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The Heritage Quilt Project of New Jersey, Inc.

The Heritage Quilt Project of New Jersey at Rutgers University Libraries/Special Collections and University Archives

The Heritage Quilt Project of New Jersey (HQPNJ) was organized in 1987 to record quilts made in or brought to New Jersey prior to 1951. Over 2,500 quilts were documented, primarily through a series of 32 Quilt Discovery Days conducted throughout the state from 1988 to 1991. Information on additional quilts was obtained through mail submissions, surveys made at selected historical societies and museums, and the donation of records from the Hunterdon County QuiltSearch Project completed in 1999. The Heritage Quilt Project of New Jersey's documentation and research resulted in:
• a book, New Jersey Quilts 1777 to 1950: Contributions to an American Tradition, by Rachel Cochran, Rita Erickson, Natalie Hart, and Barbara Schaffer (Paducah, KY: American Quilter's Society, 1992)

• a traveling exhibit at four museums in New Jersey from December 1992 to November 1993 and at the Museum of the American Quilter's Society (now known as the National Quilt Museum) in Paducah, Kentucky, from January to April 1994

• a research paper, "Characteristics of Signed New Jersey Quilts 1837-1867," by Rita Erickson and Barbara Schaffer, published in On the Cutting Edge: Textile Collectors, Collections, and Traditions (Lewisburg, PA: Oral Traditions Project of the Union County Historical Society, County Courthouse, 1994)

• a presentation and panel discussion, "Characteristics of New Jersey Quilts, 1777-1867," by Rita Erickson and Barbara Schaffer at the What's American about American Quilts Symposium at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in 1995, later published in the Symposium's Proceedings, What's American about American Quilts: A Research Forum on Regional Characteristics

• a book, Herstory: Quilts of Hunterdon County, New Jersey 1820 to 1950, by Veronica Mitchell (Xlibris Corporation, 2005)

The photographs, data sheets, and administrative records of The Heritage Quilt Project of New Jersey were donated to Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries, in 2004.

The Project's records are held by the Rutgers University Libraries/Special Collections and University Archives collects, preserves, and makes available primary sources of a rare, unique or specialized nature to support study and research in the humanities, social sciences, history of science, New Jersey state and local history and culture, and the history of Rutgers University. Among the library unit's diverse holdings are official University records, original letters and documents by prominent Americans and foreigners, other original manuscripts (including many diaries), selected New Jersey town records, books printed before 1501, seventeenth-century tracts promoting settlement in New Jersey, first and signed editions of noted literary works, additional rare books, and historical collections of almanacs, newspapers, maps, broadsides, prints, and photographs.

Credits and Acknowledgments
Rutgers University Libraries/Special Collections and University Archives Work Team:
Project Oversight: Ronald L. Becker and Albert C. King
Digitization and Project Coordination: Valerie Addonizio
Data Entry: Jill Reid
Project Consultants and Data Verification: Barbara Schaffer and Rachel Cochran
Thanks and Acknowledgments: Bonita Craft Grant
Funding: Rutgers University Libraries/Special Collections and University Archives was added to the Quilt Index through funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and in-kind contributions from The Heritage Quilt Project of New Jersey.

Project description provided by the Heritage Quilt Project of New Jersey.

Thirty-one New Jersey museum collections are included in The Heritage Quilt Project of New Jersey. Click on the name below to see their collections.
Alexandria Historical Society
Atlantic County Historical Society
Bergen County Historical Society
Bergenfield Museum
Camden County Historical Society
Chester Historical Society
Clinton Museum
Drake House Museum
Haddonfield Historical Society
The Historical Society of Moorestown
Historical Society of Ocean Grove
Hopewell Museum
Hunterdon County Historical Society
Jersey City
Lambertville Historical Society
Little Silver Historical Society
Meadowlands Museum
Monmouth County Historical Association
Monmouth County Park System
Morris Museum
Oak Summit School Historical Society
Paramus Historical Society
Pascack Historical Society
Ramsey Historical Association
Readington Museum
Roxbury Township Historical Society
Salem County Historical Society
Township of Lebanon Museum
Upper Saddle River Historical Society
Vineland Historical Society
Warren County Historical Society


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