Creating an Exhibition – TEXT

Resource-Full New Jersey Fertile soil for fruits and vegetables. Finely-grained sand for glass. Rich deposits of ore for iron. The brute force of water for power – and more. Resource-Full New Jersey traces the stories of some of the state's natural resources and looks at how people have used them to transform the state into the place that we know today.  While the stories in this exhibition are only a sample of the many we could tell, together they highlight New Jersey's importance in America's industrial history. Like much of the rest of the country, New Jersey has a natural richness, but it is its location close to major markets, an elaborate network of waterways and roads, and the creativity of the people who harness the natural resources that distinguish the state.  Changes to the environment inevitably take their toll. As we explore a few of the stories about the shaping of New Jersey and its economic growth, we also ask you to consider, “what price prosperity?”

MIGHTY MINERALS Beginning in the 1670s, ironmongers melted the minerals magnetite and hematite from the mountains of northern New Jersey and bog iron ore from the bogs of southern New Jersey into iron to make simple tools for farm and home. After 1840, the iron and steel made of these minerals helped shape the Industrial Revolution in America as manufacturers like Thomas Rogers, Peter Cooper, Abram Hewitt, and John A. Roebling turned the sturdy metals into the railroad engines, rails, girders, and mighty bridges that we now think of as defining urban life.

Cooking PotProbably New Jersey, 1750-1875

Collections of The New Jersey Historical Society Cast-iron cooking utensils were among the most common products of New Jersey’s iron furnaces for many years. Iron pigs were melted to make these practical items in molds. An item like this pot hook, however, would have been wrought by a blacksmith.

“I changed work with my neighbors. I plowed for them and they did my hoeing, cradling, mowing and threshing, cut wood and some other work. This is the way I farmed for many years.”Calvin Green, Hanover farmer, 1792

Creating an Exhibition – LAYOUT/DESIGN

Use of Color

Font size and style are very important for readability.

Font size and style are very important for readability.

Font size and style are very important for readability.

Font size and style are very important for readability.

Font size and style are very important for readability.

Try creating a drawing first of where you want to put things…

…knowing it may change as you actually build/layout your exhibit.

Visual interest

Historical Information

History Day exhibits should strike a balance