Preservation New Jersey, a statewide member-supported non-profit historic preservation organization based in Trenton, has announced the recipients of the 2022 New Jersey Historic Preservation Awards, several of which are for projects related to the Princeton region.
A celebration of the award recipients takes place Wednesday, October 12, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the 1867 Sanctuary at 101 Scotch Road, Ewing. The event includes food, drinks, music, and networking followed by the awards presentation. Cost: $75. For tickets or more information, visit preservationnj.org.
Award winners from the Princeton region include:
• The Princeton Battlefield Society, awarded a David H. Knights New Preservation Initiatives Award for its “Eyewitness of the American Revolution” project.
The Princeton Battlefield Society developed an educational initiative to relate individual experiences and reactions to the Battle of Princeton as well as to each of the Ten Crucial Days of 1776-77. Larry Kidder, historian and author, researched and wrote the 28 first-person narratives of our Eyewitness of the American Revolution cards. Each card represents an “eyewitness” who told a unique, personal “story.”
Historian Larry Kidder’s 'Eyewitness of the Revolution' project earned the Princeton Battlefield Society an award from Preservation NJ.
The Princeton Battlefield Society is the officially recognized friends organization of the Princeton Battlefield State Park and hosts programs, events, and initiatives that underscore American Revolutionary War history and New Jersey’s pivotal role in the struggle.
• New Brunswick-based DI Group Architecture, also awarded the David H. Knights award, for “NJ Trenton Central High School Interpretive Graphics and Artifact Installation.”
Trenton Central High School’s former building stood for 83 years before being razed, starting in 2015. As part of this project, selected architecturally significant columns, capitals, pediments, mosaics, and other artifacts from the demolition of the original historic structure were salvaged, preserved, and repurposed into the design of the replacement school, along with interpretive graphic displays.
DI Group Architecture was born of a collaboration of diverse firms united in “Architecture for Change” — a belief and commitment to transformative designs that connect us, improve lives, and enrich and strengthen communities. DIG partnered with Ernest Bock and Sons to provide design-build services to the NJ Schools Development Authority in the construction of the new Trenton Central High School.
• Karen Yang of West Windsor, awarded the Dr. Doris C. Carpenter Excellence Award for the “William Penn, Native Americans & Morven” project.
The project highlights the Indigenous people of New Jersey and all those who came before the European settlers, effectively elevating their voices and shining more light on contextualizing European arrival and colonization while considering the Lenape perspective on these interactions. The upcoming website presenting this story will focus on William Penn and his purchases of land in New Jersey from the Lenni Lenape tribe and the subsequent New Jersey landowners of this specific plot of land. Of particular interest are the Stockton family’s property and the property upon which Morven Museum and Gardens now rests.
• Jessie L. Havens of Belle Mead, awarded the Constance Greiff Writing Award.
For more than 50 years Jessie Havens has researched and studied the history of Somerset County. For 25 of those years, she wrote “Hindsight,” a weekly column in the Somerset Messenger-Gazette. Through her numerous publications, she has shared the history of Somerville and Somerset County with a wide audience. Havens’ historical research, constant pressure and faithful advocacy motivated her colleagues to ensure that Somerset County’s part in the American Revolution would be included in the Crossroad of the American Revolution National Heritage Area. She has been presented with proclamations from Bridgewater Township, Somerset County, and the New Jersey Legislature.
“These projects all contribute to the preservation of our state’s historic resources and serve to create a stronger fabric within the communities where they exist,” Preservation New Jersey President Paul Muir said.
