The 22 presenters at the event will include recognized experts, graduate students, and independent scholars.  There will be an emphasis on new scholarship and first-time presenters.  Among the institutions represented will be Rutgers, Seton Hall, the Archeological Society of NJ, Colonial Williamsburg, the Alice Paul Institute, and Monmouth University.  The event will also include exhibits from dozens of New Jersey history organizations, plus an awards lunch.

The keynote address will be given by Professor Mark Lender of Kean University, who will speak on “The Future of the Past: The State of New Jersey History.”

“It is our intention that the Forum will become an annual event; one that will help to inform and educate our citizens about the history of our great state,” said Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells. 

The primary sponsors of the conference are three agencies within the New Jersey Department of State with a history focus:  the Historical Commission, the State Archives, and the State Museum.  Cosponsors are the Advocates for NJ History, the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, the NJ Association of County Cultural and Historic Agencies, the NJ Council for the Humanities, and the NJ Studies Academic Alliance. 

The registration fee is $35 per person ($30 for students and senior citizens), which includes continental breakfast, lunch, afternoon reception, conference packet, and admission to all conference events.  Copies of the conference brochure and registration form are available at the website www.newjerseyhitory.org or can be requested by calling (609) 984-3458 or via email at njhc@sos.state.nj.us.

While heritage tourism development had been an eligible activity for the Historic Site Management (planning) grants since 2000, the Historic Trust had not funded a single proposal that contained a substantial tourism component.  When the Trust designated heritage tourism as one of its special “initiatives” for the 2005 grant round, it received several proposals that had tourism components, but the Camden proposal was the only project that was specifically designed to create a public tour experience.

The $24,000 grant from the 2005 grant round of the Garden State Historic Preservation Trust Fund helped fund the planning, development and implementation of a bus tour that included the state-owned Whitman House in Camden, privately-owned Harleigh Cemetery and nonprofit-owned Pomona Hall, an early Quaker residence and home to the Camden County Historical Society and its substantial collection of Camden history.

Of additional interest to the NJ Historic Trust is that two ofthe sites, the Walt Whtman House and Pomona Hall, had previously received grants from the Trust for restoration work.

SJTC, a marketing and tourism specialist, coordinated the activity among the three sites and with a varied group of consultants that included a project coordinator, two graduate researchers, a professional script writer and several professional tour leaders.    The challenge of the project was to create an entertaining, informative, and tangible tour experience that would allow visitors to appreciate the historic buildings within the overarching theme of Whitman’s life and poetry, and within the context of the rich history of the city of Camden.

Test Tours and Responses

The overall experience as evaluated by the visitors who took the tour was overwhelmingly positive and rewarding.  Consistently, the visitors rated the tour as "better than expected” and would unanimously recommend it to others.  The first phase of the project implemented four test tours, one of which coordinated with the Historic Preservation Office's Camden conference on heritage tourism in New Jersey.

Highlights of the visitor experience included:

• Knowledgeable site guides at the restored Walt Whitman house
• Dramatic appearance of a Walt Whitman reenactor at the Whitman mausoleum in the cemetery – visitors enjoyed the photo opportunty and interactive experience
• The Historical Society’s exhibits of Whitman-related memorabilia
• Enthusiastic and professional tour guides.

Challenges

Of course, there were also challenges both in the planning and implementation of the tours.  Coordinating the presentations at the three sites so they would not overlap information and would complement each other’s presentation was the goal of the researchers and project coordinator. 

While the project originally called for recruiting and training local tour leaders, this was not able to be accomplished in the time frame of this first phase.  Professional tour leaders were contracted.  The tour leader’s role was to be knowledgeable about a wide variety of topics (Camden’s history, river transportation, industrial development, Whitman’s life and poetry, etc.) and be flexible enough to respond to visitor inquiries and keep the tours running efficiently.

What’s Next? 

