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Past meetings, reports and presentations
Winter 2022 Revolution NJ Update Available on Youtube
January 26, 2022 update session included:
- Crossroads Audio Tour update
- Revolution NJ Professional Development Series Update
- Revolution NJ Big Ideas: Concepts for the 250th Series Update
- Revolution NJ Civic and Community Engagement Working Group Co-Chair Guest Speaker Michelle Perez
Fall 2021 Revolution NJ Update Available on YouTube
October 20, 2021 update session included:
- Getting the word out
- Crossroads Audio Tour update
- Funding successes and opportunities
- Visit the New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC) grants website to learn more about grant opportunities throughout the year. Upcoming opportunities include:
- Diversity Equity Accessibility and Inclusion (DEAI) Grant (December 2021)
- Project Grants (March 2022)
- General Operating Grants (March 2022)
- Second Round of Covid Grants (Q2/Q3 2022)
- County History Partnership Program (CHPP) (Every year, in late summer) Check this chart for contact information on the administrator for your county.
- The National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program supports community-driven stewardship of historic resources through four grant programs with deadlines throughout the year. Read more on the ABPP website.
- Visit the New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC) grants website to learn more about grant opportunities throughout the year. Upcoming opportunities include:
- Monument Lab Pilot Residency
- Social Studies Survey
- Historic Marker Program
- Professional Development Update
- Working Group Update
- Made by Us – Guest speaker Kenneth Cohen
Summer 2021 Revolution NJ Update Available on YouTube
August 3, 2021 update session included:
- an update on Revolution NJ Working Groups
- professional development sessions
- development campaign feasibility study
- branding and marketing communications, featuring guest speaker Tom Sullivan of Princeton Partners
Spring 2021 Revolution NJ Update Available on Youtube
April 8, 2021 update session included:
- A combined meeting with Crossroads’ Annual Meeting and the Revolution NJ initiative quarterly meeting.
- announced plans for the organization’s statewide Revolutionary heritage travel app, with work currently underway on an inaugural Ten Crucial Days/March to Morristown route.
- Dr. Eileen Ka-May Cheng (Sarah Lawrence College) presented insights on America’s First Civil War: The Loyalists and the American Revolution.
Winter 2021 Revolution NJ Update Available on YouTube
January 14, 2021 update session included:
- a preview of the Revolution NJ interpretive framework, presented by Advisory Council Co-chairs Linda Caldwell Epps (President and CEO, 1804 Consultants) and Kristin O’Brassill-Kulfan (Assistant Teaching Professor and Coordinator of Public History, Rutgers University).
- update on marketing plans for Revolution NJ
- an overview of results of the statewide K-12 social studies curriculum survey
- upcoming professional development opportunities focusing on inclusive history
Fall 2020 Revolution NJ Update Available on YouTube
October 14, 2020 update session included:
- initiative funding, including a $500,000 NJ state budget appropriation for the 2021 Fiscal Year and applications for grants for a Revolution NJ app and urban conversation centers.
- ongoing long-range planning, informed by public commentary during listening sessions that occurred in 2019 and early 2020
- progress on the statewide K-12 social studies curriculum survey whose results will help determine priority areas for Revolution NJ education initiatives
- governance structure updates
- work toward a potential multi-location Revolution NJ public arts project in partnership with the NJ State Council on the Arts and Monument Lab .
- “Freedom First: Black Soldiers in the American Revolution” presented by guest speaker Algernon Ward, Jr., 1st Rhode Island Regiment Reenactors, Inc.
Additional resources discussed during the Q&A session include:
Black Lives in the Past and Present: New Jersey African American Resources for the American Revolution. – resReview.
Revolutionary Neighbors profiles of Black New Jerseyans who fought during the Revolution:
Colonel Tye (Loyalist)
Prime (Continental Army)
Jacob Francis (Continental Army)
Oliver Cromwell (Continental Army)
NJ Historical Commission’s COVID-19 resources list: (please note that some resources included in this document are out of date)
NJHC and New Jersey Council on the Humanities’ Advancing Your Mission During COVID-19 and Beyond webinar series.
