The Maplewood Division of Arts and Culture and the Maplewood Film Society Present Saving The Great Swamp: Battle to Defeat the Jetport
Saving The Great Swamp: Battle to Defeat the Jetport investigates the events, people and politics behind the struggle to preserve a rural area of New Jersey between 1959 and 1968. The fight began when the powerful Port of New York Authority announced plans to construct a huge 10,000 acre "jetport" 26 miles west of New York City in a little-known place called the Great Swamp. In the name of progress, entire towns would be obliterated, the aquifer and wildlife destroyed, and a way-of-life threatened for thousands of people.
The events that followed became one of the most defining environmental confrontations of its time - a grassroots movement that started in a local high school and grew to historic proportions. It was a battle that took almost a decade, a President and an Act of Congress to stop, and ultimately led to the creation of a national treasure - the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
Director Scott Morris will attend for discussion.
Tickets are $15 | Purchase Here
Doors Open 6:30PM | Movie Starts 7PM