Over $306K in Grants To Uncover Under-represented Narratives in NJ History

The New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC) just awarded 14 organizations across the state with Inclusive History Grant funds totaling $306,123.

The funds are meant for a variety of work across the disciplines of archeology, research, interpretive planning, and oral history. However, all projects will focus on uncovering, exploring, and presenting to the public, under-represented narratives in New Jersey history.

“Telling complex, diverse, and nuanced histories will continue to be a priority of the New Jersey History Commission, and this funding is an important next step to achieving that essential goal,” noted Secretary of State Tahesha Way. “These grants will support a wide range of disciplines and give our history stakeholders the tools to create and maximize the educational and programmatic impacts for diverse audiences ahead of, during, and in the aftermath of America’s upcoming 250th anniversary.”

Morristown National Historical Park - Washington's Headquarters Museum

The Inclusive History Grant (IHG) is a part of the RevolutionNJ initiative – New Jersey’s commemorative celebration for the anniversary of the founding of the United States. Grants are meant to address three goals:

Tell a diverse and inclusive story about America’s past that invites participation from all New Jerseyans.

Encourage the growth of organizational capacity at New Jersey’s history organizations so that they are better able to attract, engage, and serve visitors, both during and after RevolutionNJ.

Demonstrate how understanding the complexity of our history helps us to respond to the present and prepare for the future.

“Initiatives like RevolutionNJ are critical to providing the blueprint for success, but there also needs to be timely, proactive funding to conduct the research, interpretation, and planning necessary to tell the inclusive stories we strive to promote during America’s 250th anniversary and beyond,” added Sara Cureton, executive director of the New Jersey Historical Commission. “This is exactly the purpose of the Inclusive History Grant Program, and why we will continue to build on this progress in the months and years ahead.”

The full list of 2023 award recipients is located below.

Portions of reward funds are contributed by the revenue produced by the state’s Hotel/Motel Tax legislation.

Historic Morven, Inc. “Expanding the Stories of Enslaved Individuals at Morven” – $20,000

6th Regiment United States Colored Troops “Locust Hill Project” – $25,000

Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County “Oral Histories with JHMOMC” – $10,000

Hamilton Partnership for Paterson “People of Paterson Digital Exhibits” – $25,000

Barnegat Bay Decoy & Baymen's Museum “Untold Stories: Tuckerton Seaport StoryCorps Interview Series Expansion” – $23,770

Friends of Abraham Staats House “FASH Witness Stones” – $11,500

Raíces Cultural Center “Ancestral Herbal Narratives Oral History Project” – $24,513

Montclair Historical Center “Research/Planning for Phase 2 Re-interpretation of Crane House/Historic YWCA” – $19,340

Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy “Jersey City - American Mosaic” – $24,500

Stockton University - School of Arts and Humanities “The Alliance Colony: Jewish Farming in Southern New Jersey” – $24,500

Gloucester County “Red Bank Battlefield Park Archeology Project” – $24,500

The Sandy Hook Foundation “The Black Brigade at Refugeetown and the Revolutionary War at Sandy Hook” – $24,500

Old Barracks Museum “Research on Black and Indigenous Soldiers at the Battle of Trenton” – $24,500

Merchants and Drovers Tavern Museum Association “Research Project on Hotel/Tavern Labor” – $24,500

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