WHO’S CALLING?: Before becoming an actress and civil rights activist, Ruby Dee worked at Western Electric Company’s Kearny Works in the 1940s. This image is among the artifacts at the upcoming exhibit “Ma Bell: The Mother of Invention in New Jersey,” at Morven. (Photo courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center)

By Anne Levin

Before 1965, phone calls to points overseas were routed through Lawrenceville – specifically, the Pole Farm at Mercer Meadows. The fact that this familiar expanse was the largest radio telephone station in the world, before undersea cable, is just one of the curiosities of “Ma Bell: The Mother of Invention in New Jersey,” an exhibition opening Sunday, March 13 at Morven Museum and Garden.

The show explores the 100-year history of the Bell Telephone System in New Jersey, from the inception of the telephone in the late 19th century to around 1984, when the Bell System monopoly divestiture created the seven “Baby Bells,” known as the Regional Bell Operating Companies.

Included are artifacts and photographs loaned from the Historical Society of Princeton, AT&T Archives and History Center, MIT Museum, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Monmouth County Historical Association, Telesat Canada, and other private lenders.

Curators Elizabeth Allan and Jesse Gordon knew they wanted to include personal stories of people who had either worked for the Bell System, or had family members who had. A crowdsourcing campaign last summer drew about 50 respondents, eager to share their memories.

“We knew a lot of people in New Jersey had worked for the Bell System, and we figured a lot of people would want to tell us their stories,” said Gordon. “We decided to put it out there and let them share their experiences. So we have photos and really nice quotes from people remembering their time at Bell Labs. There is also an interactive place in the exhibit where people who come to the show can leave their memories.”

It was important to the curators to illustrate the human side of the history. “From the get-go, we talked about representing not just the brilliant scientists, but people like the telephone operators, who were central to the operations,” said Allan. “One really great memory came from a woman who was an operator in the 1960s. It’s just how she went through her day, connecting long distance calls, taking breaks, doing more calls. It gave us a nice picture into the life of an operator in the not-so-distant past.”

Several in-person and virtual events, related to the exhibit, are scheduled. A Zoom program on March 20 at 2 p.m. will focus on the achievements of Betty Wood, the first woman scientist at Bell Labs. Northwestern University Professor Margaret Schott is the presenter. A walk through the Pole Farm with historian Dennis Waters is April 2 at 2 p.m. Participants at this live event will learn why the farm was the center of shortwave radio transmission for so many years. Events that are both live and virtual are a celebration of National Telephone Day on April 25 at 6:30 p.m. led by Jon Gerner, author of The Idea Factory; and “The 20th Century Black Scientific Renaissance at Bell Labs” featuring Clyde Bethea, Marian Croak, Bill Massey, and James West, on May 17 at 6:30 p.m.

Bethea, who worked with lasers at Bell Labs starting in the 1970s, was a particular favorite of Gordon. He had responded to the crowdsourcing request last summer, saying he had objects he was happy to share.

“He and his family really welcomed me in,” Gordon said. “He took the time to tell me his story about working with lasers, on things nobody thought was possible. He explained it all to me — the work that goes into every piece of machinery. He also was interviewed for a textbook that we have on view. One of his big things was helping to get kids interested in science. He’s very passionate about that.”

Morven is at 55 Stockton Street. Visit Morven.org for more information.