It takes a village to raise a child, and it nearly took a village to create the new, exciting, and complete history book, Portrait of the Rose City: A History of Madison, New Jersey, published just this April. Dr. David Luber, a longtime board member of the Madison Historical Society, earned a doctorate in systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and worked for many years at Bell Labs and Telecordia Technologies. Join us as he recalls the 1985 Madison Heritage Trail book and the urgent need for a thorough update to that popular history of Madison by Dr. Frank Esposito. He will explain the financial role of the Madison Public Library and the Madison Historical Society, as well as the tireless efforts of many volunteers in what proved to be an eight-year project.

The unexpected twists and turns that took the project from publication by an academic press to one of self-publication will be highlighted, as well as the remarkable advances in technology since the Madison Heritage Trail. Researching, writing, and editing proved to be a team effort by volunteers with different talents, ideologies, and perspectives, which might have otherwise caused friction -but, not so here. Hence, the comprehensive NEW history of this, the “Best place to live in New Jersey.”

This program is free and open to the public. Kindly let us know you’re coming at speakerseries@gmail.com