06/08/2023
There is a delayed opening today, June 8, 2023. State offices will open at 10am.
The New Jersey State Archives, in the Department of State, preserves and promotes New Jersey's rich
(14)
There is a delayed opening today, June 8, 2023. State offices will open at 10am.
We have expanded our appointment schedule!
1. There will now be 9 appointments per 3-hour microfilm appointment block, instead of 7. All the microfilm readers have the capability to print.
2. We have now made the microfilm room available Tuesday mornings (9-12noon) and Thursday afternoons (1-4pm), in addition to the prior schedule. Therefore, the microfilm room will be open by appointment from 9-12 and 1-4 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
3. You are now allowed to book 2 microfilm appointments and 1 manuscript appointment per week. This will allow for researchers to book a morning and an afternoon in the microfilm room.
With these changes we have increased the number of available microfilm appointments from 28 to 54.
If you wish to make an appointment, please click here: [email protected]/bookings/" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/[email protected]/bookings/
Our online Marriage Records database now includes marriages up to 1900! You can find over 492,000 New Jersey marriage citations from 1848-1900 on our website. As always, if you find a record you would like a copy of, select it from the database and order it through our online shopping cart.
Kudos to past and present staff (too many to name!) that worked on the data entry, which began during the pandemic.
https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal/Marriage1867.aspx
If you are calling to make an appointment for the week of September 13 - you can call on Monday, September 6th, as early as 8:30.
The New Jersey State Archives is happy to announce we will reopen by limited appointment starting July 20, 2021. For more details on how to schedule an appointment and covid-19 protocols at the archives, please visit: www.nj.gov/state/archives/reopening.html
Timeline Photos
Every March we take time to consider the many roles that women play in our public and private lives. In 2021, we will explore how the creation of organizations and networks of women, in particular Black sororities, has succeeded in affecting change in the lives of individuals and communities at the local, national, and international levels. This theme will be explored in a special panel discussion offered in honor of .
The panel will feature prominent sorors representing Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated (Official) and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. The panel will be moderated by New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way.
The event is free to attend. Pre-registration is required. To register, please visit: http://bit.ly/NJHCrisingtogether.
A great presentation for archives, libraries and museums.
Click here to register: https://bit.ly/37TXSDR
For sixty years, the Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth in Bordentown served as New Jersey's state-operated, co-educational vocational school for African Americans. The Bordentown school was established in 1886 by Rev. W. A. Rice, a minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. With many of its staff residing on campus, the school formed a self-contained community in which students and faculty lived and worked together. In order to graduate, a student was required to complete the academic curriculum and to master a particular trade.
For the "It Happened Here" video: https://youtu.be/4gGLMq-dEGQ
For more images from our collection: https://www.nj.gov/state/archives/sedma005.html
You can now order 1920 birth records from the New Jersey State Archives! Please visit our birth records search request form to place an order:
https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal/BirthRecordsRequest.aspx
Don't forget you can order the following vital statistics from the NJ State Archives:
Births - 1848-1920
Marriages - 1848-1930
Deaths - 1848-1930
https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal/index.aspx
Join the New Jersey State Museum for a new virtual program, "Remembering the Revolution: The Yorktown Cup." This short documentary video explores the unknown history of an exquisite sterling silver trophy made by the world-renowned jewelers Tiffany & Co. and awarded to New Jersey for its role at the centennial commemoration of the Battle of Yorktown. The short video includes historical photos from the New Jersey State Archives collection.
https://youtu.be/VmzLTI5Xb_I
On December 18, 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the United States Constitution. To read more about the signing and to see the ratification, visit https://nj.gov/state/archives/docratification.html
State of New Jersey
The History Girl
Today in : , November 20, 1789, ratified the Bill of Rights, becoming the first state to do so. New Jersey's action was a first step toward making the first 10 amendments to the Constitution law and completing the revolutionary reforms begun by the Declaration of Independence. (The image on this post is of NJ's original version, digitized in 2006, courtesy of the New Jersey State Archives.)
