Join the NJHC and RevolutionNJ on Thursday, October 30th at The College of New Jersey for the 2025 New Jersey History Conference! This year’s theme – Memory and Memorialization – will explore what we in New Jersey protect from our past, how we reconstruct the forgotten, and the ways in which these histories affect our public spaces and conversations.

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 9/12): $60

Regular Tickets: $70

Exhibitor Table: $100
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

As we prepare for the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, our panel of experts will explore what we choose to remember about our past and the steps we take to preserve it. Keynote Moderator: Dr. John Marks Garrison, AASLH Vice President of Research and Engagement Keynote Speakers: Dr. Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Professor of Anthropology at UMass Amherst and President of the American Anthropological Association (2023-2025), Dr. Jesse Bayker, Assistant Teaching Professor at Rutgers-Camden and developer of the New Jersey Slavery Records, and Dr. Mary Rizzo, Associate Professor at Rutgers-Newark and Graduate Director of the Public Humanities Program.

10:30 – 11:45am Conducting Oral History

Conducting Oral History Workshop teaches potential oral history practitioners the basics of how to conduct a life-course oral history. It will explore the best practices for reaching out to target communities, identifying participants, and building individual and community rapport. The workshop will also include a discussion on how oral history with today's New Jerseyans can add to dialogs about the values of the American Revolution.

10:30 – 11:45am Take Me with You: Curating and Collecting

This workshop will investigate and model how everyday objects and acts of collecting serve as powerful tools for curating personal and collective memory. Participants will be guided in hands-on activities designed to illustrate how objects and artwork tell important, often overlooked, stories highlighting the interpretative power of memory and memorialization.

11:45 – 12:45pm Buffet Lunch

Catered by The College of New Jersey
Vegetarian and gluten-free options will be provided.

12:45 – 1:30pm Publishing in New Jersey Office Hour

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

12:45 – 1:30pm RevolutionNJ Office Hour

Less than one year away from America’s 250th, RevolutionNJ is preparing New Jersey for this once-in-a-generation commemoration. If you have a question about your own 250th planning, meet with RevolutionNJ staff during this casual, office hour session.

1:45 – 3:00pm Engaging with Local Memory and Nurturing Community: A County Experience

During this roundtable session, Middlesex College professors and Division Head at the Middlesex County Division for History and Historic Preservation will discuss strategies and projects used to engage students with their local history and develop job readiness skills.

1:45 – 3:00pm Oral Histories and Possible Futures: LGBTQIA+ Memory, Education, and Civics

This workshop explores the profound intersection of LGBTQIA+ oral histories and their vital role in advancing civil rights, education, and civic engagement. Participants will delve into how lived experiences and testimonies of LGBTQIA+ individuals serve as powerful tools for understanding the past, informing the present, and shaping more inclusive futures.

3:15 – 4:30pm Who We Remember

This panel will feature three different speakers examining who in our past we choose to remember. "Who Gets Remembered? The 1906 Red Bank Battlefield Monument and the Battle for Historical Visibility" by Dr. Jen Janofsky, "Contemporary History of LGBTQ Elizabeth, NJ" by Jennifer Vilchez, and "Disabled Citizenship, Eugenics, and Reparations" by Moira Armstrong, Dr. Alison Howell, and Arron Wheeler.

3:15 – 4:30pm How We Remember

This panel of individual presentations will explore how maps, monuments, and oral history contribute to the construction of public memory. "Redefining the Memorial: Memory, Participation, and Public History in Practice" by Stephanie Schwartz, "Mapping as Remembering" by Dr. Michael Rotenberg-Schwartz, and "Hobbstown Oral History Project: Descendants as Stewards of Cultural Memory" by Daniella Hobb.

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