BELLEVILLE, NJ — A traditional Chinese festival, Qingming, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English, was commemorated at the Chinese monument in the cemetery of the former Belleville Dutch Reformed Church, now Iglesia La Senda Antigua, on Saturday, April 17. Fifty guests from New Jersey and New York gathered under sunny skies to remember the […]
BELLEVILLE, NJ — American Legion Post No. 105 on Washington Avenue in Belleville held a ceremony for National Vietnam Veterans Day on March 29, at which the Belleville Historical Society made a presentation of flags that have flown over Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Md., to the local veterans organizations. “The Vietnam War is a story […]
BELLEVILLE, NJ — The Belleville Historical Society commemorated the 150th anniversary of the first Chinese Lunar New Year celebrated in Belleville in 1871 with a special exhibit during February at the Belleville Public Library, which included a rickshaw and dragon. Belleville was home to the first Chinese community on the East Coast of the United […]
BELLEVILLE, NJ — On Sept. 20, Margaret Lam and David Yen, chairpersons of the United Chinese American Association of New Jersey, quietly observed the 150-year anniversary of the arrival of the first Chinese immigrants in Belleville. Lam and Yen set a dozen red and a dozen yellow roses at the Chinese monument located in the […]
BELLEVILLE, NJ — America’s youngest Medal of Honor recipient was honored at a July 27 birthday tribute hosted by the Belleville Historical Society. President Abraham Lincoln authorized the award for Willie Johnston for his actions during the Seven Days Battles in Virginia in 1862; Willie was 11 years old, having been born in Morristown, N.Y., […]
NUTLEY / BELLEVILLE, NJ — On the morning of July 4, Nutley High School junior Nicholas Russo was part of a Belleville Historical Society honor guard that paid a short visit to the old Belleville Dutch Reformed Church cemetery. The burial grounds are the final resting place of 68 Revolutionary War soldiers from what was […]
BELLEVILLE, NJ — On Flag Day, June 14, the Belleville Historical Society set a flag at the gravesite of Civil War Sgt. Decatur Dorsey, who served as the flag carrier for the 39th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment. Dorsey was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism at the Battle of the Crater in Virginia on […]