Monica Chenault-Kilgore, Author

(PISCATAWAY, NJ) -- Join Michele Jones Galvin, Harriet Tubman's Great-Great-Great Grandniece, at the Village for a day of programming exploring Middlesex County's African American history at East Jersey Old Town Village on Saturday, October 11, 2025. The event takes place from noon to 4:00pm and is presented by Arts Institute of Middlesex County and Division of History and Historic Preservation.

Michele Jones Galvin co-authors Beyond the Underground—Aunt Harriet, Moses of Her People, a creative nonfiction work that presents family lore through memoir and historical reconstruction. The day will be filled with immersive and interactive activities for the whole family to enjoy!

Meet researchers and historical interpreters from across the County and learn how they are working to preserve untold stories from our region. Tour the first floor of the Cato Hoagland House, owned by a free Black man, from 1862 until 1899. This new and expanding exhibit features historical objects and primary texts that tell stories of enslaved and free African Americans who lived in Middlesex County.

Please help them celebrate their recent designation as a New Jersey Black Heritage Trail site with the New Jersey Historical Commission. Meet Middlesex County’s historical fiction writer, Monica Chenault-Kilgore, and learn how she uses historical objects, documents, and oral histories to inspire her writing. Check out her published novels, The Jewel of the Blues and Long Gone, Come Home. Stop in our gift shop and get your copy signed before you leave.

Taste foods rooted in African American culinary traditions and discover recipes, culinary traditions, and ingredients from across the diaspora. Don’t forget to take home a personalized set of signed books from Michele Jones Galvin and Monica Chenault-Kilgore, available for purchase through the museum shop.

The Village grounds and all the buildings will be open to the public. East Jersey Old Town Village is located at 1050 River Road in Piscataway, New Jersey.

This free event is co-presented by the Arts Institute of Middlesex County, Division of History and Historic Preservation, with the NAACP Metuchen Edison and Piscataway Branch.