Since SJTC marketed the tour through the Internet, direct mailing and numerous press articles that appeared both nationally and locally, the group received many requests to continue the tour, especially for school groups. In phase two of the project, the grantee will conduct two additional tours for groups, and a third specifically designed for a student audience.  These work products and evaluations will be incorporated into the final report to the NJ Historic Trust.

Upon the conclusion of this heritage tourism project, the Historic Trust will offer the learning experience of this project to help guide the development of other heritage tourism work products.

Documents Relating to the U.S. Constitution

Featured next is New Jersey’s original Bill of Rights manuscript containing, in fact, twelve constitutional amendments proposed in 1789.  Our state holds the honor of having been the first to ratify the Bill on November 20^th, 1789. New Jersey approved eleven of the proposed amendments. The first, prescribing a formula for representation in Congress based on population, was approved by New Jersey but not the required number of states. The now-framed manuscript Bill of Rights, originally filed in the Office of the Secretary of State, includes the prominent signatures of Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and John Adams, Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate.

The fourth section of the new website exhibits New Jersey’s legislative actions relating to the 27 federal constitutional amendments, starting with the ten that became the Bill of Rights, through the 27^th Amendment, ratified in 1992. Ironically, the 27^th Amendment, prohibiting Congress from increasing the pay of members during its current session, was the only one of the twelve proposed in 1789 not ratified by New Jersey at that time. The history of the 14^th Amendment—which among other things guaranteed the rights of citizenship and suffrage to freed male slaves—also has a fascinating history in our state. New Jersey ratified this amendment in 1866, then withdrew its ratification in 1868 (which action was vetoed by Governor Marcus Ward and then overridden), and then in 2003 the legislature finally revoked the withdrawal.

The exciting new website was produced by the State Archives Publication Unit, including Veronica Calder, Lois Bredlow and Joanne Nestor, under the direction of Joseph Klett, Chief of Archives. It is the second major addition to the “Documentary Treasures” area in the State Archives’ website, following New Jersey’s own state constitutions of 1776, 1844 and 1947.

The Commission’s highest honor, the Richard J. Hughes Award, is given for lifetime achievement in the field of New Jersey history.  The 2006 recipient is Anna Aschkenes, Jamesburg, who will be honored for her many years of work on behalf of the history community of Middlesex County. Ms. Aschkenes is the executive director of the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission, a post she has held since 1983. The Commission is one of the largest county cultural and heritage agencies in the state. It serves 800,000 people in 25 municipalities. In her capacity as executive director Ms. Aschkenes oversees both history and arts programming. She and the MCCHC have won numerous awards from the American Association of State and Local History, the National Association of Counties, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and the Congress of the United States. She is the author of The Hub and the Wheel, New Brunswick and Middlesex County, An Illustrated History (1987) and Middlesex County: Crossroads of History (2000).

The Alfred E. Driscoll Prize of $1,000 is awarded to the author of an outstanding doctoral dissertation on a topic in New Jersey history.  The 2006 recipient is Martin Minner for his Indiana University dissertation, Metropolitan Aspirations: Politics and Memory in Progressive Era Newark.   

In addition to the Hughes Award and the Driscoll Prize, the following individuals and organizations will receive Awards of Recognition from the Historical Commission:

Atlantic City Historical Museum.  The museum is located on the historic Garden Pier at NJ and the Boardwalk in Atlantic City.  Its mission is to present a culturally diverse history of the resort city  for visitors and residents alike.  The museum has a permanent exhibition that includes costumes, historical artifacts, photographs, and Miss America memorabilia.  The museum offers changing exhibits and an award winning documentary, Boardwalk Ballyhoo: The Magic of Atlantic City. 

Howard Gillette, Rutgers Camden.   Howard Gillette is honored for his scholarship on Camden, and for his work in public history.  A professor of history at Rutgers, his most recent book is Camden After the Fall: Decline and Renewal in a Post-Industrial City (2005).  He is also the founder and director of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities, a research and advocacy organization devoted to bringing new intellectual and monetary resources to cultural practices in the humanities in the Mid-Atlantic states

Paul Israel, Thomas Edison Project.  Dr. Israel is nominated for his work as editor of the Papers of Thomas Edison. He joined the Edison Papers staff in 1980 as an associate editor, and became director and general editor in 2002.  He is the author of many books, including Edison: A Life of Invention, for which he won the Dexter Prize of the Society for the History of Technology.  The Edison project which he directs has documented how the inventor helped make New Jersey a center for innovation.

