In my post about the latest meeting of our committee working on New Jersey's observation of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, I noted that we were now going to seek the endorsement of State government. While I thought it would happen, I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived via e-mail this morning. Thanks to Marc Mappen of the New Jersey State Historical Commission for moving this along - it gives us a semi-official status and should facilitate our work was we move forward in 2009.
As part of working on this, I have been looking on the Internet to see what other states are doing. Virginia seems to be far ahead of everyone else, not surprising considering the economic engine that Civil War related tourism can be for the Old Dominion. Both North Carolina and South Carolina are also working at it as is Arkansas. Unfortunately other than what appear to be some beginning efforts there doesn't appear to be much going on in other northern states. That's unfortunate and needs to change.
I also saw that bills setting up a national commission on the 150th have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, but haven't moved out of committee. The presidential election, the economic crisis and the sense of having plenty of time may account for the delays, but I hope that something happens pretty quickly on this. The reality is that these things take time and advance planning so some action as early as possible in 2009 would be really important.
I am participating in this because of my interest in the Civil War, but I also look at this as part of my work as chairman of the board of the New Jersey Historical Society. For most of 2008 I have also been involved in the vintage base ball movement in New Jersey. It is really encouraging that while New Jersey only had two vintage teams in 2007, there are three in 2008 with the promise of two more in 2009 for a total of five. Critical mass is important here as traveling to other states to play matches can be an inhibiting factor - five teams will enable us to play a lot of games without leaving the state.
All of this is encouraging from a New Jersey history perspective, studying and recreating specific things like base ball and the Civil War can also bring alive other aspects of New Jersey history. I would assume the same is true of Canal societies and other groups. One of the things I have learned is that there is a lot of passion for New Jersey history in terms of specific topics and/or specific locations and sites. Perhaps one of the roles of the only state wide historical society is to encourage and facilitate efforts in those areas.
As part of working on this, I have been looking on the Internet to see what other states are doing. Virginia seems to be far ahead of everyone else, not surprising considering the economic engine that Civil War related tourism can be for the Old Dominion. Both North Carolina and South Carolina are also working at it as is Arkansas. Unfortunately other than what appear to be some beginning efforts there doesn't appear to be much going on in other northern states. That's unfortunate and needs to change.
I also saw that bills setting up a national commission on the 150th have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, but haven't moved out of committee. The presidential election, the economic crisis and the sense of having plenty of time may account for the delays, but I hope that something happens pretty quickly on this. The reality is that these things take time and advance planning so some action as early as possible in 2009 would be really important.
I am participating in this because of my interest in the Civil War, but I also look at this as part of my work as chairman of the board of the New Jersey Historical Society. For most of 2008 I have also been involved in the vintage base ball movement in New Jersey. It is really encouraging that while New Jersey only had two vintage teams in 2007, there are three in 2008 with the promise of two more in 2009 for a total of five. Critical mass is important here as traveling to other states to play matches can be an inhibiting factor - five teams will enable us to play a lot of games without leaving the state.
All of this is encouraging from a New Jersey history perspective, studying and recreating specific things like base ball and the Civil War can also bring alive other aspects of New Jersey history. I would assume the same is true of Canal societies and other groups. One of the things I have learned is that there is a lot of passion for New Jersey history in terms of specific topics and/or specific locations and sites. Perhaps one of the roles of the only state wide historical society is to encourage and facilitate efforts in those areas.
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