NJ Historical Commission

As a former member of the New Jersey General Assembly and now a New Jersey State Senator, I am proud to serve the people of our nation’s greatest state both as a legislator and as a member of the New Jersey Historical Commission. Every day as I travel throughout New Jersey and meet our oldest and newest residents, I learn something new and wonderful about our great Garden State.

New Jersey’s history and tradition date back several hundred years to settlements by the Lanape Indians, the Dutch, and the British. Our woods and roads have been traveled by many of our nation’s greatest movers and shakers, including George Washington, Thomas Edison, and Paul Robeson. Many of our nation’s turning points occurred here, including the Battle of Monmouth of the American Revolution, the establishment of some of the world’s busiest ports in Newark and Elizabeth, and the birth of the Industrial Revolution in Paterson. Our great state can lay claim to being the birthplace or home to numerous notable artists, including Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep, Philip Roth, and Dionne Warwick.

The New Jersey Historical Commission seeks to enrich the lives of the public by preserving the natural record and advancing interest in and awareness of New Jersey’s past. Our mission is to preserve our heritage and the history of New Jersey in a number of ways:

• By launching the first New Jersey Forum, an all-day event that featured panels and presentations on New Jersey history
• By bestowing grants and scholarships, such as the Mildred Barry Gavin Prize for exceptional efforts in making New Jersey students aware of and interested in the African-American past
• By sponsoring H-New Jersey, a free H-Net discussion group open to anyone interested in New Jersey history, including academic researchers, teachers, students, archivists, historical site staff, volunteers, genealogists, archeologists, history preservationists, and history buffs of all kinds
• By publishing – both in print, online, and audio – books, pamphlets, teaching materials, radio programs, and the New Jersey Gazette, a collaborative effort of the New Jersey Historical Commission, the New Jersey History Trust, and the Division of Archives and Records Management
• By sponsoring regional lectures and workshops on important people and events in New Jersey history
• By providing the Caucus Archival Projects Evaluation Service (CAPES), which offers professional assessments by consultants of the New Jersey Caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference of historical collections held by New Jersey archives, libraries, historical societies, and other agencies
• By partnering with the Montville school district and Kean University in the New Jersey History Partnership Project to train teachers of grades 7-12 to integrate New Jersey history into their teaching of American History
• By publishing the New Jersey Historical Attractions map to acquaint visitors and residents with our state’s many attributes
• By engaging lovers of history in special events held throughout the state

I am proud to be a member of the New Jersey Historical Commission, and I encourage you to get out there on New Jersey’s roads, bike paths, waters, and bridges to see for yourself what our state offers you. Through the New Jersey Historical Commission, we can learn more about our past as we live for today and plan for tomorrow.