SUMMER 2020 Update Session
July 15 2020 update session included:
- governance structure for Revolution NJ, including the 18 members of the Advisory Council that will assure that programs and activities align with Revolution NJ goals and interpretive framework.
- Q&A on the Visitor Readiness assessment, with Richard Hunter of Hunter Research.
- “Exploring the American Revolution in New Jersey and Encountering the Unexpected,” presented by New Jersey Historical Commission board chair Maxine Lurie, PhD.
- Due to technical difficulties, the recorded presentation started after a sneak peek at the updated Revolution NJ logo. Adjusted following the winter introduction, the logo has been market tested, and plans for formal public introduction are in the works.
SPRING 2020: NJ Revolutionary Sites Visitor Readiness Assessment presented at Crossroads Annual Meeting
Major findings of the visitor readiness assessment of New Jersey Revolutionary-era historic sites were presented at Crossroads of the American Revolution’s 2020 annual meeting. The team includes architecture, planning and historic planning firm Clarke Caton Hintz; cultural resources consultants Hunter Research; and destination development, strategic planning and tourism marketing firm Hargrove International.
WINTER 2019-20
January 8, 2020 update session included:
- Progress of the NJ Revolutionary-era site survey
- Crossroads’ upcoming workshop on Sharing Untold Stories
- Progress on the comprehensive, statewide survey of social studies curricula
FALL 2019
October 2, 2019 update session included:
- Status on upcoming survey of social studies curricula
- Progress on the visitor readiness assessment of 150 New Jersey Revolutionary-era sites
- National 250th planning efforts
SUMMER 2019
July 24, 2019 update session included:
- National Semiquincentennial planning update
- Visitor readiness assessment progress
- Statewide social studies curricula survey
- Long-range planning process
SPRING 2019
Download the April 30, 2019 presentation.
Topics include:
- Appointment of Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) to the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission
- Selection of the Clarke Caton Hintz/Hunter Associates/HTC Partners team to perform readiness assessments of the state’s Revolutionary heritage sites.
- Plans are also in the works to form a 250th Campaign Committee to raise the substantial funds needed to prepare our historic sites to welcome more visitors.
OCTOBER 25 2018
Crossroads Selected as Partner to Drive NJ Planning for Nation’s 250th Anniversary
(Oct 25 2018) Crossroads of the American Revolution Association has been selected as the private sector partner to work with the New Jersey Historical Commission within the state to plan commemorations and observances of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. The selection was made following passage of legislation earlier this year (A-4194/S-2738 (Coughlin/Weinberg, Beach) which directed the NJHC to partner with an organization focused on preserving and promoting New Jersey’s Revolutionary heritage.
“We’re eager to get to work to elevate New Jersey’s Revolutionary sites and events on the list of must-see destinations for visitors during the nation’s 250th anniversary,” said Crossroads Board Chair Ira Jersey. “Through this new partnership with the NJ Heritage Commission, we’ll build alliances with New Jersey’s business and civic communities to capitalize on the economic potential of attracting new visitors to the state during the anniversary. Our Revolutionary history is unique among the original 13 states, and Crossroads is proud to be chosen to help lead the effort to prepare our historic sites to share their stories.”
Designated by Act of the U.S. Congress to administer the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area, Crossroads has built a network of more than 130 heritage and history groups, representing more than 200 Revolutionary-era sites in New Jersey. The organization promotes the state’s Revolutionary heritage and events, and provides professional development training to help organizations present authentic portrayals of 18th century life in the state.
“The 250th anniversary offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build awareness of New Jersey’s unsung role in the nation’s fight for independence,” said Crossroads Executive Director Janice Selinger. “The state was the site of more battles and skirmishes than anyplace else during the Revolution, making the war a daily reality for 18th century New Jerseyans. Residents were forced to make hard decisions about their allegiances, as those choices had real-life impact.”
The public-private partnership will continue to engage Crossroads’ Heritage Partners and other historic sites and organizations across the state in planning meetings and listening sessions, with the next gathering planned for early 2019. More information on the partnership and 250th planning is available from the New Jersey Department of State.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Crossroads of the American Revolution Selected as Not-For-Profit Partner for New Jersey’s 250th Anniversary of the United States Commemoration Efforts ( New Jersey Department of State news release, October 25, 2018)
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