Find out whether you could vote during different time periods throughout New Jersey's history! With this interactive, you can see how suffrage rights have evolved for New Jersey citizens over the last three centuries. View on a desktop browser at: https://prezi.com/view/QmE4afyNGu0QbC0nHG4y/
State of New Jersey
Registration is open for the New Jersey Historical Commission annual New Jersey History Conference! This year the conference is all virtual and full of great sessions!
You will be interested to know that our work-at-home project to digitally compile the 1848-1878 birth index is coming to a close. We just reached over 400,000 entries! Seven very dedicated full- and part-time staff members, and two former staff members as volunteers, have been building this resource. The new index will be added to our Searchable Databases site as soon as possible. We cannot wait to make it available to you!
Stayed tuned for updates on other projects...
Dear Archives patrons:
Thank you all for your patience as our staff continues to process your online records requests. As of this week, we have emailed almost all orders received through July 31st. Of the over 5,100 documents requested since our closure to the public in March, we have sent out over 3,400. We appreciate your ongoing support and encouragement, and hope you will keep the orders for vital records, naturalizations, wills, etc., coming! We are always glad to be a part of your genealogical and historical research.
Make sure to register for the NJ Historical Commission's annual conference! It will be held virtual this year - but will still include lots of great content!
Registration is now open for the 2020 NJ History Conference! Join us virtually on Friday, November 13, for Battles for the Ballot: New Jersey Voting Rights, Then and Now. To register, view a preliminary program, and learn more about our keynote speakers, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/battles-for-the-ballot-new-jersey-voting-rights-then-and-now-tickets-114331171612.
The 2020 event is co-sponsored by the Alice Paul Institute, NJ Women Vote, the New Jersey State Archives, and New Jersey Digital Highway.
Today is the 233rd anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. NJ sent 5 delegates to the constitutional convention - David Brearley, Jonathan Dayton, William Livingston, William Paterson, and William Houston (who was unable to sign the final document due to illness).
After the document was signed at the convention in Philadelphia, copies were sent to the individual states. New Jersey's ratification convention approved the founding charter in only 6 days, and became the 3rd state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 18,1787.
The State Archives holds the convention's minutes and New Jersey's copy of the United States Constitution. You can view them here with full transcription: https://nj.gov/state/archives/docusconstitution.html
Registration will be coming soon! Save the date!
We are thrilled to announce the keynote speakers for the 2020 NJ History Conference, Battles for the Ballot: New Jersey Voting Rights, Then and Now. The conference keynote panel will feature three nationally renowned experts offering historical and contemporary insights on voting rights and suffrage: Ari Berman, Senior Reporter, Mother Jones, Ryan P. Haygood, President & CEO, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, and Martha S. Jones, Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University.
Join us virtually on Friday, November 13, 2020 for this dynamic panel and a day of presentations on topics in New Jersey voting rights history. Registration will open on September 28. For more information, please visit: https://nj.gov/state/historical/his-2020-conference.shtml.
Thank you to our 2020 conference sponsors: the Alice Paul Institute, New Jersey State Archives, NJ Digital Highway, and NJ Women Vote!
New Jersey Historical Commission - NJHC
The NJHC and New Jersey Council for the Humanities are pleased to present, Advancing Your Mission During COVID-19 and Beyond, a webinar series for cultural nonprofits navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Each webinar is free to attend with registration: https://bit.ly/2WOkPlg.
Dear State Archives friends:
First of all, we hope you are all doing well. Secondly, we wanted to let you know that we are actively fulfilling orders for copies of documents received by mail and through our online shopping cart, as expeditiously as we are able. Our priority has been vital statistics requests (for birth, marriage, and death records), which constitute the great bulk of orders and are straightforward in terms of the look-up and associated time. Right now, a few full-time staff members are allowed into the building a couple of days per week (while “socially distancing”). To expedite service and minimize hard-copy mailings, we have been sending out digital scans with an option for paper copy as well, if needed. This has been very well received! We have been able to fill about 140 vital statistics orders in this fashion since the public closure. Once we reduce the backlog of such requests to a couple of weeks, we will be able to start fulfilling orders for other types of records.
