South Jersey history museum opening in Glassboro

By Trish Graber, GLOUCESTER COUNTY TIMES

GLASSBORO — Jeffery Norcross has collected enough artifacts in his lifetime to fill an entire museum. So 10 years ago, he did. Norcross, 55, of Merchantville, Camden County, has moved his collections to Glassboro and will unveil 50 exhibits Saturday at the opening of the South Jersey Museum of American History.

The opening — to showcase local pieces, such as glass bottles and political memorabilia, as well as artifacts from around the world — is part of the Evening of Galleries, an event with exhibits at six downtown locations.

“We’re very excited to open,” Norcross said from inside the converted American Legion Building on High Street Thursday. Norcross has excavated and collected historical artifacts for 38 years.In 1993, he opened the South Jersey Museum of National History in Berlin. But in 2001, Norcross turned the loaned museum space back over to Berlin Township and carted boxes of 19th-century bottles, 1930s farm tools and century-old political memorabilia into storage. With help from the borough of Glassboro, Norcross found the existing space inside the American Legion Building and began moving his pieces in.

He filled the first-level with years worth of excavated artifacts, which include glass bottles, pieces of 18th- and 19th-century tobacco pipes and arrowheads dug from sites across the country. Norcross displayed his more personal items on the second floor. Farm tools he used as a child on his great-grandparents’ farm in Merchantville — where he still lives — hang on the walls.

“My father would say, ‘Boy, go cut the grass,'” he said, looking over the collection of pitchforks, saws and sickles. “I would grab the sickle and go.”

A two-man Great American Tooth saw, a manure fork and lance-tooth saw, all dating back to 1930, are among his most prized farming pieces. Advertisement Norcross said his favorite excavated item is a small brick, with a broken pipe laid into it. “I’ve always wondered what the motivation was behind it,” he said, turning the piece over in his hands. “Was he being playful? Was he angry because he broke his pipe?”

He found the piece while conducting site work in Pensacola, Fla. The museum will open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday. Other locations hosting exhibits until 11 p.m. as part of the Evening of Galleries include Innovasion on High Street, eleven east cafe, the Heritage Glass Museum, the Boys and Girls Club House of Glassboro and the Glassboro Free Library.

A reception will be held at the Glassboro Fire House at 6 p.m. where the Dave Lackner Jazz Trio will perform. Food and beverages will be served at the fire house until 8:45 p.m. A free concert with music by Sara O’Brien is scheduled from 7:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.