PRINCETON, N.J. - Feb. 17, 2022 - PRLog -- Morven Museum & Garden is delighted to announce our upcoming new exhibition: Ma Bell: The Mother of Invention in New Jersey. Featuring historical artifacts that comprised the Bell System in NJ, covering the inception of the telephone in the late 19th century to around 1984, when the Bell System monopoly divestiture created the seven "Baby Bells'' known as the Regional Bell Operating Companies, the show includes loans from the AT&T Archives and History Center, MIT Museum, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the Historical Society of Princeton, Monmouth County Historical Association, Telesat Canada, and other private lenders.

The Ma Bell exhibit opens to the public on Sunday, March 13, 2022 during regular museum hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will remain on view for nearly a year. Morven members and invited guests will have early access to the exhibit, starting with an Opening Reception on Thursday, March 10 at 5:30 p.m., followed by Member Preview Days on Friday, March 11, and Saturday March 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Light refreshments will be served at the Opening Reception. The first floor permanent exhibition remains open to the general public during this time. To reserve a ticket for an upcoming visit, go to morven.org/tickets.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Morven will also be hosting in-person and virtual programs relating to the history of Ma Bell. On Sunday, March 20 at 2 p.m. EDT via Zoom, join us for Betty Wood: Bell Labs Pioneer. In this virtual program, discover the achievements of the first woman scientist at Bell Labs, presented by Dr. Margaret Schott of Northwestern University. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for Morven members.

Join us Saturday, April 2 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. for a Pole Farm Walk with Historian Dennis Waters. For this outdoor, in person event, we will walk through telecommunications history on the site of the 20th century Pole Farm. Tickets are $15 for general admission, and $10 for Morven members.

On Monday, April 25 at 6 p.m., celebrate National Telephone Day with a hybrid in-person/virtual presentation from John Gertner, author of New York Times bestseller The Idea Factory, discussing the history of Bell Labs, the research and development wing of AT&T, and more. The in-person version of the event begins at 6:00 p.m. with light refreshments at the Stockton Education Center at Morven. The program starts at 6:30 p.m. for both live and virtual attendees, with a Q&A following the lecture. In-person tickets are $20 for general admission and $15 for Morven members; virtual tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for Morven members.

Aside from Ma Bell-related events, Morven will be hosting a Signs of Spring Walk on Sunday, March 6 at 2 p.m. with Horticulturist Louise Senior. At this weather-permitting event, please dress accordingly with weather resistant clothing and comfortable shoes. Current CDC guidelines will all be observed. Tickets are $12 for general admission, and $5 for Morven members. Details on where to meet will be provided to all registrants by email prior to the program. Pre-registration is required.

On Tuesday, March 8 at 6:30 p.m. EST, join us for Early American Kitchen Gardens & Gardeners with Holly Gruntner. Holly's work seeks to understand the intellectual lives and influence of lower-class and the enslaved living in eastern British North America – and the early United States – by focusing on their kitchen gardens and gardening activities. Virtual tickets are $10 general admission and $5 for Morven members.

Join us either virtually or in-person for Music at Home: 18th Century Musical Afternoon with the Raritan Players, on Sunday, March 13 at 2 p.m. The Raritan Players present music that was known and heard in the circle of Morven's original residents Richard and Annis Stockton. Virtual tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for Morven members; in-person tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 for Morven members. Live tickets include day-of-program museum admission.

On Tuesday, March 22 at 6:30 p.m. EDT via Zoom, celebrate Women's History Month at Abigail, Annis & Founding Era Female Leaders: An Evening with Woody Holton. Holton, one of the nation's preeminent scholars on women's leadership during the founding era, discusses the efforts of Abigail Adams, Morven's Annis Boudinot Stockton, and more. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 for Morven members.

Lastly, on Thursday, March 24 at 6:30 PM EDT, Morven's Civics Book Discussion Group Series continues with a moderated discussion by Princeton historian and author John Baxter for a virtual celebration of David M. Rubenstein's The American Experiment. Tickets are $5 for general admission and free for Morven members.

Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton St, Princeton, NJ is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

For additional information and associated programming, visit morven.org/programs

Funding for the Ma Bell exhibition has been provided in part by AT&T Services Inc., The Hess Foundation, Liza and Schuyler Morehouse, The Astle-Alpaugh Family Foundation, Richard Lounsbery Foundation, Lisa and Michael Ullmann, Fulton Bank, and Church & Dwight Co., Inc. Morven Museum & Garden is supported by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through the American Rescue Plan Act. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this press release do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.