About Us

Abraham Lincoln. Woodrow Wilson. Dorthea Dix. Andrew Jackson. William Paterson. Their voices still echo in the venerable halls and chambers of the New Jersey’s State House.

Two hundred years of our history come alive in the State House, the nation’s second oldest state capitol still in active use. Built in 1792 on a bluff overlooking the Delaware, the State House belongs to the citizens of New Jersey.

Organized in 1992 to commemorate the bicentennial of the New Jersey’s capitol, the Friends of the State House are a group of citizens who share a deep appreciation for the history, architecture, art, and other cultural resources found in the capitol building and its surroundings in Trenton.

The Friends promote public interest in the State House as a focal point of New Jersey’s history and the political, cultural and social life of our state and people. We support its preservation, and sponsor a variety of public exhibitions, performances, publications and other educational events. The Friends of The State House is an educational institution organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Board Members

Officers
Donna Bakelaar, President
Henry Wierzbicki, Treasurer		 Frank J. Esposito, Ph.D., Vice President
Harriette Hawkins, Secretary
Board of Trustees
Arthur S. Applebaum
Oliver Bartlett
Ronald Berman
Ernest Cerino
David Cowell, Ph.D.
Carol Cronheim
William Dressel
Jeremiah Ford III
Sharon Harrington
Frederick M. Herrmann, Ph.D.
David Himelman, Esq., Counsel
Karen Jezierny
Steven Kalafer
Dolores Kirk		 Joseph Klett
Sally Lane
Virginia Newman Littell
W. Jeffrey Maiden
Marc Mappen, Ph.D.
Barbara Mitnick, Ph.D.
Barbara Moran
Karl J. Niederer
Richard Patterson
Ingrid Reed
Lawrence Schmidt
Lewis B. Thurston III
Margaret Villane
Ex-Officio Members
Hon. Richard Codey, Acting Governor
Hon. Richard Codey, Senate President
Hon. Albio Sires, Speaker of the Assembly
Hon. Regena L. Thomas, Secretary of State
Hon. John E. McCormac, State Treasurer
Hon. Ellen Davenport, Secretary of the Senate
Hon. Christine Riebe, Clerk of the Assembly
Kathleen Crotty, Chair, State Capitol Joint Management Commission
Albert Porroni, Executive Director of the Office of Legislative Services