Don Jay Smith, long-time specialist in many things New Jersey, and Executive Director of the NJ Hall of fame and committee member for NJ’s 350th year celebration, spoke about the State’s 350th Anniversary and the three primary themes being emphasized: Innovation, Diversity and Liberty. It came as a surprise to no one that NJ was a leader in many, many technical areas, from dozens of ground breaking inventions at Bell labs, new medications and life saving devices from our many pharmaceutical enterprises, to the many accomplishments from Edison’s labs at Menlo Park. Also discussed were the dozens of notable achievers from entertainers to politicians to educators who came from NJ, and finally, the State’s broad diversity, representing nearly every faction of the human community. Perhaps, the most interesting (and unsettling) fact to emerge form Don’s talk was the fact NJ was actually the last state in the North to fully abolish slavery, in 1865, two years after the passage of the emancipation proclamation. The presentation was followed by a lively Q&A session.