Newark Archives Project

The Newark Archives Project aims to develop a comprehensive, fully searchable database of information on primary source materials (document collections, photographs, audio and film collections, and printed ephemera) relating to the history of Newark. This database will be the first of its kind to be created for the history of a single U.S. city.

The Project is an undertaking of the Newark History Society in partnership with Dana Library and the Institute for Ethnicity, Culture and the Modern Experience, both at Rutgers University-Newark. Project Director Dr. Gail Malmgreen supervises all phases of Project work and has worked closely with several project interns/assistants.

Malmgreen is currently working with Rutgers IT staff on the next phase of database development: the design of the "Search" features that will be available to users of the Newark Archives Project web site. The web site itself will be up and running toward the end of this year. Our aim is an attractively designed, content-rich, and extremely user-friendly site.

The project has surveyed relevant collections at the New Jersey Historical Society, Newark Museum, and Newark City Archives and Records Management Center. There have been amazing finds like "hidden" or little-known collections of WWI letters, business records of Wiss Manufacturing, Civil War materials, Newark baseball history and so much more!

What's Next?
The Project is now surveying what may be the largest and most complex repository of Newark history, the Newark Public Library. The first task of the Project has been to survey repositories in Newark and its immediate vicinity; so its next targets will be close to home: the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers-Newark, the Essex County Park Commission Archive; the Newark Fire Department Archives; the archives at UMDNJ and NJIT; and the Seton Hall Law School Library.

How you can help:
- tell us about archival collections that should be surveyed
- if you know of Newark-related archival material (documents, photos, audio, film) in private hands, consult us about finding an archive or library where it can be catalogued and preserved