Virtual Exhibit:
Farming in Alliance
“They cleared the land, planted, reaped, grew in numbers, adapted, sacrificed, educated their children and overcame obstacles to persevere and survive for the sake of future generations.”
-Jay Greenblatt, forward to Ruth Weinstein's Back to the Land, 11
Life in Alliance was difficult, particularly for the original settlers who cleared the land, worked to cultivate the fields, and eventually built a community. The struggles these first Jewish farmers faced are representative of the challenges of other immigrants who came to the United States, sometimes to New Jersey specifically, to seek refuge, safety, and opportunity.
This exhibit is a small sampling of their stories.
Above: Moses Bayuk’s vineyard at Alliance, 1889.
Right: An Alliance farm auction poster, Courtesy of the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society
Presented by the Noyes Museum of Art, this video is a collection of interviews about Norma, Alliance, and Brotmanville from footage taken by Rich Brotman in 1981.
Browse our historical photographs below. Click on any of the images for more details.
Browse through artifacts and archival material below. Click on any of the images for more details.
Several hanging wall panels
A small hand cultivator and view of the gallery.
Planing tool owned by the Stavitskys
Several hanging wall panels
The Journals of Abe Crystal, 1941
"Lots of war all over the world, and lots to worry about, if one wants to worry." -Abe Crystal, January 1, 1941
As with other agricultural areas in New Jersey, farming in Alliance went through changes over the years. Eventually, poultry farming became a staple and eggs were transported and sold to markets in Philadelphia and New York City. Eggs from Alliance were also sold to the Campbell Soup Company in Camden, N.J.
The pages to the left are a small sample of a journal kept by Abe Crystal, one of the poultry farmers of Alliance. This resource was provided to the Alliance Heritage Center by David Goren and gives us a glimpse into the daily challenges of managing a poultry farm. These pages offer us insight into who Abe Crystal was, particularly in the inspirational notes he wrote at the beginning of each entry.
For more Crystal family photographs, please see our Featured Collections page.
For a transcription of the journal excerpts, click on the PDF icon to the left.