Annual Report 2020-2021

During the 2020-2021 academic year, the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance held four business meetings followed by award winner presentations, and hosted one presentation. All meetings were conducted via Zoom.

Treasurer’s Report (Richard Waldron) : Income via membership and donations, $1814.61, expenditures of $1634.95 which includes $1500 in grants and awards to students, closing balance of $7203.66.

Membership Report (Tara Maharjan): Total membership of 71. 15 new members joined since September 1, 2020.

Website/Facebook page (Maharjan): Total Facebook followers: 313. 42 new Facebook followers and 55 posts to Facebook since September 1, 2020. Average of 47 views for each post.

Program Report (Laura Poll): In addition to four regular meetings (October and December 2020, February and April 2021), in March 2021, NJSAA hosted Alison Isenberg from Princeton University to present “Finding and Losing New Jersey History: Adventures in the Trenton Archives,” which had an audience of over 45 via Zoom.

For more information on NJSAA: https://sites.google.com/site/njstudiesacademicalliance/Home

2020 AWARD WINNERS

Author Awards:

Non-fiction Scholarly Category: Noriko Matsumoto, Beyond the City and the Bridge: East Asian Immigration in a New Jersey Suburb by (Rutgers University Press, 2018)

Non-fiction Popular Category: Brian Armstrong, The Franklin Park Tragedy: A Forgotten Story of Racial Injustice in New Jersey (The History Press, 2019)

Committee: Benjamin Beede, William L. Kidder, Deborah Mercer (chair), Laura Poll

Graduate Student Paper in New Jersey History Award: No award presented

Committee: Paul Israel (chair), Jonathan Lurie, Peter Mickulas

Maxine Lurie Distinguished Service Award: Ronald Becker, Rutgers University Libraries Special Collections (emeritus)

Committee: Maxine Lurie, Jessica Myers, Gary Saretzky (chair)

Roger McDonough Librarian/Archivist Award: Deborah Mercer, New Jersey State Library

Committee: Ellen Callahan, Maxine Lurie, Tara Maharjan, Elsalyn Palmisano, Gary Saretzky (chair)

Marc Mappen Student Research Scholarships:

Kamika Bennett, Rutgers University: multiracial labor organizing during the 1926 strike in Passaic and its lesser-known complement in Lodi.

Eric Deutsch, University of Buffalo: “The Seeing Eye” in Morristown, and the racial and gender demographics of the institution.

William Elwell, Monmouth University: the relationship between New Jersey’s railroad and tourism industries, specifically at the Shore.

Ashley Parker, Monmouth University: heritage tourism in New Jersey.

Shu Wan, University of Iowa: “the forgotten story of a group of Princeton University alumni's efforts to reform local society in Beijing, engagement in the promotion of scientific knowledge, and contribution to the dissemination of Christian gospel in early 20th-century Chinese society.”

Committee: Kim Adams, Ellen Mappen, Gary Saretzky, Melissa Ziobro (chair)

Paul A. Stellhorn Undergraduate Paper in New Jersey History Award:

Vayne Ong, Princeton University, nominated by Alison Isenberg

“Springwood Avenue Rising: Race, Leisure, and Decline in the 1970 Asbury Park Rising” Sean Graham, Centenary University, nominated by Noah Haiduc-Dale

“The Origins of Centenary Collegiate Institute: A Story of Industrialization, Wealth, and Natural Resources”

Committee: Mark Lender, Peter Mickulas, Richard Waldron (chair), and Melissa Ziobro

Teaching Awards: no award presented

Committee: Michelle Rotunda (chair), Joan Ruddiman, Robert Schulte, Julia Telonidis, and Andrew Urban

Respectfully submitted by the NJSAA Officers 2018-2021:

Chair - Robert Vietrogoski

Treasurer - Richard Waldron

Secretary - Christine Lutz

Membership Chair - Tara Maharjan

Program Chair - Laura Poll

Edited by Bob Vietrogoski, November 30, 2021