2023-04-19 - Spring Speaker Event - Geraldine Thompson, “New Jersey’s First Lady”
Professor of History at Brookdale Community College, Jane Scimeca, presents on the life of philanthropist and activist Geraldine Livingston Thompson (of Thompson Park fame) who became known as “the First Lady of New Jersey.”
Thompson was a pioneering social reformer and philanthropist who resided in Lincroft. The wife of industrialist Lewis Steenrod Thompson and a close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, she was a feminist involved in social and political movements regarding prison reform, public health, and juvenile justice. Mrs. Thompson is credited with founding and heading many philanthropic organizations, including the Visiting Nurse Association. She believed that by making a community safer, our democracy becomes stronger. Dr. Scimeca highlights the accomplishments of this remarkable woman who until now has been forgotten by history. Geraldine Thompson was never interested in power, but in empowering others.
Funding for Hometown Histories was provided by the New Jersey Cultural Trust.
Click [_] box on the bottom right of the video for fullscreen