of women in our area that maybe were not so well behaved, right? So

 

Britt Ingersoll  (25:40.552)

What?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (25:52.788)

Yeah, so yeah, the podcast is made up of Rosemarie Matthews. She's like our producer. She's the one that it was her idea to start the podcast and everything. And then her daughter, Kate Matthews, she helps us as well. And then the two other hosts that I work with are Victoria Scannella and Tia Antonelli, who are both staff members, staff members as well, the historical system.

 

Beacon (26:09.464)

I guess that's a good segue to talk about your podcast. So why don't you tell our listeners about your podcast, how it got started, who's on it, and what you guys talk about.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (26:22.664)

society. And it just started out as like, let's tell different histories all over the place, histories that interest us. And it's been a really fun project that we are continuing to work on.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (26:44.426)

Thank you.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (26:51.836)

on Spotify. Yeah, I know it's on Spotify. I think it's only on Spotify. We do also share the videos. We just started doing videos and those are on our YouTube channel at the Cumberland County Historical Society's YouTube. And then Spotify is not well behaved women.

 

Beacon (27:10.797)

It's a great podcast to listen to and I would certainly suggest to all my listeners that they hop on over. Tell us where we can find it.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (27:25.542)

No, there's just one. But there's like Cumberland County and Pennsylvania.

 

Beacon (27:41.012)

Okay, I'm just going to pull it up so I can make sure that our listeners can find it. Was there more than one YouTube channel for the Historical Society or did I imagine that?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (27:45.386)

the bookstore in Pittman.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (27:50.998)

Rose Emily is friends with the owner and she said that we could use the space because we were recording when it was just sound at the Gibbon house but since the museum's open and it doesn't it's kind of tight in there so it's but it's been really nice recording in there.

 

Beacon (27:56.768)

Just one.

 

Beacon (28:01.414)

Okay, maybe that was it. So it's the Cumberland County Historical Society, New Jersey. And I like the video too. I think that makes it more fun. Where do you guys record that?

 

Beacon (28:17.982)

Okay, what made you pick there to record?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (28:22.644)

We only curse when we're mad.

 

Yeah.

 

Beacon (28:39.613)

Excellent. Yep. So it's Cumberland County Historical Society NJ and the podcast is the Not Well Behaved Women podcast, which is great. I love it. So there we go. I like it. That would be a great name of the podcast. We only curse when we're mad. So I want to just ask you, you you mentioned a couple minutes ago that

 

Britt Ingersoll  (28:47.353)

no, I know.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (29:02.505)

you

 

Britt Ingersoll  (29:06.13)

Yeah. that'd be a good idea, like cocktails based on the kooky characters of Bridgeton.

 

Beacon (29:08.029)

our area has some really kind of quirky history. Can you share with our listeners maybe, and we didn't prepare this, so I'm kind of putting you on the spot, give us a story, you talked about Ms. Garrison, but give us a story that may interest our listeners that perhaps folks in the Bridgeton area may not know. So I'll turn it over to you for that. Like what's your favorite kind of, this is like a cocktail party.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (29:13.482)

There's one fellow that is near and dear to my heart. was... I ended up finding and learning about him because we had a broadside within the collection at the Historical Society. was like, reptiles, animals, all these animals for sale and bridged in by this guy named Otis G. Bellows. And I was just like, I need to know more about him.

 

Beacon (29:37.299)

story.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (29:44.136)

Genealogy Bank and he it just unwrapped this whole story he had like this museum shop it's been a while since I've looked into this research so it's a little foggy but he had

 

Beacon (29:44.254)

Exactly.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (30:01.674)

He pretty much wanted to be like the next barnum. He did like, he did, he held a science one year on Christmas. He would, he had animal museums so you could go and see his animals. He had both, he talked about how he had these rare birds that he sent over to the zoo in Philadelphia. And I checked those records and I haven't been able to find

 

Beacon (30:09.318)

Otis G. Bellows.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (30:32.508)

documentation on the libraries or on the zoo's end of it. But he wanted to do a traveling Indian show and what those were were like exhibits of indigenous people that would you so you'd go around and in these spaces you could also buy like different like medicine like fake medicine that was mostly like 90 % alcohol but could

 

cure everything or claim to cure everything. So that what he had that and that failed.

