Book Club

The Historical Society’s Book Club is planning a virtual get-together for its May 18 discussion.

We’ll be meeting May 18 at 7 pm via Zoom.us, in conjunction with the Haddonfield Public Library’s Book Club. We’ll be discussing The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, by Kate Moore. The digital book is available through the Public Library’s web site using Hoopla.

The nonfiction book explores the story of women factory-workers in New Jersey and Illinois who suffered agonizing deaths in the 1920s and 1930s because they had used radium-infused paint on the job. (The paint made clock faces glow in the dark.) Sadly, the women were largely blamed for their subsequent health problems, even after radium was proven to be toxic, but their struggles helped pave the way for workplace safety measures.

Kirkus Reviews called the book “compelling,” and says Moore “clearly separates the heroines from the villains throughout this deeply researched book.” The book was named as one of 12 Notable Non-Fiction Books of 2018 by the American Library Association.

The Book Club discussion will be held as a Zoom.us video chat. If you’re interested in joining us, please RSVP to in**@ha****************.org and we’ll send you the Zoom link (and some basic instructions) the day of the chat.

The Historical Society of Haddonfield’s Book Club is planning its first ever video-chat discussion!

We’ll be hosting a small ONLINE discussion via Zoom on Tuesday, April 28 from 7-7:30 pm to discuss Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation, by Cokie Roberts. As you may recall, this was originally planned as the focus for our March Book Club meeting.

**To encourage discussion, we’re limiting the online meeting to 10 participants.**

If you’re interested in being one of those 10 participants, please RSVP to in**@ha****************.org. We’ll send the Zoom link (and some basic instructions) to the 10 participants no later than the day of the chat.

The Historical Society of Haddonfield’s Book Club will hold its next meeting on Tuesday March 24, 2020 to discuss Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation, by Cokie Roberts.

We’ll meet at 7 pm at Greenfield Hall, 343 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield.

Roberts uses correspondence, journals, and other writings to explore the lives of women like Abigail Adams, Deborah Read Franklin, and many others who helped ensure the success of the American Revolution — mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters who worked both behind-the-scenes and very publicly to support the new country.

As always, all are welcome at our discussion, even if you haven’t read the book.

The Historical Society of Haddonfield’s Book Club will next meet on Tuesday January 21, 2020 to discuss No Stopping Us Now: The Adventures of Older Women in American History, by Gail Collins.

We’ll meet at 7 pm at Greenfield Hall, 343 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield.

Gail Collins’ entertaining book presents a social history of American women and aging. She shares women’s stories from the colonial days to the present, from the late-19th century actresses who were considered great beauties at age 60 or 70 to the 1971 advertisement that declared women “old” for being over 25.

The New York Times described the book as an “eye-opening guide to our shifting attitudes about aging,” while the Washington Post declared the book a “cheerful companion through the decades.”

As always, all are welcome at our discussion, even if you haven’t read the book.