Friends of Thomas Edison National Historical Park

04/04/2026

Along Main Street in West Orange, a series of brick buildings stand quietly behind iron gates and courtyards, their modest exteriors offering little hint of the groundbreaking work once carried out inside. This is Thomas Edison National Historical Park, a place where invention was industrialized, co...

03/07/2026

02/21/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18tZrKvMg2/

02/14/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1C2SoPB33j/
Friends of Thomas Edison National Historical Park celebrating Thomas Edison's birthday Thomas Edison National Historical Park West Orange Arts Council/ West Orange Classic Film Festival on Sunday, February 15 at West Orange AMC Theatres at 2:00pm

10/12/2025

https://youtu.be/Xd8wZ63JA34?si=MS5rrhk4ZvHWfjYf

David Pogue looks at the pioneering spirit of innovation that Thomas Edison fostered at his R&D facility in Menlo Park, N.J., where his team helped create th...

10/06/2025

October 1879
https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=45PweC_15NyOSrb00
An 1881 incandescent light bulb with the name Edison etched onto it is displayed at the Edison Museum in Edison (AP Photo/Mike Derer, File)
1879: Thomas Edison's first incandescent light bulb
Thomas Edison demonstrated an incandescent light buib for the first time in October 1879 that was "practical" and could light a home for many hours at his first lab in Menlo Park which is now part of Edison Township, according to the Thomas Edison National Historical Park. It was there that he and his team that he called "muckers" would create wires, fuses and switches needed to light an entire home.
Edison would later build a bigger lab in West Orange where he worked on the photograph, the motion picture and storage battery. Edison earned 1,093 United States patents, a record number for one person that still stands.

09/22/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1AzHhv6cqR/

What's your "why" for going to work? Park Guide Sue finds inspiration in the many times in history when mistakes have led to great discoveries.

09/20/2025

What's your "why" for going to work? Park Guide Sue finds inspiration in the many times in history when mistakes have led to great discoveries.

08/08/2025

Want to see how Edison and his muckers made their films? is presenting a hands-on workshop and demonstration on historic film making techniques at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in the Black Maria on August 16, 2025.

08/08/2025

This month is the National Park Service's 109th birthday!

More than a century ago, on August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed what is now known as the Organic Act of 1916, establishing the National Park Service—an idea that would grow to protect over 430 parks and 85 million acres across the United States.

To commemorate this special day, we're asking park lovers like you to add your name to a birthday card to celebrate the National Park Service.
https://give.nationalparks.org/site/R?i=itr0iHTbBO6oBNRFxOKYP24vMusyIMdnjUiymN3zNEG38pi1R4bCdg
From towering mountains to quiet grasslands to babbling brooks, these are the places we all cherish, and they deserve to be celebrated.

And with you by their side, they'll be around for another 109 years—and more!

In celebration,
—The Team at the National Park Foundation

06/10/2025

No conversation about New Jersey’s film heritage is complete without paying homage to Thomas Edison’s groundbreaking studio: the Black Maria, built in 1893 on West Orange grounds. It was America’s first motion‑picture studio—an innovative rotating building topped with openable roofs—pioneering early film production with Edison’s Kinetoscope shorts.

Rich Silivanch, Chairman of the Friends of Thomas Edison, captures its enduring spirit: “The Black Maria is more than a structure—it’s the birthplace of American cinema, the very engine that set motion pictures in motion.”

Today, Friends of Edison continue to preserve this iconic site—not only as a historical artifact, but as a symbol of inspiration for future storytellers and innovators working in today’s booming film and TV economy.

Come visit our Lab & Park - https://www.nps.gov/edis/index.htm
Donate & Support our Mission : https://friendsofedison.org/ - TY
The Black Maria - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison%27s_Black_Maria

https://njbia.org/videos/community-colleges-take-the-lead-in-training-njs-next-film-tv-workforce/?utm_source=New+Jersey+Business+%26+Industry+Association&utm_campaign=c0f614a3c0-EMAIL_NJBT_060925&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-c0f614a3c0-553806800

On this past weekend’s “Minding Your Business” on News 12+, New Jersey Film Academy Executive Director Diane Raver and Brookdale Community College Chief