 

But he was friends with some of the bigger, or he knew, he had connections with some of the bigger circus people that were popular at the time. But yeah, he was a big deal when he died. I forget what school it was. It may have been the West Jersey Academy ended up acquiring some of his stuff, like a lot of his taxidermy.

 

But, mhm. Yep, he moved several times up around Bridgeton. I don't think he was, his parents, I think they were from New York. But he, yeah, he was in Bridgeton and he only really left when he did the Indian shows. He also did minstrelsy shows as well in...

 

in Bridgeton. So he was like the, he was just, he was like a Barton.

 

Beacon (32:13.37)

Did he live in Bridgeton?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (32:17.782)

He was around 1890, 1880 to 1910. was within that window. He was alive in Bridgeton.

 

Beacon (32:47.963)

What year did he live? What time frame?

 

Beacon (33:07.557)

Got it. I grew up in an old house on Lake Street, 60 Lake Street, the house was built in the 1860s, I think 1865 or 1868, and there was an old schoolhouse out back, and Miss Carey had a schoolhouse, had a little school there, and so I'm really interested in local architecture.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (33:13.7)

that's cool.

 

I can send you his moving. Because that's one thing I always like to do is I like to do drive -bys once I know where some of these people were living. I like to go and see if the house is still standing.

 

Beacon (33:38.105)

local architecture and homes. So I kind of want to do a series on some older homes in town and maybe tour them. I'm curious and what I'm getting at is I'm curious where he lived.

 

Beacon (33:55.363)

Mm -hmm.

 

Beacon (34:01.699)

Mm

 

Beacon (34:07.565)

Me too.

 

Right, me too. I think that's really, really neat. And the other thing that's interesting that I've checked out is Broad Street Cemetery. was a while ago, I was interested in the trial involving the gentleman that was Robert Haltman, who was charged with the

 

Britt Ingersoll  (34:13.014)

Very cool.

 

Beacon (34:38.595)

kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby and the judge in that trial was actually from Bridgeton and he's buried up there. So I had gone there to look. Yeah, so it's kind of neat here, but you're right. I think really what it comes down to is there are so many ties to our area. And I've always said that Bridgeton and the surrounding area is kind of like a microcosm for the country. So.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (34:48.021)

Yeah.

 

Beacon (35:06.266)

I think it's important to know the history and to keep these stories kind of passing down from generation to generation. But the only way to do that is through folks like yourself who are willing to take the time and the energy to conduct research that's accurate, right? And we could probably go on and on about history and what is truth and what is fiction kind of thing.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (35:26.484)

Yeah, and I think, and one thing like being trained is you're always aware of subjectivity. understanding in which the framework of society in terms of like what they saw as moral standards and beliefs and how things, how people should behave and understanding that and being able to see the framework of the situate, like of the newspaper, what it's telling you and understanding that it's

 

Beacon (35:34.539)

But I guess to a large extent, you are relying on the newspaper articles and how they were written at the time. And so I think that goes back to what you were saying a couple minutes ago about the way those women that you were researching were portrayed. And I guess the only way to question the articles is just to continue to do research, right?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (35:56.448)

within that context.

 

Beacon (36:11.584)

Mm

 

Britt Ingersoll  (36:33.222)

I think we have, but I think it's not consolidated. I know that the research club, have a book that sits on many shelves in the area, on local shelves, which I do think is a very good resource. It's on individual women throughout the area, throughout the county, and I think it is very instrumental in picking

 

Beacon (36:37.13)

Sounds like the beginnings of a dissertation.

 

Beacon (36:46.718)

I think, you know, has anyone ever really kind of delved in, you know, to kind of take that topic and expand it? And I'm kind of, as I'm looking at all of the articles that you've written, has anyone really ever done an in -depth study of women and history in our Cumberland County area?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (37:02.936)

telling women stories that of women you wouldn't normally know. And then I think that, yeah, it's a very good resource.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (37:16.436)

It's a local club and they just they from what I from my understanding I've only worked they hold meetings sometimes at the Lemons library so I've only been at one of their meetings but from what I can ascertain is they they research and then they present their research it's a very cool club. Yeah.