Living History School Program of Cherry Hill Township.    This program offers fourth and fifth grade students the opportunity to experience early 19^th century farm life in South Jersey.  The program brings to life the history lessons of the classroom in a meaningful and memorable way for the students, and the Cherry Hill School District includes the Farmstead visit as part of the required Social Studies Curriculum for all fifth grade students.  This past year the program served about 1,000 Cherry Hill students, and another 500 students from outside the district.

Michael J. Mills, Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects, LLC.  Mr. Mills is recognized for his distinguished career in the field of historic preservation.  His list of award-winning projects includes the preservation and restoration of the New Jersey State House and the Somerset County Court House.  He served as President of New Jersey’s statewide non-profit preservation organization, Preservation New Jersey, from 1994 to 2003.   For his exceptional work in the field of historic preservation, Michael Mills was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

The New Jersey Historical Commission is a division of the NJ Department of State.  Its mission is to improve the quality of life in the state by preserving the historical record and advancing public knowledge and awareness of the Garden State’s rich heritage.  For information on the award recipients or the Historical Commission’s annual conference, contact Marc Mappen, Executive Director, at 609-984-0902 or marc.mappen@sos.state.nj.us.

The New Jersey study compliments the work of the National Park Service, which was authorized by Congress through passage of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Heritage Trial Act of 2000 to evaluate the 650-mile route  from Newport, RI, to Yorktown, VA., taken in 1781 by French troops.  The troops were commanded by General Jean-Baptiste de Rochambeau and Commander-in-chief George Washington.  The Park Service evaluated the route for its significance and integrity to be designated a National Heritage Trail.  That military specific campaign march, with the help of a French fleet commanded by Admiral de Grasse, resulted in the combined armies defeat of the British Army and General Cornwallis, the turning point of the American Revolutionary War. 

The year 2006 marks the 225^th anniversary of this historic military campaign specific event, and the National Heritage Trail designation of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route (W3R) is now under consideration by Congress.

The W3R survey in the State of New Jersey identifies the land and river routes that General Washington’s Continental Army and the comte de Rochambeau’s French forces took through New Jersey in August and September of 1781 on their way to Yorktown, and identifies associated sites and resources along those routes. The survey also provides a historical narrative of the campaign of 1781 around the identified sites and resources that focuses on the marches through New Jersey rather than the siege and victory at Yorktown.  The study develops recommendations for interpretation of these sites and resources. The information will support potential archeological surveys and excavations of the campsites, routes, and other physical evidence of the presence of the American and French armies in New Jersey from 1781 to 1783.

The publication is the result of two years of Dr. Selig's research in New Jersey archives, libraries and repositories of Revolutionary War journals and memorabilia.  It includes extensive full color maps generated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, Division of Geographic Information Systems, to illustrate the various identified routes through the State and the site specific locations of identified sites and resources associated with those routes. 

The W3R through New Jersey is one element of the greater W3R project aimed at designating the entire route of nine-states and the District of Columbia(Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) a National Historic Trail administered by the National Park Service.  The study lays the foundation needed to begin the research for nominating identified sites to the National Register of Historic Places, including portions of the trail where still in existence, and for a more inclusive interpretation of existing sites within the state.

The New Jersey Historic Trust will make the study available through its web site (www.njht.org)  after November 27, 2006.  Researchers will have access to the three volume publication as downloadable .pdf files.

The Revolutionary War collections are among the State Archives’ top conservation priorities, given ongoing historical and genealogical interest in the American Revolution, the age of the records, and the dire need for stabilization.  As the nation celebrates the 225^th anniversary of the War for Independence, we celebrate New Jersey’s preservation of our priceless documentary heritage. The State Archives’ proposal received a top score from Save America’s Treasures, making it not just a New Jersey priority, but also a national priority for archival conservation.

