(WAYNE, NJ) -- Built ca. 1786, the Van Riper-Hopper House in Wayne, NJ has been home to four generations of the Van Riper family as well as several paid and enslaved laborers. This Women’s History Month, Tessa Payer will be focusing on the female members of the household, presenting the house as a case study for researching and integrating women’s history in historic house museums. She presents the program "Women of the Van Riper-Hopper House (and How to Find Them)" online Saturday, March 12th at 1:00pm.
The virtual program is free, but registration is needed. Register online here.
Tessa Payer is the Museum Attendant of the Wayne Museum and a member of the Passaic County Department of Cultural & Historic Affairs. In May 2020, she graduated from William & Mary with a BA in History and Theatre and a Certificate in Material Culture & Public History from the National Institute of American History & Democracy (NIAHD). After graduation, she worked with the Virtual White House Project and ran a history podcast, Works Not Cited.
When the Van Riper-Hopper House was first constructed in the 1780s, it was a two room structure that provided multipurpose living and working space. It also included access to a cellar underneath the home and a loft above. As the Van Riper family grew throughout the years, so did the house. Early expansion likely included the construction of the parlor and hallway to connect the 1786 home to an adjacent one room structure. Architectural evidence - notably the beading on the beams and the cellar hearth - suggest that this structure was built in the mid-18th century. The Van Riper-Hopper House would come to boast five main rooms on the first floor and a garret above. The property likely had outbuildings surrounding it, such as a barn and a privy, which do not survive today.
Throughout their occupancy, the Van Riper family developed their property into a farm. The farm's products likely included fruits, vegetables, grains, and livestock, which they could sell in nearby markets. While family members were involved in cultivation, Van Riper farm was also supported by the labor of countless others. In 1817, Uriah R. Van Riper purchased Annich, an enslaved woman, from his father's estate, and surviving records suggest that she was enslaved by the family as late as the 1830s. Census records throughout the 19th century also list hired farm laborers, such as Simon Peterson and William Dermott, who lived and worked on the property.
After the Van Riper-Hoppers sold the property in the late 1920s, the home was briefly occupied by several farming families before its sale to William and Rita Rehers. In 1960, the house came under threat by the construction of the Passaic Valley Water Commission's Point View Reservoir. Through the efforts of the Wayne Historical Commission, the home was purchased by Wayne Township and preserved. In the summer of 1964, the Van Riper-Hopper House was dedicated as a museum, and in 1972, the home was officially recognized by both the State and National Register of Historic Places.
The Wayne Museum is located at 533 Berdan Avenue in Wayne, New Jersey.