 

Beacon (37:16.768)

Mm

 

Britt Ingersoll  (37:40.688)

Yeah, I can give you contacts of it. But yeah, it looks like and then I don't know how often they hold meetings. I don't know if it's once a month or if there's more time between the meetings. But yeah, they'll have one person who does a deep dive into a subject matter. I guess that is that is pre planned. And then they they do the presentation at the meeting and then they have food and it seems yeah, seems like a really cool group.

 

Beacon (37:46.674)

Yeah, I like that.

 

Beacon (37:51.292)

You said the research club. What is that?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (38:09.864)

Yeah, yeah and they're the ones that put together that that fantastic book.

 

Beacon (38:12.828)

That's pretty neat. I would like to know more about that. So have you told me all that you know about that or that club?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (38:20.938)

Yeah, definitely. I can give you a contact.

 

Beacon (38:21.608)

Mm

 

Britt Ingersoll  (38:40.756)

Yeah, and I think it helps people.

 

connect

 

Beacon (38:45.393)

Seems like they'd become just like a wing of the historical society now.

 

Beacon (38:54.958)

Okay, that's neat. I'd like to get some more information on them and maybe have somebody come on and we can talk more.

 

Thank you. You know, I like what you're saying about telling the story of people that maybe nobody else knows about, right? That's interesting to me, like finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (39:14.172)

the professor went around and she asked everyone like why did you pick this class and I I said I was like because if my family and myself were This is the class they would be that like I identify with a lot of that and I think that while maybe I think teaching different histories and bringing those histories to life. I think it helps people connect with the past who may not even be related

 

Beacon (39:36.911)

Lowlights?

 

Interesting.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (39:43.876)

in any sense, but it makes that they see a part of themselves in the past in some capacity and I think that that helps them grow an interest. I think it helps the public become interested and also just knowing the fun kooky stories of some of the people.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (40:28.49)

Yeah, yeah, definitely, because it's like, they're just, they were just like me trying to, trying to get by doing stuff they liked doing, getting in trouble.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (40:44.378)

No. No.

 

Beacon (40:46.36)

Yeah, I mean, I think what you just said, that's it in a nutshell as to why history is important. It's not just about the dates, rememberizing dates, or it's not just about the quote unquote famous people, right? It's about the Miss Garrison's or the Otis Bellows of the world. That's what really makes history so rich.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (41:01.408)

Yeah.

 

Beacon (41:17.304)

Yeah.

 

Beacon (41:21.525)

Mm -hmm. Exactly. You don't have to be well behaved to make the history books. Yeah, I like the I'd like to learn more about the women in the area that were that were lawyers back in the in the late 1800s early 1900s because there weren't a lot of them. And if you ever go over to the Cumberland County Courthouse and walk around in a lot of the courtrooms, they have

 

the composite photos from the Cumberland County Bar Association. And I remember one day when I was still practicing law, I was in court and waiting for my case to get heard and looking at, you know, a composite photo. It was only from like the 60s and there was just a couple women and that kind of interests me as an attorney. But you're right. I think there's probably a lot of

 

Britt Ingersoll  (41:54.004)

Yeah, yeah, doesn't you don't thank God too like because I know like when I stopped when I was a little bit in my two degrees after I graduated with my masters, I lost a lot of I lost all my access to university libraries, which is so instrumental to researchers. So it's it's it's learning the weird ways of how to get around sometimes when the resources aren't there, but there are ways.

 

Beacon (42:18.39)

lot of Ms. Garrison's out there that would be really neat to learn about. But like you said, it takes a lot of work. But knowing that you can at least start the research with the genealogy bank is I think a great resource for everyday folks.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (42:23.95)

and thank God to these online newspaper sources and different like family searches as well have been really helpful with at least starting and building a space in which you can do the research.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (42:41.814)

There's one called Family Search. It's through the Church of Latter -day Saints. It's free. You just have to make an account. But they have lot of census records. Yeah, .org.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (43:17.098)

Thank you.

