In The Windmill Turns Slowly: Photographs of the Updike Farm, lawyer/photographer Michael Johnson reflect on the last working years of the Updike family farm on Quaker Road in Princeton Township. The exhibition opened to the public on Tuesday November 1, 2005 and closed September 3, 2006.

Although difficult to imagine while driving on the highways of Central New Jersey, farming was a way of life for many people in Princeton through the mid-20th century. A vast acreage off Quaker Road served as the Updike family farm beginning in 1890 with George Furman Updike and Mary Hartwick Updike. Descending in the family line with George Furman Updike, Jr and his wife Dora Drake Updike and their eight children, the farm was actively tilled until 1969. In that year, grandsons of George Furman Updike, Stanley and his brother Sewell, sold the cropland to the Institute for Advanced Study with the understanding that the acreage would remain farmland. The Updike family retained six acres which included the farmhouse, barn, chicken coop, woodshed, corn crib and orchard.

Through the 1990s, Stanley Updike and his sister Sarah maintained their routine of life on a farm. On their six acres, Stanley gathered eggs from the chicken coop, sprayed the peach trees and split firewood. Sarah canned fruit, tended to the garden and prepared their daily meals. Their activities were in striking contrast to the hustle and bustle of the modern world and the commuters driving along Quaker Road to their high-tech and pharmaceutical jobs on Route 1.

Great-nephew of Stanley and Sarah, Michael Johnson captured this endangered way of living over a series of eight visits to the Updike Farm between 1992 and 1997. While helping out with chores, and listening to family stories, Johnson photographed Stanley working in the chicken coop, tending his corn and harvesting peaches. Johnson documented Sarah in the domestic sphere, canning peaches, making pies and hanging the laundry. The exterior photos of the land and farmhouse reveal the quiet beauty of this Princeton Township property.

The Windmill Turns Slowly: Photographs of the Updike Farm featured 35 black and white silver-gelatin prints made from full-frame 35mm negatives shot with Leica rangefinder cameras and Leitz lenses. In addition to Johnson's photographs, the exhibition included early 20th century images of the Updike family including Stanley and Sarah Updike's parents, brothers and sisters.

Upon the deaths of Stanley and Sarah Updike, the Historical Society of Princeton purchased the farm's six acres from the family. The Historical Society plans to use the farm for its headquarters and family programming. Interpretive signage will identify the historic farm structures and activities.

The Historical Society was grateful to the J. Seward Johnson, Sr. 1963 Charitable Trust, lead sponsor for this exhibition and to Princeton Financial Systems-State Street New Jersey. The Historical Society receives an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. Related programming included a gallery talk by Michael Johnson on Saturday, November 12, 2005.