Join the NJHC and RevolutionNJ on Friday, October 30th at Kean University for the 2026 New Jersey History Conference! This year’s theme – Revolutionary Legacy – will explore the American Revolution in New Jersey, its impact over throughout the past 250 years, and how the history field can capitalize on the momentum of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Registration information can be found on our Eventbrite page. Those who would prefer to purchase a ticket through an invoice or purchase order, can do so by contacting Noel Dempsey at noel.dempsey@sos.nj.gov.

Ticket Prices:

Early Bird Tickets (on sale through 9/13): $70

Regular Tickets: $80

Exhibitor Table: $120
Includes one ticket to the conference

Student Tickets: $10
Available with valid student I.D.

8:00 – 9:00am Breakfast and Registration

Join us for a continental breakfast and explore the offerings provided by our exhibitors.

9:00 – 10:15am Welcome and Keynote Roundtable

Join us for an interdisciplinary discussion on how the revolutionary ideals of freedom, justice, and equality have impacted social and political movements, art, and public spaces over the past 250 years.

Panelists:
Dr. Leslie M. Alexander, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of History at Rutgers-New Brunswick
Dr. Paul Farber, Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab
Layqa Nuna Yawar, Multidisciplinary Artist

Moderated by Dr. Andy Urban, Director of the NJ Monuments to Migration and Labor Project

10:30 – 11:45am Tools of Resistance

Since the founding of the New Jersey colony, residents have resisted inequitable circumstances. This panel will explore how political rebellion, the legal system, and domestic work have been used to subvert the status quo and push forward the Revolutionary ideals of freedom, justice, and equality.

“The Outsider-Within the Household: Rosan keen’s Combative Resistance amid New Jersey’s Geography of Unfreedom” by Taylor Brookins
“New Jersey’s First Revolution: The Rebellion of 1672 Revisited” by Timothy Crist
“Revolutionary Response in Print: Adam’s Fight for Freedom in Newspapers and Court” by Miriam Morton

10:30 – 11:45am Non-Sites and Fragments: Reconstructing Revolutionary Lives

This panel examines how public historians can interpret Revolutionary-era lives in the absence of intact historic sites. Traditionally, historic houses have served as the primary spaces for public history and interpretation, grounding narratives in preserved structures and coherent landscapes. But what happens when those structures are lost? Using two New Jersey case studies—the lost landscape of the Beverwyck plantation in Morris County and the now-vanished Ross Hall in Middlesex County—this project explores how architectural fragments, archival records, and partial material remains can be used to reconstruct complex and often contradictory experiences of freedom.

11:45 – 1:00pm Buffet Lunch

Catered by Kean University

Vegetarian and gluten-free options will be provided.

1:00 – 2:15pm Remembering the Revolution

Contemporary needs shape how each generation shares the story of America’s founding. This panel will explore how the narrative of the American Revolution has evolved in history textbooks and public commemorations and reflect on how to update these narratives for a contemporary audience.

“Revolution Remembered: How High School Textbooks Shape the Legacy of the American Revolution” by Christina Connor
“Revisiting the Bicentennial with the Monmouth County Archives” by Julia Telonidis
“Legacy of the Bicentennial in Public History” by Olivia Chaudhury

1:00 – 2:15pm Merging Landscape Design and History

Across Westfield, the legacy of the American Revolution endures not only in the archives, but in the landscapes people move through every day. Commemoration here is an active process – shaped through heritage tourism, monumentality, placemaking, performativity, and ritual. This session will share how the Town of Westfield, Westfield Historical Society, and students from the Rutgers Landscape Architecture Program engaged the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route to create an active place of remembrance.

2:30 – 3:45pm New Perspectives on Known Stories

New Jersey was a complicated and divided place during the Revolution. Frequently nuanced experiences of the Revolution are flattened to construct a cohesive narrative. This panel uplifts undertold perspectives of the American Revolution in New Jersey, particularly the histories of Loyalists, Black communities, and Hessian soldiers.

“The 1759 Vought House: Addressing the Stigma of Loyalism during the American Revolution” by David Overaker

“Paper Trails and Historical Silences: Tracing South Jersey’s Black Revolutionary Descendants from Cooper’s Creek to Snow Hill” by Dolly Marshall

“’It must appear very strange that a Brigade of these troops should be forced to give themselves up:’ An examination of the Hessian enquiry regarding their loss at the Battle of Trenton” by James Domalewski

2:30 – 3:45pm Creating a “Grand” 250th Event

The panel will discuss how the event committee for the 250th Anniversary reenactment of the “Ten Crucial Days” in December 2026, consisting of Washington Crossing Historic Park (Pennsylvania), Washington Crossing State Park (New Jersey), the Old Barracks Museum, Princeton Battlefield State Park, local historians, and reenactors, has formed new collaborations to create a robust and immersive commemoration. to create more than a schedule of events, including shared interpretive themes and goals, reenactor accuracy and safety guidelines, and a website and event guide for both participants and the public. They will also share some of the challenges of working together for the first time while maintaining their own voice and how to continue this momentum for the rest of the 250th and beyond.

4:00 – 5:00pm Q&A: Publishing in New Jersey

Do you have an idea for a book or an article about New Jersey history? Learn more about the publishing process and get your questions answered from publishers and experienced authors.

4:00 – 5:00pm Networking Hour

Join fellow practitioners in the history and public history fields for a networking mixer.

2025 – Memory and Memorialization
2024 – Imperfectly Civil: History of Politics and Civics in New Jersey
2023 – Unfinished Revolution: New Perspectives on the American Revolution
2022 – Freedom Seeker, Colonizer, and Enslaved: Immigration and Migration in NJ
2021 – We’re Still Here: Indigenous History and Persistence in New Jersey
2020 – Battles for the Ballot: New Jersey Voting Rights, Then and Now
2019 – New Jersey Women Make History
2018 – Greetings from New Jersey: Popular Culture & The Garden State
2017 – New Jersey and The Great War
2016 – Changing Attitudes Towards Preserving History and the Environment
2015 – Fighting for Justice: 20th Century Activism in New Jersey
2014 – Commemorating 350 Years of New Jersey’s History
2013 – New Jersey Governors
2012 – Forum
2011 – Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War
2010 – Forum
2009 – New Jersey and the Bill of Rights
2008 – Forum
2007 – New Jersey Diversity, Ethnicity, and Immigration: Past, Present, and Future