 

Beacon (43:22.677)

Like Ancestry .com you mean?

 

Beacon (43:29.695)

Okay.

 

Beacon (43:35.594)

family search.

 

Okay, that's neat. Okay, I'm not familiar with that. I'll have to check that out. And, you know, I would love to be able to stay in touch, you know, you and I and maybe have you continue to come back on the Bridgeton Beacon and we'll certainly continue to promote your podcast, which I love. But, you know, I...

 

Britt Ingersoll  (43:45.95)

Yeah, that'd be fantastic. Yeah, definitely. Thank you so much.

 

Beacon (44:05.46)

I think what we're going to start doing is an annual kind of like short documentary or series on an area that is historical in nature in the Carmelin County area. perhaps we can partner to some extent to bring these topics to our community. I think that would be fun and I think it would be a kind of a neat thing to do if you're interested.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (44:11.69)

Well, if you want to get more into history, we have a blog online. I've also recently made our newsletters public on our website. So you can look at those. They have a lot of great, well -researched articles, and the sources are all linked, like are noted on each article. So you can kind of, you can see where all the information has come from.

 

Beacon (44:35.09)

Okay. Okay. Fantastic. Great. So our listeners want to get more involved in learning about history in Carmelin County. What should they do? We talked about Genealogy Bank. How can they support the Carmelin County Historical Society and the important work that all of you do over there?

 

Britt Ingersoll  (44:42.422)

because that's always a good starting point when you're researching anything, seeing what other people have written on it and looking at their sources and then going and looking at those materials. To help the Historical Society, check out what we're doing. We have lots of programs going on currently. We have our big tea anniversary coming up October 5th and that is free to the public. And if you're interested in becoming a member,

 

that you can also become a member on our website as well. And yeah, if you and we're always happy to accept financial donations, but no pressure. But yeah, just just engaging with us too. Like I we're trying to post one of my goals in this month is making sure that we have something to post every day and on social media, whether it's on Facebook, Instagram or

 

Twitter we've kind of taking a little break from tik -tok. We're going to try to get that revamped But yeah, we hit we just want to share as much history with people as we can

 

Beacon (46:10.867)

course.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (46:29.718)

here.

 

Beacon (46:34.579)

Mm

 

Britt Ingersoll  (46:39.968)

Thank you so much. Yes, thank you.

 

Beacon (46:41.443)

Okay, great. And I would just say also that all of your events are available not just on the website, is cchistsoc .org, but also on your Facebook page, Cumberland County Historical Society. So I would encourage all of our listeners, if you haven't already, to like Facebook page, follow it, share the posts. You do a really great job at

 

Britt Ingersoll  (47:01.332)

That is going to be at the Gibbon House. It's going to be an anniversary of the tea. We have a lot going on, not just on the grounds, but in town as well. We're going to have a kids mustering program at a, I want to say noon. The dates, the times, the exact schedule is online. And then we have Dr. John Fia, who will be discussing the tea burning at two o 'clock at the Lemus Library. And then we are doing a tea burning where everyone will be invited

 

Beacon (47:10.673)

sharing tidbits from the newspaper articles. It's kind of where we we've got our idea to start doing a little preview of, know, rich naming news from 100 years ago. So I think it's all great. I really thank you for joining us today, Brittany, and please come back. Stay in touch. And and if there's like I said, if there's anything

 

Britt Ingersoll  (47:31.256)

to throw a piece of tea into the fire themselves. So we are so excited and looking forward to it. Yes.

 

Beacon (47:37.433)

that you're working on that you want to come on and promote and share with us, please, please do. So the next big event, you mentioned it a minute ago, October 5th. And tell us what that is.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (47:44.362)

Thank you so much.

 

Britt Ingersoll  (47:49.46)

Okay. Fantastic. Thank you.

 

Beacon (48:25.327)

Alright, come on down to Greenwich and burn some tea.

 

Beacon (48:31.225)

Brittany, thank you very much.

 

Hang tight, don't log off, and we'll talk soon, okay?