The project involves professional conservation treatment of over 5,200 leaves of war-period documents. Chosen both because of their poor physical condition and importance of informational content, these manuscripts represent only six percent of the State Archives’ holdings of wartime records. Collectively, they describe New Jersey’s revolutionary activities from several perspectives. Militia reports and communications document the progress of the war, while quartermaster general’s papers demonstrate how the troops were supplied and supported. Court minutes, oaths of allegiance and records of the Council of Safety—a body created to promote loyalty to the patriot cause and punish collaboration with the enemy—reveal the social and political struggles within New Jersey’s population. Other manuscripts describe the personal and economic losses of New Jersey’s citizens, and legislative and judicial efforts to deal with the many challenges faced by state and local government.

The desperate need for treatment of these records is quite evident from the document pictured in this article. Found in the commissary general’s records, the document is fragmented, stained, and embrittled from the inherent acidity of the paper, and the damage is exacerbated by the effects of adhesive tape. Without conservation, this eyewitness account of a naval battle in the Delaware River would soon be lost to historians. But despite the poor condition of the paper, the words written upon it still breathe life into an event 230 years ago: “the galleys drew up very Close to the Ships and a Smart dreadful firing there was such as my heart and eyes Recoild.” The writer continues, “who Can behold this unnatural Scene but with horror, oh when where and how will this unhappy Contest End.”

Far beyond paper conservation, the Save America’s Treasures project will aid historical research on the American Revolution in New Jersey. After treatment, it will be possible for the State Archives to improve public access to these collections through microfilming and scanning, exhibits and website presentations. The project will expand opportunities for a wider community of scholars, genealogists, teachers and students to use these materials than ever before.

The project has also strengthened the State Archives’ overall collection management and conservation programs. To plan and monitor the complicated work involved in treating thousands of manuscripts, the State Archives staff has developed new systems to review and select documents for treatment, track them as they are conserved, and evaluate the results. The new procedures and databases will serve as models for future conservation planning and implementation.

State Archives Collection Manager Ellen R. Callahan administers The American Revolution in New Jersey: Preserving our Documentary Heritage with assistance from collection management staff, under the direction of Joseph R. Klett, Chief of Archives. The project was recently featured in Save America’s Treasures: Preserving the Legacy of our National Experience—a published report of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities—and at the Fall 2006 Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference in Morristown. For more information, please visit http://www.njarchives.org/links/sat.html.

The report is now in, and the results are gratifying.  Eighty-eight percent of the respondents rated their experience with the Commission as good or excellent; 89 percent said the grant guidelines were clear, 96 percent agreed that Commission staff were readily available to answer questions, 92 percent said the requirements for interim and final reports were clear.  These positive results were consistent among all categories of respondents to the survey – both large and small applicant organizations and those organizations that had been turned down for grants as well as those that had received funding. 

The survey respondents also made a number of useful suggestions for improvements in the grant program, which the Commission has now implemented.  For example, we revised and streamlined the application form to make it more user-friendly, and launched a continuing education program to provide professional development for applicant organizations. 

The Historical Commission welcomes comments and suggestions from the public on how can fulfill our mission to enrich the lives of the public by preserving the historical record and advancing interest in and awareness of New Jersey's past.

For over three centuries, the archives and records of our local governments have suffered from neglect; loss from fire, flood, theft, and accidental or deliberate destruction; and deterioration from overuse, misuse, and misguided attempts to repair damage.  Despite the best efforts of the New Jersey Division of Archives and Records Management (DARM) over the past quarter-century to educate and encourage local officials to better care for their historical records, most local governing bodies simply declined to budget for or commit staff resources to such efforts.

