The exhibition Founding Families: Supermarkets in New Jersey is now open to the public in Gallery '50 through August 31, 2012.

Despite the increasing diversity of our state, there is one institution that still regularly draws in people from all walks of life. That institution is the local supermarket, whose wares are essential to daily meals, common household chores, and to holiday and life-cycle celebrations of different faiths and cultures.

To celebrate the vital role of supermarkets and their historic origins in New Jersey, the Rutgers University Libraries' Special Collections and University Archives will be holding an exhibition of supermarket archival materials and memorabilia. The "Founding Families: Supermarkets in New Jersey" exhibition, in Gallery '50 on the main floor of Alexander Library, will open with a reception on Wednesday May 30th, starting at 5:00 pm. The exhibition will run through August 31st.

The exhibition is made possible by the founding families of Food Circus, Kings Super Markets, Pathmark, ShopRite, and Wakefern. The Libraries are also grateful to the New Jersey Food Council and the Jewish Historical Society of MetroWest, who donated memorabilia to Rutgers University Libraries' Special Collections and University Archives.

The exhibition will feature family and business records, advertising materials, photographs, correspondence, video and audio media, and other documentary evidence of the New Jersey supermarket heritage.

To RSVP for the exhibition opening reception, send email to events@rulmail.rutgers.edu or call 732-932-7505. For more information on the supermarket collection, please contact Ronald L. Becker, head of Special Collections and University Archives, at 732-932-7006 x362 or rbecker@rulmail.rutgers.edu