By Anne Levin

Karina Urbach never thought she’d have to study anti-Semitism in her own time. But Urbach, a native of Germany, has become increasingly aware of the rise in violence against Jewish people and institutions during her time as a Visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) School of Historical Studies, where she has been since 2015.

To help understand the troubling trend and put it in historical perspective, Urbach has organized a panel discussion of noted historians taking place at the IAS on Wednesday, February 5 at 5:30 p.m. As of this past Monday, there were already 280 people signed up to attend “The Impact of the Past: Anti-Semitism — Past and Present” in Wolfensohn Hall.

Serving on the panel are Deborah Lipstadt, author and Emory University professor; Julie Gottlieb, professor in modern history at Britain’s University of Sheffield; and Daniel Finkelstein, a member of Britain’s House of Lords and associate editor at The Times of London. Urbach will serve as facilitator.

“I’m so flabbergasted that I have to read about these violent events taking place in the U.S. and in Europe,” she said during an interview in her office in Fuld Hall at the IAS. “Look at this,” she said, pushing printouts about the reissue of Nazi propaganda books for children being offered by Amazon in the United States and the United Kingdom. “The people publishing these awful books should see we are serious and will fight against this horrible behavior.” more

A PERMANENT MEMORIAL: From left: Princeton Fire & Rescue Squad (PFARS) President Mark Freda, Engine Company No. 1 President William Shields, and former Princeton Fire Department Deputy Chief Roy James have been working to make the installation of a 9/11 memorial at the PFARS site a reality. The steel beam, a remnant of the World Trade Center attacks, has been displayed inside Engine Company No. 1 for the past few years.

By Anne Levin

Eight years ago, Roy James first broached the idea of bringing a nine-foot fragment of steel, salvaged from the World Trade Center, to Princeton. James, who is the former deputy chief of the Princeton Fire Department, wanted to create a permanent memorial to those who perished when the twin towers were destroyed on September 11, 2001.

The proposal has been met with significant roadblocks since that time. But current plans call for the twisted fragment to be permanently installed outside the new headquarters of Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad (PFARS) on Mt. Lucas Road. A spot has been reserved for the beam, and a fundraising campaign is underway.

“We’ve waited all these years, and we wanted to make sure it’s done right,” James said this week. “To us, it’s a monument for many people who lost their lives that day, and after.”

Nine people from Princeton died on 9/11. James’ wife, who used to work at the World Trade Center, could have been one of them. But pregnant and on bed rest at the time, she stayed home that day. James was haunted by the possibility of what could have been — not just for his wife, but for numerous people he spoke with who, for various reasons, didn’t go to work that day and avoided the disaster.

A motorcyclist, James began taking part in memorial rides to commemorate the disaster. He and William D. Shields, who is president of Princeton Engine Company No. 1 on Chestnut Street, rode together in one of them and were struck by the surges of support from those who lined the sides of the roads they passed through. more

HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVED: Dumbarton Oaks, a mansion in Washington, D.C., that housed the conference resulting in the formation of the United Nations, is the first to be profiled in Morven’s Grand Homes & Gardens Distinguished Speakers Series beginning February 27.

By Anne Levin

Last year’s Grand Homes & Gardens Distinguished Speakers Series at Morven Museum was such a success that it has returned for a second season. This year’s talks, to be held at 6:30 p.m. the evenings of February 27 and March 5, 10, and 19, will take participants from the Rockefeller Gardens in Seal Harbor, Maine and fabled Newport, Rhode Island, to Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., and Henry Flagler’s Palm Beach, Florida, estate.

“Launched just last year, the series quickly became a favorite with armchair travel to some of the most sumptuous estates in the country,” said Morven’s Executive Director Jill Barry. “Each speaker brings the inside story to our guests with visuals that will make you long to see them in person.”

First on the schedule is “Dumbarton Oaks: Home & Garden of Humanities.” The stately brick mansion, site of the conference where world leaders gathered to form the United Nations in 1944, is now a research institute, library, museum, and garden affiliated with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University. The estate was originally the residence and spectacular garden of Robert Woods Bliss and his wife, Mildred Barnes Bliss, who donated it to Harvard in 1940. Dumbarton Oaks Director Jan M. Ziolkowski will speak on the Blisses’ world-class collection of Byzantine and Pre-Columbian art, and the historic garden, which was designed by Beatrix Jones Farrand, known locally for her years as consulting landscape architect at Princeton University. more

By Anne Levin

There will be no fare hike for NJ Transit commuters in fiscal year 2021, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Tuesday morning. Murphy made the announcement during a ceremony in Kearny honoring seven locomotive engineers who had completed their training.

“Today, we celebrate another class of future locomotive engineers who will improve safety, reliability, and services for the hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents who ride NJ Transit every day,” Murphy said. “I am also proud to announce that I will not include a fare hike in my Fiscal Year 2021 budget proposal. We are on the path to the resurgence of NJ Transit as a system that commuters can rely on and trust, and I want to make sure that riders are not further burdened while we continue to improve the system.”

Princeton commuters are among those to have experienced significant problems getting to and from work on NJ Transit over the past few years, with delays and cancellations among the biggest complaints. The Dinky, which connects Princeton to Princeton Junction, was out of service for several months last year.

Since taking office, Murphy’s administration has created some relief by adding engineers. The completion of the current class “will help fulfill the agency’s continued commitment to hiring and training more locomotive engineers,” according to a press release from the governor’s office. “This graduating class will bring the total number of new engineers that have joined NJ Transit since late 2018 to 169.” more