Host: Roebling Chapter, SIA
When: 11 Oct 2025 9:30 AM, EDT
Where: Room 104, Babbio Center, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken NJ
Advance registration is required and includes coffee & lunch
Fees are $55 for Roebling Chapter members, $65 for non-members, $30 for students
DEADLINE TO REGISTER IS OCTOBER 3RD
Join us for a day of talks on the archeology, history and heritage of industrial sites in the New York and New Jersey region. Was a copper mine in New Jersey the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the US? Come to the symposium to find out! There will also be presentations on inventors and innovations from our past as well as talks about major historic infrastructure projects that are still in use today. The day ’s presenters come from varied professions and will provide what will be an interesting program!
Preliminary Program
9:30 Registration and Coffee
10:15 Welcoming Remarks. Mary Habstritt, RCSIA President
10:30 The Schuyler Mine: The Cradle of the Industrial Revolution in America. Leonard Miller, PhD., Visiting Researcher, Stevens Institute of Technology.
11:00 Light, Heat, and Animation: John Stevens and the Dawn of the American Railroad. Ted Houghtaling, Archivist & Digital Projects Librarian, Samuel C. Williams Library, Stevens Institute of Technology.
11:30 Thomas Edison and the Railroads: How Relationships and Process Shaped Innovation. David Vago, Cultural Resources Program Manager, Thomas Edison National Historical Park.
12:00 Brooklyn’s Erie Basin: Origins, Canal Boats, Graving Docks and Curious Characters: Stories from RedHookWaterStories.org. Peter Rothenberg. Historian/Curator, PortSide NewYork.
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Brick Sewer Cities: New Jersey ’s History Underground. T. Cregg Madrigal, Christina Servetnick, Carl Yalden and Elizabeth Davis (Department of Environmental Protection, Municipal Finance and Construction Element) and Anu Khandal, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
2:00 “Lost Annsville,” The Intersection of Art and Industry While Documenting a 19th-Century Industrial Hamlet. Kirk Moldoff, Author/Historian.
2:30 Professor Joseph Henry at the Staten Island Lighthouse Depot: Engineering Light and Sound for the U.S. Lighthouse Service. Michael Vigorito, Ph.D. Seton Hall University; Board Member, National Lighthouse Museum.
3:00 Wrap-up and walk to Library
3:30 – 4:30 Library Exhibits Tour. Attendees are invited to view the historical exhibits on display at the Samuel C. Williams Library, including a full-scale replica of Col. John Stevens’ 1825 steam locomotive. Ted Houghtaling (see above) and Leah Loscutoff, Head of Archives & Special Collections, will be available to answer questions about the exhibits and the ingenuity of the Stevens family, as well as highlight the many scientific and technological contributions alumni, faculty, and staff of Stevens Institute of Technology since its founding in 1870.
Directions:
Stevens is accessible by NJ Transit, PATH, bus and ferry. Please see Stevens’ website for directions to campus and Campus Map:
https://www.stevens.edu/admission-aid/visit-stevens
The Babbio Center is located on the southern end of the campus. It is building 3 on the campus map. Room 104 is on the ground floor. If you are walking from the Hoboken Terminal, walk north along the waterfront on Frank Sinatra Drive until you come to the campus, there is an exterior staircase up to ground floor or an elevator inside the parking garage (immediate left on entering garage then quick right to elevator).
Parking:
Unfortunately, parking on campus is not available. There are several municipal parking garages within a few blocks of campus that have hourly and day rates.
OLIVER EVANS CHAPTER 