The Trent House Association hosts “Refuge or Refusal: Turning Points in U.S. Immigration History,” an exhibit exploring the history of immigration to the United States and immigration policy decisions at key points: 1790, 1882, 1924, 1948, and 1965. The exhibit is on view through the end of October during the museum’s normal hours, Wednesday through Sunday from 1 to 4:30 p.m.
The movement of people from around the globe to settle on the North American continent is centuries old. William Trent and his predecessor, Mahlon Stacy, were the first European immigrants who chose to live what became the town and then city of Trenton. While their decisions to immigrate were voluntary, Europeans moving to the American colonies and to the United States in its first half century brought with them kidnapped Africans and in some cases fellow Europeans under coercion or deception.
Moving to a new country on a far-away continent and beginning a new life there was a momentous experience for individuals and families. The act of immigration was influenced both by personal aspirations and needs and by global conflicts and economic conditions. Large scale immigration also has lasting impacts on the new homeland.
In conjunction with the exhibit, the Trent House also hosts a series of talks about the movement of people to New Jersey.
The first, “Smuggling Children: The Trent Family and Illicit Labor,” takes place Sunday, October 12, at 1 p.m. via Zoom. The presenter is Angela Austin, an adjunct assistant professor of history at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she recently completed her PhD in Transatlantic History.
The talk focuses on the involvement of two Scottish families — the Trents and the Coutts — in smuggling children from the British Isles and selling their indentures to North American colonists.
Thousands of children from across England, Scotland, and Ireland were taken from their homes and shipped to North America against their will, transported by wealthy merchants and political leaders who profited from their labor. Families like the Trents and their associates, the Coutts family, participated in these illegal trade networks, using child labor to fuel their economic success and influence.
Both families amassed wealth through clandestine operations, including the trafficking of undocumented child servants, strengthening their prominence in the transatlantic economy. By uncovering the complicity of powerful families and government institutions in child trafficking, this presentation by Angela Austin describes how child labor factored into British imperial expansion and how the Trent family’s involvement in these activities shaped their legacy.
Register for the Zoom talk at tinyurl.com/Oct12Talk. $20 suggested free-will donation.
The following weekend, Reverend José Rodriguez presents “The History of Puerto Ricans in Trenton.” The in-person talk will be given in both English and Spanish on Saturday, October 18, at 1 p.m.
Puerto Ricans began arriving in Trenton in the 1930s and 1940s, with more coming during the city’s industrial boom of the 1950s and 1960s. Trenton’s first major Hispanic group faced significant obstacles and racism, but their pioneering efforts established business, education, and public service opportunities that have benefited subsequent Spanish-speaking newcomers. Because of early Puerto Rican leadership, others from Latin America and the Caribbean coming to Trenton have been able to find bilingual daycare and public-school education, enjoy Spanish-speaking church services, and have important documents translated into Spanish.
Reverend Rodriguez is Director of Education at Trenton’s Iglesia Pentecostal Assemblies of God Church, where he oversees multiple ministries including the Sunday School, Bible Institute, and programs for youth and families.
The final presentation is the series is “Ukrainian Immigrant Communities: Trenton and Beyond from the 1880s to Today,” taking place both in person and via Zoom on Saturday, October 25, at 2 p.m.
Ethnic Ukrainian immigrants have been arriving in New Jersey in substantial numbers starting in the late 19th century, in several waves during the 20th century, and continue to arrive today. Over that nearly century-and-half, they created many communities throughout the state, along with a myriad of churches, societies, civic, and political organizations.
This talk by Michael Andrec gives an overview of that history and describes an online informational resource being created by the Ukrainian History and Education Center in Somerset, where he serves as archivist.
Register for the Zoom talk at tinyurl.com/TalkOct25.$20 suggested free-will donation.
William Trent House, 15 Market Street, Trenton. www.williamtrenthouse.org or 609-989-3027.
