Women in Service for the Stokes Household
The Trent House Association will host a talk by Denise McCormack on her research into the lives of women who were domestic servants for the Stokes family when they owned the Trent House. This free program will be held in the Trent House Visitor Center on Saturday, March 29, 2025, at 2 pm. The Trent House Museum and Visitor Center is located at 15 Market Street, Trenton, New Jersey. Free parking is available behind the Museum’s property.
When Joseph Wood bought what is now known as the Trent House in 1851, he named it “Woodlawn.” After Wood’s death in 1860, the house passed on to Edward H. Stokes who had married Wood’s daughter Permelia. The Stokes family remained owners of Woodlawn until 1929 when Edward A. Stokes deeded it to the City of Trenton to be restored and used as a cultural institution.
During those almost 70 years at least seventeen people worked and lived on the estate, as documented in the U.S. Census. A grant to the Trent House Association from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities is supporting a project to learn more about these individuals. Denise McCormack who is conducting the research will describe what she has uncovered so far about some of the women who worked there and her methods and sources.
Denise McCormack is a multifaceted professional whose talents span independent research and writing, performance artistry and storytelling, web/graphic design, and video editing. With a focus on historical narratives, Denise has collaborated with the William Trent House since 2021 on various projects.
The William Trent House Museum is a National Historic Landmark in the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area and on the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail and on the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail. The Museum is dedicated to sharing the authentic history of the house, property, and people with our communities, connecting the past with today and tomorrow. Owned by the City of Trenton, it is operated by the Trent House Association, which is supported by the generosity of its donors; by grants from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the New Jersey Cultural Trust, the New Jersey Historic Trust, the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission with funding from the New Jersey Historical Commission, and the Bunbury Fund and the New Jersey Arts & Culture Renewal Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation; and by contributions from NJM Insurance Group and Orion General Contractors. For more information, visit www.williamtrenthouse.org.
