Roebling Museum News

Press Release

For Immediate Release

March 29, 2022

Roebling, NJ – Roebling Museum is pleased to announce that it has been awarded funding from the American Historical Association to digitize 13,000 historic employment records from the John A. Roebling Son’s Company The project, Documenting Black and Immigrant Steel Workers from a NJ Company Town will digitize, rehouse, and conserve employment records that cover the 1910s through the 1950s. The data from these records will be used in an upcoming exhibit, will help update Roebling Museum’s interpretation, and will be made available to the public, genealogists, and scholarly researchers.

The American Historical Association provided relief to institutions adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through their Grants to Sustain and Advance the Work of Historical Organizations Program. This grant opportunity was made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

“This digitization project will reveal new stories about the lives of underrepresented workers, and it is an example of putting our mission and vision into practice. These remarkable primary sources illustrate networks of Black and Immigrant steel workers during a key period of industrialization in the United States,” said Dr. Lynne Calamia, Executive Director of Roebling Museum. “As a small museum, it is gratifying to have the country’s foremost historical organization recognize our work and the importance of our history.”

Roebling Museum is one of fifty grant recipients and the only from New Jersey. Other recipients include site-based organizations, membership associations, and history departments at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. “The past two years have been challenging for small history organizations,” said James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association. “Our awardees have made compelling cases for their status as essential resources, making vital contributions to public culture. The American Historical Association (AHA) is pleased to provide funding for our colleagues to promote historical work, historical thinking, and the presence of history in public life.”

“NEH is grateful to the American Historical Association for administering American Rescue Plan funding to help history organizations around the country recover from the pandemic,” said NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo). “Small museums, historical societies, college history departments, historic sites, and community archives are essential to keeping and telling America’s story. These ARP awards will allow these institutions to develop new programs and resources that will expand access to this important history.”

To learn more about the Roebling Museum grant project and for the full list of recipients, please visit the AHA website.

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About Roebling Museum: Roebling Museum tells the story of the origins and growth of Roebling, NJ, a company town built in 1905 by the Roebling Company. The village of Roebling, including 700 homes, is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places and every one of its buildings has an important story to tell. Exhibits, tours, and programs document the majority-immigrant workforce that built the iconic suspension bridges of the American industrial age.

About the American Historical Association: Founded in 1884 and incorporated by Congress in 1889 for the promotion of historical studies, the American Historical Association provides leadership for the discipline and promotes the critical role of historical thinking in public life. The Association defends academic freedom, develops professional standards, supports innovative scholarship and teaching, and helps to sustain and enhance the work of historians. As the largest membership association of professional historians in the world (nearly 12,000 members), the AHA serves historians in a wide variety of professions and represents every historical era and geographical area.

About the National Endowment for the Humanities: Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov.

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Media Contact:

Lynne Calamia, PhD

Executive Director, Roebling Museum

Lynne.calamia@roeblingmuseum.org