All that began to change in 2003.  In that year, the State Legislature established DARM’s Public Archives and Records Infrastructure Support (PARIS) Grants Program, (P.L. 2003, c. 117).  PARIS’s mission is simple:  to serve as a catalyst in the establishment, enhancement and/or expansion of county and municipal public archives and records management, preservation and storage programs.  PARIS has an intentionally broad scope, addressing all aspects of records management, from modern electronic records systems, imaging and technology infrastructure, to the storage of traditional hardcopy government records and the care of county and local archives as old as New Jersey itself.

PARIS both encourages—and enables—local governments to preserve their historical records and make them accessible to a wider public by making preservation of New Jersey’s historical records one of the grant program’s top funding priorities.  Finally, for the first time in New Jersey’s history, PARIS provides a dedicated source of funding for local government archives programs.

PARIS Transforming Local Archives and Recordkeeping

PARIS is the nation’s largest grant program for supporting local archives and records management.  The State Records Committee announced its first grants May 2005, awarding $25 million to archives and records projects in all of New Jersey’s 21 county governments and 11 of its largest municipalities (with populations over 75,000).  PARIS’s second round of grants in May 2006 awarded over $29 million to the 21 counties and to 49 municipalities for an even wider variety of projects, including several supporting intergovernmental shared services. 

PARIS grants addressing archives and historical records needs fall into four broad categories:  historical records inventories, conservation treatment, preservation imaging and microfilming, and staffing.

Historical records inventories:  Many local governments received grants to contract with qualified professionals to inventory and sort historical records, including Atlantic, Burlington, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hudson, Mercer, Ocean and Sussex counties.   Comprehensive inventories enable the counties to use complete, accurate, and standardized data in setting future conservation and preservation priorities, and in the process have frequently rediscovered valuable historical records long thought to be lost.

Cumberland County’s inventory yielded one of the most outstanding rediscoveries.  Working through a county facility, the inventory team found two old, unlabeled boxes left unnoticed for decades.  The boxes contained bound records of the county’s alms house dating to the 1790s, including minutes, financial records, and a complete census of the poor and indigents under the county’s care.   The collection will be an invaluable resource to historians and genealogists studying this region and topic.   The county later obtained a PARIS grant for conservation treatment and preservation microfilming of the collection.  

Woodbridge Township’s inventory located the town’s original minute books—dating back to 1667—in secure custody at Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University.  Astonished township officials and staff had no idea that these ancient records still existed, and were surprised to learn that the records predate the town’s formal incorporation by several years.  Woodbridge intends to image and microfilm the collection in the future to facilitate easier public access.

Conservation treatment:  Several local governments have received PARIS funding for the conservation treatment of appropriate archival records.   Monmouth County received funding to conserve deteriorated volumes in the County Archives, including deed books A, B and C, spanning 1667 to 1697 (the oldest in the collection), early minutes of the courts of common pleas quarter sessions, and Miscellaneous Book B, 1780-1816, which contains slave manumission records.

PARIS awarded Somerset County funds to conserve original naturalization records dating back to the early 1800s.  The project includes preservation microfilming of the records to allow the originals to be retired from regular use.

Other noteworthy conservation grants to counties include:  Cumberland—which obtained PARIS funds to conserve early minutes of the Board of Chosen Freeholders; Bergen—to conserve early ancient deed books damaged by water; Hudson—to treat early bound volumes of maps; Burlington—to conserve their earliest deed books dating from 1780;  and Cape May—to treat early volumes from the Surrogate’s Office. 

Preservation imaging and microfilming:  PARIS has supported multiple preservation imaging and/or microfilming projects that will allow counties to retire delicate original historical records from daily use.   Bergen, Cumberland, Hunterdon and Passaic counties all received funding to image their naturalization records.   Several counties will image deed records dating to the mid-1800s.   Ocean and Passaic counties, among others, are imaging estate and orphans records of the Surrogate’s Office.