Thank you, sincerely, for your ongoing support and patience during this very challenging time. Providing you with the best possible customer service is paramount to our whole staff. We look forward to returning to full-service operations soon. Be well and stay safe!
New Jersey Historical Commission - NJHC
Announcing the 2020 NJ History Conference Call for Proposals and Call for Posters and Projects. The 2020 conference, Battles for the Ballot: New Jersey Voting Rights, Then and Now, will take place at Kean University on Friday, November 13, 2020.
As New Jersey marks the 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment and the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment—against the backdrop of a presidential election year and a global pandemic—Battles for the Ballot will explore how the right to vote has changed over time and the meaning of participation and representation in a democracy.
We are now accepting submissions for conference proposals and submissions to the posters and projects session: https://discovernjhistory.org/2020-nj-history-conference/.
Prior to our current shutdown, State Archives staff had completed the digitization of about half of New Jersey’s World War I service cards from microfilm (about 70,000 cards). Working from home during the last month, four staff members have been creating index records from copies of these images. The data captured includes the soldier’s name, race, gender, town of residence, age, place of birth, marital status, and occupation. To date, we have created nearly 5,400 index records. These entries and corresponding scans will be appended to our existing online database for New Jersey World War I service, which currently contains information about soldiers who died during the conflict.
https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal/WWICards.aspx
The State Archives holds over 1,800 tax ratable lists spanning the 1768-1846 period, most of which date from 1772 to 1820. These materials are extremely important for local history and genealogy in light of the federal government’s loss, by fire, of the first four federal censuses for our state (1790 to 1820). The original tax lists were closed to public use/handling many years ago due to their fragile condition. Existing microfilm, made in the 1960s or ‘70s, is difficult to read. Thus, in 2019, we embarked on the digitization of this large collection (75 cubic feet altogether!) with the intention of making the lists fully available on our website.
During the current work-at-home period, three staff members are creating index entries using scanned images on portable drives. The process will capture vital information about landholding, slavery, military exemption, etc. The resultant online resource will also facilitate scholarship in connection with the upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
As promised, in the days ahead we'll be telling you about our progress on several work-at-home projects now underway by State Archives staff. Our first featured project is the automation of the 1848-1878 birth index. Currently 5 very dedicated full- and part-time staff members are building this new resource. The index will eventually be added to our Searchable Databases online. This work will make all three types of records from the earliest period of state vital statistics searchable at our website. In our third full week of data entry from home, staff have now created nearly 27,000 database records. The index information is keyed into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and then uploaded to a shared team space. Then our database coordinator builds the master file.
We look forward to seeing you back at the Archives whenever the State reopens our facility for business. In the meantime, please stayed tuned for information on other projects.
To our faithful followers and patrons (whom we miss!):
Based on federal and state guidelines, New Jersey State Archives will remain closed to both the public and our staff until further notice. We regret that you are not able to conduct research as you normally would. While we have not received official word as to when the public functions of state government may resume, we are anticipating additional weeks of closure at the very least.
Over the next two weeks, we will be letting you know about the many data projects the staff is engaged in during this period of working from home. We are also working on a plan to continue certain mail reference services if (and as soon as) possible. Please stay tuned, be well, and stay safe.
Your friends at New Jersey State Archives
Due to the current coronavirus mitigation efforts and closure of state government offices, the New Jersey State Archives will be closed to researchers through March 31st (subject to extension). Archives staff will be working on data-entry projects and other work from home. Thus, without access to collections, there will be a several-week backlog in fulfilling search requests and certifications.
We will be checking our emails and receiving phone calls should there be any questions. Thanks to our wonderful researchers for your patience and understanding. Stay healthy and safe! We will keep you posted.
Based on guidance from the Governor’s Office and the State Police regarding COVID-19 mitigation, effective today, Monday, March 16th, New Jersey State Archives will be closed to in-person researchers.
We are awaiting information as to whether Archives staff will report to work going forward. Most likely, mail reference services will be delayed.
