Morris County Heritage Commission 50th Anniversary
Special Anniversary Programming Planned in 2020
The Morris County Heritage Commission is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a calendar of special programming to highlight many aspects of Morris County’s history.
Anniversary programs for 2020 will include a wide variety of topics that celebrate and acknowledge Morris County’s rich history. The topics were selected from featured articles published in the Commission’s newsletter The Heritage Review, previously known as the County Circular, since the first issue in 1977.
Original newsletters from the 1970s through 2019 are available online at mchc.morriscountynj.gov/.
To help commemorate this year-long anniversary, the Heritage Commission created a specially designed 50th- anniversary logo which features the Morris County Courthouse. The courthouse was selected because Heritage Commission offices were located there in the early 1970s and historic records and documents were housed there in the 19th century.
The color gold represents 50th anniversaries. Aubergine is the color associated with wisdom, dignity, devotion, and humanitarianism and is used on the Commission’s web page and Facebook page and newsletter banner.
Currently scheduled 50th anniversary program include:
Check Before Events for Cancellations
Civil War in New Jersey
Dr. David Martin, NJ Civil War Association
May 13, 5 – 8 p.m. – Morris County Library
Historic Preservation
Janet Foster, Architectual Historian
June 4, 5 – 8 p.m. – Morris County Library
How to Make Sure You Are Researching the Correct Family
Susan Simon, Morris Area Genealogy Society
July 16, 3 – 6 p.m. – Morris County Library
Technology Firsts in Morris County
Paul Israel, Director Edison Papers, Rutgers
Sept. 26, 12 – 4 p.m. – Morris County Library
Also, a presentation on Women’s Suffrage is under development for later this year.
In addition to anniversary programming, the Commission will:
Co-sponsor the 2020 Local History Symposium with the Canal Society of New Jersey at the Morris County Cultural Center in Mendham Township on April 25; Present a Grant Writing Basics workshop on August 19 at the Morris County Library in Hanover Township; Participate in the annual Morristown Fall Festival in late September.
The Morris County Heritage Commission, which was created in 1970, is charged with maintaining the County Archives, publishing a newsletter and brochures relating to Morris County history, placing and maintaining historical site markers, and curating public programs, workshops and small exhibits.
Since its inception, on behalf of the Board of Freeholders, the Heritage Commission also has facilitated the understanding and preservation of Morris County’s diverse heritage by administering the county re-grant program, with funding provided by the New Jersey Historical Commission for nonprofit organizations.
History organizations, such as historical societies, museums, and historic preservation societies are eligible to apply for general operating support or project grants between $1,000 and $7,000. Fraternal, veterans’, education, youth and ethnic organizations can apply for project grants ranging from$500 to $5,000.
Members of the Heritage Commission staff are professional historians and archivists and offer guidance and assistance to nonprofit organizations on archival and history subjects.
Stay tuned to the Heritage Commission’s website and Facebook page for program announcements and updates.