Staffing:  PARIS requires all 21 counties to seek grant funding to employ at least one dedicated, qualified records management professional, and strongly encourages them to formally establish an Office of Archives and Records Management (OARM).   Before PARIS began, some counties already had records managers on staff, and a few had archivists (notably Bergen, Monmouth and Morris).   PARIS has added more professionals statewide, with new archivist staff positions created in Cumberland, Hudson, Salem and Union counties.  Many more counties will seek full-time archivists in  future PARIS grant rounds.

Looking ahead, PARIS will expand further to support educational initiatives and programs that draw on the rich resources in county and municipal archives.  Several local governments have already begun planning educational projects to share the discovery and rediscovery of important archival records with citizens and students.  Woodbridge Township, Bergen County and Cumberland County have created public exhibitions featuring facsimiles of historical records found during their records inventory projects.  

Thanks to the PARIS Grants Program, DARM has already witnessed the beginnings of a transformation in the management of public archives and records in New Jersey’s local governments.   Supported by DARM and PARIS, counties, cities and towns have begun to embrace their history as never before, show excitement about maintaining and caring for our precious documentary heritage, and use New Jersey’s “other” state archives to promote greater participation in civic affairs and educate citizens and students about our rich history as a people.

For more information about the PARIS Grants Program and specific grants to New Jersey counties and municipalities, visit http://www.njarchives.org/links/paris.html

The Historical Commission’s general operating support grants are designed to assist organizations that preserve, promote, or provide programs that increase public understanding and appreciation of New Jersey’s heritage. These grants can be used to pay basic expenses such as salaries, hourly wages, utilities, leases, and postage. Funding for the grant program comes from a portion of the revenue produced by the state’s hotel and motel occupancy fee.

According to Michael Fernandez, acting chair of the Commission, "Tourism is one of New Jersey's major industries, and grants from the Historical Commission help make our state's historic sites and museums more attractive destinations for visitors, which has a direct and positive effect on New Jersey’s economy."

The following is a list of grant recipients by county.

Atlantic County
Absecon Lighthouse/IPPA, $40,500
Atlantic County Historical Society, $7,000
Save Lucy Committee, Inc., $41,400

Bergen County
Bergen County Department of Parks, Division of Cultural and Historical Affairs, $25,000
Friends of the Hermitage, Inc., $50,400
Meadowlands Museum, $9,000
Pascack Historical Society, $5,000
Waterworks Conservancy, Inc., $16,000

Burlington County
Alice Paul Institute, Inc., $45,000
Batsto Citizens Committee, Inc., $5,000
Whitesbog Preservation Trust, $20,000

Camden County
Camden County Historical Society, $25,000
Home Port Alliance for the USS New Jersey, Inc., $27,000

Cape May County
Avalon Museum and Historical Society, $8,000
Cape May County Division of Culture and Heritage, $18,000
Cape May County Historical & Genealogical Society, $18,000
Center for Community Arts, $25,000
Historic Cold Spring Village, $91,800
Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts, $357,300
Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum, $31,500
Ocean City Historical Museum, Inc., $10,000

Cumberland County
Bayshore Discovery Project, $66,600
Cumberland County Cultural and Heritage Commission, $13,000
Millville Army Air Field Museum, $8,000
Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, $63,000

Essex County
Montclair Historical Society, $23,000
New Jersey Historical Society, $338,400
Newark Public Library, $54,000

Hudson County
Hoboken Historical Museum, $57,600

Hunterdon County
Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission, $23,000
Lambertville Historical Society, Inc., $7,000
Readington Museums, $12,000

Mercer County
City of Trenton, 1719 William Trent House Museum, $32,400
David Sarnoff Library, $27,000
Historical Society of Princeton, $85,500
Howell Living History Farm, $34,200
Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission, $10,000
Old Barracks Association, $42,300
Preservation New Jersey, Inc., $54,000
Princeton University Library, Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections, $36,000
Trent House Association, $12,000
Trenton Historical Society, $7,000

Middlesex County
Genealogical Society of New Jersey, $10,000
Middlesex County Cultural & Heritage Commission, $126,900
Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers Univ. Libraries, $117,900
Thomas Edison Papers, $109,800