We will continue to post updates on our public services as we are able.
Notice to our researchers- there is a possibility that the New Jersey State Archives will be closed to the public tomorrow, March 16th. If you were planning to visit, we advise that you call our offices (609-292-6260) before driving to Trenton. We hope to have definitive information by morning.
Check out this article about an upcoming exhibit and historical research by the Museum of the American Revolution, which will feature numerous documents from the New Jersey State Archives. Did you know New Jersey was the only state to allow women the right to vote from 1776-1807?
NJ Women Vote New Jersey
From 1776 to 1807, women in New Jersey had equal voting rights. Newly surfaced documents illuminate how that happened — and the origins of the messy, imperfect democracy we have today.
NJCAR Workshops in Disaster Preparedness for Cultural Institutions
Workshops presented by LYRASIS staff on how to write a disaster plan for small libraries and cultural institutions.
The State Archives can now service online requests and certify the following vital records: birth records, 1848-1919; marriage records, 1848-1930; and deaths 1848-1930. If you would like to request a search for these vital records, please use the online form here: https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal/index.aspx
Due to the anticipated weather conditions, all state government offices, including the State Archives, will close at noon today, December 2, 2019.
The New Jersey State Archives will be closed on November 5th, Election Day.
UPDATE- we are open at 10
Due to a power outage, the New Jersey State Archives will have a delayed opening of 10am today. Please check back for more details as this may change.
New Jersey Historical Commission - NJHC
Attention, all New Jersey graphic designers and artists! The New Jersey Historical Commission and Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area seek a signature logo to embody Revolution NJ, New Jersey’s initiative to commemorate the 250th anniversary (or Semiquincentennial) of the United States in 2026.
The winning logo design will receive a $1,500 cash prize. The deadline for submission is 3:00 p.m. on Monday, November 25, 2019. Check out the Call for Designs today to learn more: https://discovernjhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Call-for-Designs.pdf.
Do you have ancestors who died in New Jersey between 1878 and 1900? Do you like to do online research?The New Jersey State Archives just completed its indexing of death records from this time period! The database contains 628,584 recorded deaths. If you find your ancestor, you can request a copy of the certificate through our online system. Many thanks and congratulations to the multitude of Archives staff who worked on this project for over 15 years! You can search the database here: https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal/DeathIndex.aspx
No need to sit and wonder about archives, just ask! This Wednesday, October 2nd, we will be participating in Day! If you have any questions about the New Jersey State Archives, just post and tag us -
or comment below
225 W State St
Trenton, NJ
08625
Monday | 8:30am - 4:15pm |
Tuesday | 8:30am - 4:15pm |
Wednesday | 9am - 4:15pm |
Thursday | 8:30am - 4:15pm |
Friday | 8:30am - 4:15pm |
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when New Jersey State Archives posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Send a message to New Jersey State Archives:
Today is the 233rd anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. NJ sent 5 delegates to the constitutional convention - David Brearley, Jonathan Dayton, William Livingston, William Paterson, and William Houston (who was unable to sign the final document due to illness). After the document was signed at the convention in Philadelphia, copies were sent to the individual states. New Jersey's ratification convention approved the founding charter in only 6 days, and became the 3rd state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 18,1787. The State Archives holds the convention's minutes and New Jersey's copy of the United States Constitution. You can view them here with full transcription: https://nj.gov/state/archives/docusconstitution.html #constitutionday #Njhistory
The State Archives can now service online requests and certify the following vital records: birth records, 1848-1919; marriage records, 1848-1930; and deaths 1848-1930. If you would like to request a search for these vital records, please use the online form here: https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal/index.aspx
New Jersey Department of the Treasury
West State StreetN.J. Office of Diversity and Inclusion
W State StreetNew Jersey Historical Commission
W State StreetThe African American Chamber of Commerce of N
West State StreetAmeriCorps NJ Watershed Ambassadors Program
E State StreetNew Jersey Historical Commission
W State StreetNew Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission Is A Fail
E State StreetN.J. Office of Diversity and Inclusion
W State Street