The Paterson Museum Foundation

09/01/2026

🎉Stay tuned…A new exhibit next week at the Paterson Museum

*** Reminder***

A new special exhibition is opening next week! Portraits of Resilience, is an exhibition that combines intimate portraits with social commentary on the struggles of homeless individuals. Created in both charcoal and oil, each portrait is accompanied by testimony in the subject’s own words, recounting their personal journey. This series of portraits is a powerful example of art and life affecting change on each other. Viewers will be asked to both look at the painting, and listen to a life, shattering the comfortable distance of observation.

Artwork- “Stuck” 2022 by Gabo Padilla

Visit us Monday-Friday, 9:30 am- 4:30 pm

Paterson Free Public Library City of Paterson - City Hall Explore Paterson

09/01/2026

Today’s Paterson Evening News negatives are from envelope # 200, Nov 1965, City.

Please be aware, the images shared have just been digitized and have not be researched in depth. The images are also not yet available to the public online. If you recognize anyone or anything in these images, please share that with us by reaching out to the Museum’s Curator Heather Garside at [email protected]

This project is funded, in part, by the Passaic County Cultural and Heritage Council at Passaic County Community College through a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.

09/01/2026

🌊 Remembering History: The War on Poverty Meets the Passaic River (1965) 📜In July 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s newly formed anti-poverty community action corporations set their sights on the Passaic River.Activists and federal officials recognized that deep economic distress in cities like Paterson, Passaic, and Newark went hand-in-hand with environmental decay. Decades of heavy industrial manufacturing left thousands of local residents jobless, while factories simultaneously used the river as an open dumping ground for toxic waste.This critical intersection of economic hardship and pollution laid the foundational groundwork for early environmental justice movements in New Jersey. #1965

08/28/2026

Big shout out to my newest top fans! 💎 Kathleen Donnelly, Jim Durkin, Annette M Shadiack

Drop a comment to welcome them to our community,

08/27/2026

Today’s Paterson Evening News negatives are from envelope # 199, Nov 1965, City.

Please be aware, the images shared have just been digitized and have not be researched in depth. The images are also not yet available to the public online. If you recognize anyone or anything in these images, please share that with us by reaching out to the Museum’s Curator Heather Garside at [email protected]

This project is funded, in part, by the Passaic County Cultural and Heritage Council at Passaic County Community College through a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.

08/25/2026

Today’s Paterson Evening News negatives are from envelope # 198, Nov 1965, City.

Please be aware, the images shared have just been digitized and have not be researched in depth. The images are also not yet available to the public online. If you recognize anyone or anything in these images, please share that with us by reaching out to the Museum’s Curator Heather Garside at [email protected]

This project is funded, in part, by the Passaic County Cultural and Heritage Council at Passaic County Community College through a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.

08/24/2026

A meaningful look back to start the week. ✨ In 1965, Dan and Nora Johnson posed in Paterson, New Jersey, holding a handmade campaign poster supporting the fight against muscular dystrophy. 📸

📺Back in 1965, before national television campaigns took over, local cities had to build their own networks of care.

🏭Why Paterson? As a booming, close-knit industrial hub, Paterson's powerful network of labor unions and tight civic organizations were famous for stepping up. Local kids and families would handmade signs like this to mobilize neighbors, fund local clinics, and ensure nobody faced the illness alone.

It’s a beautiful reminder of how local communities have always come together to protect their own. 💗
❤️

08/23/2026

A beautiful moment connecting Paterson's past and present! ✨ A descendant of the Coombs family—whose ancestors were among the 17 founding members and first to be baptized in the Passaic River in 1823—visited the historic First Baptist Church of Paterson today!
The founders of this church didn't just preach the gospel; they literally developed our city. From John J. Brown (Paterson’s First Mayor) to brave agents of the Underground Railroad, the roots of Paterson's industrial and civil rights history run directly through these sanctuary doors. Preserving this sacred history keeps our community's foundational stories alive for generations to come. 📜❤️

08/21/2026

The Paterson Museum Foundation’s most recent presentation, Otto Benz, is now available to view on the Museum’s Youtube channel. Check it out here:

Born in Paterson on February 6, 1882, Otto Charles Benz, was an imp...