The SSAAM Heritage Ensemble performing at the museum’s 2024 Juneteenth celebration.

(SKILLMAN, NJ) -- On Saturday, October 12, 2024, the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum (SSAAM) will hold a free, family-friendly event recreating an 1899 Camp Meeting with live music, costumed reenactors, horse and buggy rides for kids, and more. This is SSAAM's first-ever living history event and is presented as part of Somerset County's 19th annual "Journey Through the Past" weekend.

The reenactment will take place at the historically African American-owned Reasoner-True House and National Historic Register-listed Mt. Zion AME Church (183 Hollow Road) in Skillman, New Jersey. From the 1800s to the 1930s, Mt. Zion AME hosted popular annual camp meetings in Skillman. At a time before cars and telephones, these religious revivals and community gatherings were the biggest social events of the year and attracted Black and white families from across New Jersey’s Sourland Mountain Region.

SSAAM’s 1899 Camp Meeting will prominently feature live music from local singers and musicians, including violinist Laticia Lewis and the SSAAM Heritage Ensemble, an all-African American choral group directed by Rider University’s Vinroy Brown Jr. As a musical highlight, a soloist will perform “They Stole My Mother Away”—a once-lost spiritual from the time of slavery, recreated with research by Brown Jr.—for the first time in nearly 100 years.

Hubbard family dressed for the camp meeting, c. 1918​​​​​​​

Visitors will “meet” historical figures from Black history with original performances by reenactors, including living historian Leslie Bramlett and the celebrated 6th Regiment of the United States Colored Troops. Activities for kids will include horse and buggy rides courtesy of Howell Living History Farm, arts and crafts, scavenger hunts, and ice cream making. At the museum, visitors can experience a special oral history presentation featuring the voices of camp meeting attendees from the early 20th century.

Please RSVP here and reserve your spot! Tickets are free to all. Click here for more information on the event.

The 1899 Camp Meeting is part of SSAAM’s celebration of the 125th anniversary of Mt. Zion AME Church, the museum’s home. In January, SSAAM was one of 31 institutions—out of more than 500 applicants—to receive a Preserving Black Churches Grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to create public programming sharing the story of Black faith, freedom, culture, and creativity at Mt. Zion AME. This grant, along with generous support from the Princeton University Art Museum, made this special event possible.

Schedule:

Camp Meeting Reenactment - Saturday, October 12th from 12:00pm - 4:00pm

Museum Open Hours - Saturday, October 12 from 10:00am - 5:00pm; Sunday, October 13 from 12:00pm - 4:00pm

Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum’s mission is to tell the story of the unique culture, experiences, and contributions of the African American community of the Sourland Mountain region.