The Historical Society of Princeton launched a new cell phone walking tour that highlights the history of African Americans in Princeton and the historic Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood.
The Albert E. Hinds Memorial Walking Tour: African American Life was developed in part by Princeton resident Shirley Satterfield, who was a member of the first integrated class at Nassau School.
The mobile tour, provided by OnCell, is available on any cell phone or smartphone, and includes audio, images and GeoAlerts, which help visitors locate points of interest along the tour.
Members of the public can access audio narratives, recorded by Satterfield, through their cell phones by by dialing (609) 436-4092.
Smartphone users have access to a multi-layered and dynamic self-guided tour experience, including both historic and current images of sites featured on the tour. These materials allow those who cannot physically walk the tour route to experience the walking tour virtually.
Smartphone users access the tour by entering myoncell.mobi/HSofP into their web browser.
Maps can be downloaded from the Historical Society’s website or can be picked up at Bainbridge House, 158 Nassau St., during museum hours, 12 to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
The tour launched on Sept. 28, in honor of Annual Museum Day, and in anticipation of New Jersey’s 350th anniversary next year.
The mobile development of the Albert E. Hinds Memorial Walking Tour: African American Life in Princeton is made possible by a $4,068 mini grant award from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.
Director of programs and visitor services, Eva Mandel, said the digital tour will help “improve the improve the Historical Society’s interpretation of the historic sites in the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood”
“By making this information accessible 24/7 and to a much broader public, particularly a younger, tech-savvy audience, we can increase interest and understanding of local history,” Mandel said in a statement.
More information is online at princetonhistory.org.
