From left, Longport Mayor Nicholas Russo, Commissioner Jim Leeds, Historical Society Museum Curator Mary Sue Lovett and Commissioner Dan Lawler.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
LONGPORT – Former resident Mary Sue Lovett has been a driving force behind the success of the Longport Historical Society Museum, serving as its curator for more than 34 years.
On Saturday, July 3, her compadres and the Longport Board of Commissioners honored her with a special recognition that was long overdue. Members of her family and museum supporters attended the surprise ceremony held in front of the Longport Historical Society Museum on Atlantic Avenue.
Mayor Nicholas Russo presented her with the Key to the Borough of Longport and a proclamation naming July 3 Mary Sue Lovett Day in Longport.
He thanked her for her many years of service, which included painstaking pre-internet research on the history of Longport, its storms, professional organizations, and architecture. Russo said future generations would benefit from her contributions to the museum and the borough’s history.
Although she eschews attention, Lovett said, “Well, this was fun. I am surprised, pleased, and happy.”
Her friend and Historical Society Vice-president Ellen Cohen, said were it not for Lovett’s help, the museum, which was founded by her husband, former Mayor Michael Cohen in 1987 when Atlantic County was celebrating its sesquicentennial, may have never gotten off the ground.
Lovett served as the museum’s curator and meticulously researched, cataloged and preserved historical records gathered from borough residents over the years. She also created the gardens around the museum and library, and planted and maintained the Blue Star Highway along the Atlantic Avenue seawall, the proclamation stated.
“She really was a godsend to Michael and they were a great team. Let’s say, she kept him honest and straight,” Cohen said.
Lovett recalled the early days of the society’s formation and remarked that Michael Cohen started the Historical Society with just two tables in the Church of the Redeemer.
“We had fun together, but without his vision, we would have nothing,” she said.
Eventually, the borough provided the society with a headquarters for its artifacts in the stately wood clapboard building that is part of the borough’s municipal complex.
The building that houses the museum once served as the Great Egg Coast Guard Station, and later Borough Hall, and contains eight rooms dedicated to different facets of the community. There are rooms dedicated to Longport’s first families; homes, hotels and trolleys; the Police and Volunteer Fire departments; and Beach Patrol. There’s also a map and reference room, and exhibits dedicated to Amelia Erhart and the Betty Bacharach Rehabilitation Hospital for Children. The Storm Room documents how a series of storms from 1913 to 1916 wiped out the first 10 streets in the southernmost portion of the borough.
The building was recently painted its original white color. The aging shutters were removed, and new shutters will be installed before the end of the summer, and of course, they will be painted its historical green color.
“I’m proud of what we did with the building, which is on the National Historic Register,” Lovett said. “We built the handicapped access ramp, added the weathervane, which is a reproduction of the original, and have done a lot to preserve the building.”
Lovett said she was grateful the mayor mentioned her husband Richard in the proclamation.
“He hung everything you see in the museum,” Lovett said.
A new arrangement with the professional staff at the Longport Public Library will pump new life into the museum and allow the volunteers, who are now in their 70s and 80s, to be helpers instead of the only ones working to keep the museum functioning for residents and summer visitors.
“The new association will give it a future,” Lovett said.
Plans are also in the works to form a non-profit support organization – the Friends of the Longport Historical Society Museum. One gentleman who stepped forward to congratulate Lovett on her honor said he would be one of its first contributors.
A calendar of events for this summer includes a Mummers concert on Aug. 7 and the annual Art on the Lawn show, Sept. 5. A book written by Michael Cohen that details the borough’s historic in print and words is currently available for purchase in the society’s Porch Store.
In addition to getting the key to the borough and the proclamation, the celebration included the planting of a flowering tree in front of the museum – not just any tree, but Lovett’s favorite tree – a pink crepe myrtle.
A temporary plaque recognizing Lovett was placed at the base of the tree until the bronze plaque is manufactured and installed.
To learn more about the museum or to take a virtual tour, see www.longportpubliclibrary.org/historicalsociety.
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