Setting the Record Straight

Editor
Civil War News
234 Monarch Hill Road
Tumbridge, Vermont 05077

Dear Sir or Madam:

Scott Boyd’s article (“States Lagging on 150th”) in the June issue of Civil War News calls needed attention to the slow pace at which states are working on the upcoming Civil War Sesquicentennial. There is, however, at least one state whose name needs to be added to those already in the field – New Jersey.

Since the fall of 2008, members of the New Jersey Civil War community have been meeting to plan how our state might observe the 150th anniversary of this watershed event in our nation’s history. Our group has been drawn from roundtables, re-enactor groups, educators and authors (including Civil War News columnist Joe Bilby).

We have named ourselves the New Jersey Civil War 150th Anniversary Committee and are working under the auspices of the New Jersey Civil War Heritage Association. The NJCWHA is a not-for-profit organization with a long record of working in this area. While we are not an official state commission, the committee was endorsed by Governor Jon Corzine at the end of 2008. In his proclamation, the Governor called on all “state and local government agencies, as well as non-profit organizations and educational institutions” to work with the committee on this important anniversary.

The NJCW150 Committee has been working on a website (NJCW150.org) which will be operational early this summer. Initially the website will feature biographies of 150 prominent New Jerseyans from the Civil War era. The subjects of these brief essays include soldiers and civilians, black and white, and men and women giving a sense of New Jersey’s broad participation in these events.

A number of other projects are in various stages of development. These include several possible publications, educational programming, re-enactments and other ways of honoring these brave men and women who made such important contributions to our state and our nation’s history. We hope to collaborate with the appropriate groups in other states as well as publications like Civil War News throughout the course of the sesquicentennial.

Sincerely yours,




John G. Zinn
Chair, New Jersey Civil War 150th Anniversary Committee
Verona, New Jersey