Embracing Our Historic Legacy

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

Union County traces its roots the earliest days of our nation. Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr studied at The Academy in Elizabethtown. Some of the earliest Revolutionary War battles were fought here, with hundreds of troops giving their lives to protect Gen. Washington’s base of operations in Morristown. Union County was home to celebrated authors from MacKinlay Kantor to Langston Hughes, the ground-breaking scientists at Bell Labs who transformed communications, and physicians, like Dr. Virginia Apgar, whose test for newborns is standard practice at hospitals across the country. But how do you tell this 400-year story in an area where there are more than 25 historic sites run by independent historical societies that receive minimal funding and are incapable of promoting their very own existence? This challenge led to a multi-pronged plan coordinated by the Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs (C&H) to knit these groups together, raise the level of public awareness to the County’s Revolutionary War roots, entice school children to learn about their neighborhoods, and promote Heritage Tourism.