Monmouth County
Allaire Village, Inc., $13,000
Monmouth County Historical Association, $99,900

Morris County
Canal Society of New Jersey, $7,000
Historic Sites of Morris County Park Commission, $82,800
Jewish Historical Society of MetroWest, $10,000
Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, $18,000
Morris County Heritage Commission, $25,000
Morris County Historical Society, $31,500
Morris Museum, $33,300
Morristown & Morris Township Public Library, $43,200
Museum of Early Trades and Crafts, $52,200
Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, $40,500

Ocean County
Barnegat Bay Decoy and Baymen’s Museum, Inc., $25,000
Ocean County Cultural & Heritage Commission, $18,000

Passaic County

American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark, $24,000
Friends of Long Pond Ironworks, Inc., $7,500
Passaic County Historical Society, $16,000

Salem County
Salem County Historical Society, $44,100

Somerset County
Crossroads of the American Revolution, $14,000
Friends of the Abraham Staats House, Inc., $7,000
Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House, $18,000
Heritage Trail Association, $20,000
Meadows Foundation, Inc., $18,000
Save Ellis Island, Inc., $27,000

Sussex County
Lenape Lifeways Educational Programs, Inc., $7,500
Montague Association for Restoration of Community History, $5,000

Union County
Cranford Historical Society, $5,000
Historical Society; Elizabeth, NJ, Inc., $7,000
Historical Society of Plainfield, $11,000
Kenilworth Historical Society, Inc., $8,000
Merchants & Drovers Tavern Museum Association, $25,200
Plainfield Public Library, $21,000
Reeves-Reed Arboretum, $27,000
Union County Division of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, $96,300

Warren County
Help Our Preservation Effort, $5,000
Warren County Cultural & Heritage Commission, $23,000

For information on the New Jersey Historical Commission’s grant program, contact Mary R. Murrin, Director, Grants Program, New Jersey Historical Commission, PO Box 305, Trenton, NJ 08625; (609) 292-6062; fax (609) 633-8168; emailmary.murrin@sos.state.nj.us

* * *

Grant Application Deadlines

General Operating Support: Letter of intent March 1, 2007; Application April 1, 2007

Project Grants: September 15, 2007

Minigrants: No deadline; reviewed throughout the year

CAPES (Caucus Archives Project Evaluation Service):  No deadline, reviewed throughout the year

Grant Application Deadlines

General Operating Support: Letter of intent March 1, 2007; Application April 1, 2007

Project Grants: September 15, 2007

Minigrants: No deadline; reviewed throughout the year

CAPES (Caucus Archives Project Evaluation Service):  No deadline, reviewed throughout the year

New Jersey Historic Trust

Garden State Historic Preservation Trust Fund

2006 Grant Round
The deadline for applications is closed for this grant round.  Grant awards will be announced following the New Jersey Historic Trust board meeting and Garden State Preservation Trust meeting in the Spring 2007.

2007 Grant Round
The 2007 grant round will accept applications for Historic Site Management Grants.  The schedule for this grant round will be posted at a later date.
Read more about this funding program.

Cultural Trust Capital Preservation Grant Program

The schedule for the next grant round will be posted at a later date.

PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, Monmouth County

The New Jersey Historic Trust will present a four-hour seminar with the support of the New Jersey League of Municipalities. 

Who Should Attend:  Any and all elected and appointed officials and municipal employees responsible for historic preservation -- Mayors, council members, historic preservation commission members, planning, zoning, historic preservation specialists.

The goal of the seminar is to educate decision makers in municipal government about how historic preservation can be a progressive tool for sustaining community and growing economic development and tourism.

Using real-life New Jersey examples, the Historic Trust will introduce participants to the benefits of historic preservation, address concerns related to preservation and private ownership, and provide concrete tools for implementing programs that enhance property values, encourage neighborhood stability and support economic growth through job creation and tourism.

For more information:

New Jersey Historic Trust
609 984 0473
www.njht.org
njht@dca.state.nj.us