Mr. Mc Retires from Teaching History
at the Riverton Public School 1974-2009
John McCormick's Former History Classroom
at the Riverton Public School
Reproductions of pre-Colombian, Egyptian and East Asian artifacts are a portal to the past for young history students.
The New Jersey history collection in Mr. McCormick's former classroom at the Riveton Public School.
A bust of American President, Thomas Jefferson, 1801-09; Secretary of State 1790; Minister to France 1785; founder University of Virginia and author of the Declaration of Independence.
A classroom tour led by Mr. McCormick for Historical Society board members and past graduate of the Riverton School (left) Elsie Waters; (right) Charlotte Lippincott daughter of Fred Lippincott who was the oldest living Riverton resident in 2004 at 105 years old. Ms. Elsie Showell-Waters grandfather, Charles Wright, led the effort to build the Tacony Palmyra Bridge across the Delaware River. Elsie Waters sister, Lenore SHowell-Probstein, was a past President of the Historical Society of Riverton.
The Riverton Project
Originally created by the 5th grade and other students in Riverton School in 1998, historical and current information about our town was collated in the form of a timeline and Mr. McCormick contributed a number of scanned images to it.
The Riverton Public School gratefully acknowledged many local sources for historical information and images, among them Betty B. Hahle, town historian, The Historical Society of Riverton and its Gaslight News and The Romance of Riverton, and the Riverton 4th of July Committee and its annual parade newsletter.
Many of the images in this timeline are digital reproductions of postcards contributed courtesy of the John McCormick Collection.
John McCormick was a teacher at the Riverton Public School from 1974 to 2009. He taught social studies and history to young people from the sixth through the eighth grades. Mr. McCormick's classes for sixth graders focused on ancient history; classes for seventh graders included world geography today and eight graders devoted time to learning more about American history. Mr. McCormick offered exceptional opportunitites for students to learn about social studies and history through special assignments, like the Oral History Project where eighth graders engaged older adults from the community in structured conversations to elicit memories about their life in Riverton. These conversations (oral histories) were recorded and transcribed for storage in the Historical Society archives so that future generations could better understand early life in Riverton.
John McCormick is a member of the board of the Historical Society of Riverton where he devotes considerable time and talents to research and preserve New Jersey history. Mr. McCormick is also the Editor of the Society's newsletter, The Gaslight News. His work to interpret and remaster the silent film "The Romance of Riverton" brought to life, for younger audiences, the experience of living in Riverton during the roaring 1920's. Together with his wife Linda, John McCormick continues to widen their collection of historic images of towns in Burlington County and throughout New Jersey. He makes these images accessible to new audiences through postcard reproductions and multi-media presentations.
John McCormick and his wife Linda McCormick, both educators at the Riverton Public School, retired in 2009 after three decades of distinguished public service.
To donate your historic photographs of Riverton, Burlington County or New Jersey please contact Mr. John McCormick by writing to the Historical Society of Riverton POB 112 Riverton, New Jersey 08077 or rivertonhistory@usa.com or to jlmccormick@comcast.net.
