Alice Paul Institute In Line To Get $27K State Grant

MOUNT LAUREL, NJ — The South Jersey birthplace of a vocal leader of the Women’s Suffrage Movement is in line to receive grant money from the state to further the legacy of Alice Paul.

The Alice Paul Institute is in line to receive a $27,263 grant the New Jersey Historic Trust Fund for its Alice Paul Birthplace (Paulsdale) project, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs announced.

Paul was born in Mount Laurel in 1885. She attended Moorestown Friends School, graduating at the top of her class. She met Lucy Burns and joined the Women’s Suffrage Movement while studying social work in England, according to the National Women’s History Museum. She helped secure passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. She died in Moorestown in 1977.

The Alice Paul Institute was founded in 1984 to commemorate Paul’s 100th birthday. Its goal is to further Paul’s legacy and advocacy for women’s rights, and takes a leadership role in bringing recognition to organizations and historic sites that honor women, according to the institute’s website.

The grant is part of $11,902,723 in grant recommendations for 67 preservation planning, heritage tourism, and capital projects to save and promote historic sites throughout the state. In June, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation that increased the Trust’s portion of the corporate business tax dedication from 5 percent to 7 percent.

The grant recommendations, approved by the New Jersey Historic Trust Board, will be presented to the Garden State Preservation Trust at its next meeting on October 8, 2019. The grants will then require a legislative appropriations bill and the governor’s approval before funds become available.

“Historic structures and places are a foundational part of our towns that serve as community gathering spaces, heritage and tourism attractions, and places of recreation and respite — they are the places we love, and they are so vital to improving New Jersey’s economy and quality of life,” said Acting Governor Sheila Oliver, who serves as DCA Commissioner. “Preserving our treasured historic places through these Trust grant awards will also help to ensure that future generations will benefit from knowing and experiencing their rich and storied past.”

The Alice Paul Institute's grant would be for historic site management for planning documents.

Twenty-six of the grants will help fund preservation planning projects such as condition assessments, historic structure reports, archaeological investigations, and construction documents. Three grants will help fund heritage tourism initiatives to improve visitors’ experiences at historic sites.

Thirty-eight grants will fund capital preservation projects on sites listed in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. All of the grants awarded to nonprofit organizations or entities of municipal, county, and state government require a recipient match.

New this year, the Trust accepted applications for large-scale, multi-phased projects. Five of the thirty-eight capital grants were approved for their first phase. Future phases will be allocated in subsequent appropriations.

“We are very excited to recommend so many worthwhile projects for funding. The increase in the Preserve New Jersey Historic Preservation Fund has enabled the Trust to help many more historic sites,” Historic Trust Executive Director Dorothy P. Guzzo said. “Increasing access to our state’s historic places is a top priority for the Trust. Sites from every corner of the state are reflected in this list.”

Funding for the current grant round is dedicated from a voter-approved constitutional amendment that created the Preserve New Jersey Historic Preservation Fund, which is supported by income from the corporate business tax and will receive an annual allocation in support of historic preservation.

The Preserve New Jersey Fund continues the work of the Garden State Historic Preservation Trust Fund and voter-supported referendums that have committed over $156 million to more than 900 historic preservation projects since 1990. All funded resources are listed in the New Jersey and National Register of Historic Places, either individually or within designated historic districts.

Established in 1967, the New Jersey Historic Trust is the only nonprofit historic preservation organization in New Jersey created by state law. The Trust became a DCA affiliate in 2002 in an effort to better align the state’s smart growth initiatives with historic revitalization. Its mission is to advance historic preservation in New Jersey for the benefit of future generations through education, stewardship and financial investment programs that save our heritage and strengthen our communities.