The Trent House Association will host a talk by Gary Saretzky illustrating photography of the mid-19th century with a special focus on the work and life of Edward H. Stokes. This free talk will be given on Sunday, April 27 at 2 p.m. in the Trent House Visitor Center, located at 15 Market Street, Trenton. Free parking is available behind the property off William Trent Place.

The last private owners of the Trent House, then known as Woodlawn, were the Stokes family. Edward Harris Stokes was born in 1824. He became an accomplished artist, photographer, and daguerreotypist in the 1850s. After his marriage to the wealthy heiress Permelia Wood in 1860, Stokes retired from this business to become active in Trenton ​civic affairs and investments, while his nephew, Stockton Stokes, remained a photographer for many years in Trenton and Philadelphia. This illustrated lecture by Gary Saretzky explores both the early history of photography in Trenton and the life of Edward H. Stokes, who became one of the wealthiest men in Trenton.

Saretzky, archivist, educator, and photographer, worked as an archivist for more than 50 years. He has published more than 100 articles and reviews on the history of photography, photographic conservation, and other topics, including “Nineteenth-Century New Jersey Photographers” in the journal, New Jersey History, Fall/Winter 2004, a revised version of which is available at saretzky.com.

The William Trent House Museum is a National Historic Landmark in the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area and on the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail and on the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail. The museum is dedicated to sharing the authentic history of the house, property, and people with our communities, connecting the past with today and tomorrow. Owned by the City of Trenton, it is operated by the Trent House Association, which is supported by the generosity of its donors; by grants from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the New Jersey Cultural Trust, the New Jersey Historic Trust, the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission with funding from the New Jersey Historical Commission, and the Bunbury Fund and the New Jersey Arts & Culture Renewal Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation; and by contributions from NJM Insurance Group and Orion General Contractors. For more information, visit williamtrenthouse.org.