There’s extra reason to celebrate at Morven Museum & Garden this holiday season. In addition to its annual Festival of Trees display of trees and mantels decorated by community groups, the historic mansion has also opened its newest major exhibition, “Northern Family, Southern Ties,” scheduled to be on view through 2028.
The result of three years of research, “Northern Family, Southern Ties” is the first exhibit examining the overlooked connections between families straddling the Mason-Dixon Line, the division on the borders of Pennsylvania and Delaware that became a symbolic demarcation between “free soil” and “slave” states. This exhibit complicates the more traditional understanding of the “North” and “South,” by following two families before, during, and after the Civil War.
Marriages that joined elite Northern and wealthy Southern families were not unusual in the nineteenth century, connecting political and economic interests, which included the preservation of slavery. “Northern Family, Southern Ties” focuses on one such marriage between a son of Princeton’s most powerful family and a wealthy planter’s daughter from Charleston. Naval Lieutenant Commandant Robert Field Stockton and Harriet Maria Potter came to own Morven in New Jersey and a plantation in Georgia. Harriet’s parents followed the couple to Princeton, bringing with them staggering wealth made from their ever-expanding rice plantations powered by hundreds of enslaved people on the Savannah River. The effects of this influx of capital are still visible in the Princeton landscape today: from Trinity Church, to Prospect House and even the Delaware & Raritan Canal.
This new exhibition explores why New Jersey aligned more closely with southern states than its northern neighbors on practices and ideologies regarding slavery. It aims to show how the Stocktons’ influence changed the landscape of New Jersey, while examining the lives of those whose freedom was on the line as the debate over slavery unfolded on the national political stage. The exhibit includes the names of those recently discovered in coastwise manifests, like Georgiana Gould, who was moved by the Potters between their Charleston, Savannah, and Princeton homes, from the age three, until she was 25 years old.
Visitors can experience an interactive feature showing this interstate movement of enslaved people, and are invited to take an optional self-guided walking tour of Princeton that stops at sites linked to the Stockton-Potter families.
The exhibition includes a small number of loans from public and private collections. Perhaps the most striking is a recently discovered painting of Colerain Plantation on the Savannah River.
“For years we have searched for views of the Potter’s Colerain Plantation in Georgia,” shares Jesse Gordon Simons, Morven’s curator and registrar. “This spring we came across a black and white photograph of a painting of Colerain in the collection of the Georgia Historical Society, however the location of the painting was unknown. After numerous dead ends, a final internet search revealed that the painting had gone up for auction less than a year earlier after staying in the Potter family ownership since the 1840s. We wrote to the auction house to ask that they pass along a letter to the successful bidder. Almost immediately the new owner responded and generously agreed to lend the painting to the exhibition.”
On view for the first time, the painting is remarkable because it shows the Potter family alongside six men they enslaved, who prepare to row them in a boat down the Savannah River. While the enslaved men remained unidentified, James Potter at the center of the picture was the brother-in-law of Commodore Stockton, and spent his summers in Princeton at what is now known as Palmer House on the corner of Bayard Lane and Stockton Street.
“In a time when difficult history is being flagged and questioned daily, we are honored to give space to the histories of people who have often been omitted. Morven is committed to accurate history and sharing authentic stories,” states Elizabeth Allan, Morven’s Deputy Director and Curator. “This story, through the lens of two families’ experiences, illuminates why powerful people like Commodore Robert Field Stockton played both sides, and how fortunes generated by slavery funded northern interests.”
Concurrently on view at Morven is the special exhibition “Morven Revealed: Untold Stories from New Jersey’s Most Historic Home” (through March 1, 2026) and the permanent exhibition “Historic Morven: A Window into America’s Past.”
In addition, visitors can enjoy Festival of Trees, Morven’s annual holiday display of creative trees and mantels throughout the galleries, which opens on Wednesday, November 19, and remains on view for a week longer than previous years, through Sunday, January 11, 2026.
Seventeen community partners—representing local non-profits, schools, garden clubs, and artists—have been selected by Morven to design trees and mantels. This year’s winning themes include All Aboard to Movie Magic; Family Game Night; A Tribute to Pollinators; Midnight Winter Conservatory; The Yule Lads of Iceland; Neapolitan Baroque; Fruit of the Holiday Spirit; and more. Visitors have the chance to vote for their favorites.
“Festival of Trees is a true reflection of the creativity and generosity of our community,” said Rhonda DiMascio, executive director of Morven. “As we celebrate the 20th anniversary, we are deeply grateful to our partners whose imaginative displays bring joy to our visitors year after year. Their artistry transforms Morven into a winter wonderland, making this season one of the most special times to experience the museum.”
The 17 community partners for Festival of Trees are The Allentown Village Initiative; American Repertory Ballet; Dorothea’s House, Casa di Cultura Italiana; Contemporary Garden Club of Princeton; The Garden Club of Princeton; The Junior League of Greater Princeton; Mercer County Library System; Mount Laurel Garden Club; Nottingham Garden Club; People & Stories – Gente y Cuentos; Princeton Festival Guild; Princeton Garden Theatre; Princeton Ski and Sail Club; Princeton University Press; Stony Brook Garden Club of Princeton; Westrick Music Academy/Princeton Girlchoir and Boychoir; and The West Trenton Garden Club.
There is no additional charge for visitors; museum admission includes Festival of Trees, the new exhibition Northern Family, Southern Ties; Morven Revealed: Untold Stories from New Jersey’s Most Historic Home; and Historic Morven: A Window into America’s Past.
Morven’s Winter Soiree, a fundraising event centered around the Festival of Trees, takes place Sunday, December 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. The celebration inside Morven’s historic mansion, includes live music, food, and festive décor throughout the museum. Tickets start at $500 per person.
Morven Museum and Garden, 55 Stockton Street, Princeton. Open Wednesday through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $12 admission. www.morven.org.
