Oral history project offers residents the chance to see what life was like
by Beth Rooney Suereth
A greeting incorporated into the train station cornerstone, from the 1912 directors of the Mountain Lakes Association, offers a wish for future residents:
| "That the Mountain Lakes which you shall know, shall have fulfilled the splendid promise of the Mountain Lakes of 1912; that Mountain Lakes in the maturity of her charms shall give to you the pleasure and the joy she has given us in her youth; And one further wish is ours, that the spirit of the place may endure; that the friendliness and neighborliness, the ready sympathy and the good will, the simplicity and frankness and comeradery, which we have known and which have contributed so much to our lives here, may persist to your day and pervade and make pleasant the living in the Mountain Lakes you shall know." |
Surely the directors wish has been granted. But how can you discover what these residents were really like and what has transpired along the way to fulfill the promise of the Mountain Lakes of 1912?
Borough historian Tim Delchamps and archivist Jackie Burkett can direct the curious to fascinating photographs, a timeline of events and additional written material.
But there is another means of preserving history. To chronicle what life was like in Mountain Lakes through the years, the Historic Preservation Committee has revived an oral history project.
Resident and HPC member Margarethe Laurenzi said, "What we are trying to do is turn memories and recollections into a living archives. The oral histories bring the historical facts to life."
Laurenzi is the project's coordinator. She has sought expert guidance from universities, oral history societies and the Morris County Historical Society.
Mountain Lakes resident and social historian Maria Iacullo is providing extensive assistance to the committee. She is advising members about the gathering and transcribing of historical information as well as different forms the chronicles could ultimately take.
Oral History Project recorders have interviewed people whose governance significantly impacted the town's history and also those who have reflected on their childhoods here long ago.
Dick Wilcox, who held various roles community wide (including that of mayor from 1949-1954), gave his account of borough affairs.
Marian Rohrer, whose first home ("The Bates House" at 198 Morris Avenue) was recently razed, has recorded her memories of growing up in Mountain Lakes in its early days.
"Taken individually, each oral history is a wonderful opportunity for long-time residents to recall their memories and record them for posterity," Laurenzi said. "Each interview offers a glimpse of what life was like, and how individuals experienced the important events of their day. Taken together, these individual histories overlap and reinforce each other to create a tapestry of what made Mountain Lakes a unique community."
The project's current emphasis is on identifying and recording the stories from valuable primary sources elderly current or previous residents, people who are central to the understanding of the borough's history.
The committee wants to integrate the completed collection of oral histories with existing resources, such as the borough Web site's historical pages.
To access this information, go to www.mtlakes.org. Click on "Borough of Mountain Lakes," then "ML History" and then "Description of Early Life in Mountain Lakes," for a taste of oral-history reading. These pages also include an enormous amount of equally captivating additional information about the history of Mountain Lakes.
The ultimate form of the project has not yet been finalized. Some of the information will be included in Wildwood School's third grade curriculum on communities. HPC chair Joan Nix wrote a curriculum that students currently use, about the unique aspects of Mountain Lakes Hapgood houses. The HPC wants to create a final format that will be appropriate for students as well as adult amateur or professional historians.
If you or someone you know has memories of Mountain Lakes to share for posterity, contact Laurenzi at (973) 402-8861 or via e-mail at MPLaurenzi@aol.com.
Or if you are knowledgeable about the borough and are interested in helping to preserve a bit of history, volunteer to conduct an interview or two.
"We have the materials to explain how to conduct an interview," Laurenzi said. "We will furnish you with cassette tapes to use in recording an interview and we'll offer you as much encouragement and support as you need to get an interview done." The committee welcomes help with transcribing interviews that have already been conducted. The HPC also is interested in residents' ideas for how best to make these histories available to the public.
Laurenzi's sense of the project reflects that the founding fathers' wish has come true:
"The shared memories give us a rootedness and a sense of how this community distinguished itself, even in its early years. And it helps us to understand the qualities of the place -- an openness, a friendly character, a love of open space and clean air, a community with a feeling of centeredness that have persisted and we recognize here today."
Beth Rooney Suereth is a Mountain Lakes resident and writes a weekly column for Parsippany Plus.