Union County Gets $100 Grand in Historical Grants

This week, the New Jersey Historical Commission approved $2,332,659 in Fiscal Year 2013 general operating support grants to 75 historical organizations, museums, historic sites, archives and libraries throughout the state.

Union County will see $104,980 of that $2.3 million.

The local breakdown of that $104,980 is as follows:

• Cranford Historical Society — $5,000
• Kenilworth Historical Society Incorporated — $6,159
• Merchants & Drovers Tavern Museum Association — $18,750
• Plainfield Public Library — $13,245
• Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs — $61,826.

Union County received a far greater amount that some counties, including Gloucester County, which was granted $8,326, and Sussex, which will receive $5,000.

Morris County had the biggest allocation with $415,902. Cape May County boasted $387,973. Mercer garnered $310,692, and Middlesex $179,156.

The funding represents the largest annual grant appropriation given by the Historical Commission, according to state officials.

“This financial support reaffirms our commitment to New Jersey’s historical organizations and their important programs,” said Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, who serves concurrently as Secretary of State. “It also recognizes the impact these organizations have on economic growth and job creation.”

According to a release from the state, the general operating support program is "designed to help historical organizations care for collections and provide educational programs and services relating to New Jersey history. It also allows the Historical Commission to fulfill its mission to enrich the lives of New Jerseyans by preserving the historical record and advancing interest in, and awareness of, New Jersey’s past."

“The general operating support program assists the state’s history community in realizing their most important and pressing goals,” said Lt. Governor Guadagno. “These grants will have an immediate impact in enhancing educational programming for students, expanding historic preservation efforts, facilitating new academic research and scholarship, and raising awareness of New Jersey’s essential place in American history.”

In Fiscal Year 2011, state officials reported, organizations that received general operating support funding offered on and off-site programs to over 2.3 million people and supported nearly 600 full and part-time jobs statewide.

Grants are determined through an independent, third-party peer review process.  General operating support funding is provided by a portion of the revenue produced by the state’s Hotel/Motel Tax legislation.

New Jersey Historical Commission FY 2013 General Operating Support Grants:

Atlantic County

Absecon Lighthouse/IPPA

$25,892

Atlantic County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs

$8,249

South Jersey Cultural Alliance

$6,639

Bergen County

Bergen County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs

$20,714

Friends of the Hermitage, Inc.

$35,187

Mahwah Museum Society, Inc.

$5,000

Pascack Historical Society

$5,000

Water Works Conservancy, Inc.

$11,154

Burlington County

Alice Paul Institute

$31,071

John Woolman Memorial Association

$6,500

National Society of the Colonial Dames in America, NJ

$9,934

Roebling Museum

$18,750

Whitesbog Preservation Trust

$14,639

Camden County

Camden County Historical Society

$15,934

Home Port Alliance for the USS New Jersey, Inc.

$32,500

Lawnside Historical Society, Inc.

$5,850

Cape May County

Cape May County Division of Culture & Heritage

$8,548

Cape May County Historical & Genealogical Society

$9,750

Historic Cold Spring Village

$74,590

Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities

$275,218

Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum

$19,867

Cumberland County

Bayshore Discovery Project

$62,740

Cumberland County Cultural and Heritage Commission

$12,000

Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center

$51,377

Essex County

Essex County Division of Cultural Affairs

$12,000

Historical Society of West Caldwell

$7,425

Montclair Historical Society

$19,500

Newark Public Library

$64,267

Gloucester County

Gloucester County Cultural & Heritage Commission

$8,326

Hunterdon County

Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission

$13,146

Red Mill Museum Village

$11,830

Hudson County

Hoboken Historical Museum

$44,649

Mercer County

1719 William Trent House Association

$23,702

Crossroads of the American Revolution Association

$9,295

Genealogical Society of New Jersey

$6,639

Historic Morven

$65,000

Historical Society of Princeton

$69,780

Howell Living History Farm

$23,841

Lawrence Historical Society

$5,000

Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission

$11,502

Old Barracks Association

$57,871

Preservation New Jersey, Inc.

$26,400

Trent House Association

$6,623

Trenton Historical Society

$5,039

Middlesex County

Edison Memorial Tower Corporation

$15,000

Middlesex County Cultural & Heritage Commission

$134,683

Rutgers University, Special Collections and University Archives

$87,138

Thomas A. Edison Papers

$92,018

Monmouth County

Allaire Village

$10,399

Historical Society of Ocean Grove

$6,639

Monmouth County Historical Association

$84,350

Morris County

Canal Society of New Jersey

$7,500

Historic Sites of the Morris County Park Commission

$64,266

Jewish Historical Society of Metrowest

$6,239

Morris County Heritage Commission

$20,844

Morris County Historical Society

$19,867

Morristown & Morris Township Public Library

$29,013

Museum of Early Trades & Crafts

$38,201

Roxbury Historic Trust

$5,000

Save Ellis Island, Inc.

$199,972

Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms

$25,000

Ocean County

Barnegat Bay Decoy and Baymen's Museum, Inc.

(Tuckerton Seaport)

$17,428

Ocean County Historical Society

$15,000

Ocean County Cultural & Heritage Commission

$13,056

Passaic County

American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark

$15,137

Passaic County Cultural & Heritage Council

$10,517

Salem County

Salem County Cultural & Heritage Commission

$8,000

Salem County Historical Society

$32,122

Somerset County

Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House

$11,352

Sussex County

Montague Association for the Restoration of Community History

Union County

$5,000

Cranford Historical Society

$5,000

Kenilworth Historical Society Incorporated

$6,159

Merchants & Drovers Tavern Museum Association

$18,750

Plainfield Public Library

$13,245

Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs

$61,826