Strategy & Coordination: 
Regular Open Meetings of Trustees and Members
Four committees, organized by Tim Johnson, Antje Doyle,
                                                            Brian Mullay, Don Sherblom 
Some immediate tasks are set out below.  
Areas of overlap are indicated by color code.   

 Next Step:  four committee leaders arrange meeting and/or communication to
v  expand on list of tasks set out above
v  prioritize tasks
v  organize for action
v  estimate time-line for completion of each tasks and larger projects

The 1759 Vought House, A Revolutionary War Loyalist Homestead, a 502 (c) 3 non-profit, is ready to forge an Educational Partnership with the Clinton Township School District to maximize the educational utility of the Vought House and bring financial resources to the district.  
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GOALS:

To transform this property from a liability draining resources from the school district to an asset with a positive financial impact on the educational mission of the district.

To enhance the aesthetics and safety of the Clinton Township Middle School and Spruce Run Elementary School campus.

To enhance the education of students in Clinton Township and beyond by providing them direct access to the material culture of Revolutionary era New Jersey.

UNTAPPED RESORCE:

This house met all four possible criteria for inclusion on the state register, which means it offers educational insights on several aspects of life in 18th Century Hunterdon County, NJ:
a. This family’s material culture is seen in the architecture and rare wattle & daub decorative plaster ceilings. 
b. The qualityof life on this prosperous Hunterdon County family farm is also well documented.
c. The builder, Christoffel Vought and son John, were prominent leaders among Hunterdon Loyalists.
d. Their mob attack on Jones’ Tavern, skirmish with the militia, and military service are emblematic of conflicts in New Jersey during the American Revolution.

Divided Loyalties is one of three interpretive themes of New Jersey’s Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area, created in 2002.  It is an under-represented theme within this National Heritage Area of the National Park Service.

CONTRAINTS:

In 2005 environment and archaeological restrictions were placed on file prohibiting a disturbance of the grounds.

In 2007 this property was placed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. The State Historic Preservation Office will require the district to write an historic preservation easement into any deed transferring the property to new owners.

PARTNERSHIP:

Ownership Responsibilities – We would be stewards of the subdivided house and grounds.

Raising Funds – We would be solely responsible for gaining government and foundation grants, private donations, local and national corporate gifts, and public fundraising to meet our goals.  All money invested in this project would be raised outside the school district’s budget and would benefit students and residents of Clinton Township by creating a potentially important local educational resource and museum. 

Occasional Partnership Grant Applications – We would also like to apply for grants and donations in partnership with the school district for specific educational projects while the house is being renovated and as it is developed into a local public history museum.

Curriculum Development – We will assist your efforts to incorporate this house history into your middle school curriculum and can help with the historic preservation easement, etc.

Library Space – To increase student access to collected research materials, especially while the house is being renovated, we would like to have some space in the Middle School Library/Media Center devoted to these materials, books, pamphlets and Compact Disks.

Parking – Although the house has access to Grayrock Road and limited parking, public events and school buses would utilize Middle School driveway and parking facilities.

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SAMPLE PARTNERSHIP GRANT:  SaveOurHistory
                                            
Inspire the youth in your community to become the preservationists of tomorrow. Museums, historic sites, historical societies, preservation organizations, libraries, and archives are invited to partner with a local school or youth group and apply for funding to help preserve the history of their communities. Each year, HISTORY awards $250,000 in grants to organizations that partner with schools or youth groups on community preservation projects that engage students in learning about, documenting and preserving the history of their communities.
The 2009/2010 Grant Cycle will kick off in January 2009, when the grant application is posted online at saveourhistory.com. Applications will be due in June of 2009. In the interim, questions about the program can be directed to info@saveourhistory.com.
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NOTE:  2009 Save Our History grant recipients nationwide included:
Vernon Township Historical Society  in Vernon, NJ
Partner: Glen Meadow Middle School
Description: Bringing the Past to the Present: Teaching Lenni Lenape History and Culture through the Black Creek Site
Assisted by professional archaeologists, students from Glen Meadow Middle School in partnership with the Vernon Township Historical Society will participate in an archaeological dig of the Black Creek Site, home to thousands of artifacts dating back 10,000 years (from 8500 BC to 1700 AD) through 500 generations of human history during the Great North American Stone Age. Maps, trail markers, signage and an outdoor classroom area will enable teachers to bring students onsite to learn the rich prehistory and history of the Black Creek Site.

The 1759 Vought House, A Revolutionary War Loyalist Homestead has just received another grant for educational purposes.  The Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission’s $1,250 award is to offset expenses incurred “to promote the significance of the historic Vought House.” 

This grant comes at a very important time.  The 1759 Vought House, Inc. nonprofit is about to launch a round of meetings with members of the new school board to ask them to get a serious estimate of any possible market value of this historic structure.   We believe that Hunterdon County’s most significant historic site, the Vought House, must be open and available to the public.  We see no reason to sell this house for a dollar at auction and risk being out-bid by a private individual who would not make it available to the public.   Apparently, members of the township school board have an erroneous notion that this house could be worth a significant amount of money. 

The board needs to get a professional estimate of its value given the legal restrictions currently in place.  They also need to have someone write the historic preservation easements which became a requirement in September of 2007, when the house was placed on New Jersey’s Register of Historic Places.  Once they get this easement approved by the state, any current market value would need to be reworked based on the effect of this easement.

We intend to promote the home’s significance with publications and mailings.  We’d like to know where the school board stands on these two issues -

• This home’s current fair market value and
• Its historic significance to the public the board serves

- before we put together educational information for the Clinton Township public, who do not yet appreciate fully the great significance of this property.  Most people in town only know of this house as the huge money pit it has been and will continue to be.  Also, too few appreciate the dedicated members of this non-profit which has waited for years to remove this burden from taxpayers and create something of tremendous educational value at no cost to taxpayers. 

This grant will help The 1759 House, A Revolutionary War Loyalist Homestead, a non-profit 501 c 3 corporation, move forward in saving Clinton Twp. citizens tax dollars while also saving our rich common past by spending private resources to enhance the public good:  An attractive stone museum telling an important story of Revolutionary days instead of a fenced-off decrepit vacant house on the campus of two Clinton Twp. schools.  In reality, those are the only two options.  

After three long years, it’s about time for the school district to take action. 

• Step one, get the facts. 
• Step two, draw the subdivision and do the deed, with easement. 
• Step three, thank your friends in The 1759 House nonprofit for caring enough to help you make this happen.

 The 1759 Vought House Meeting of September 14 resolved a number of action items:

 1) The educational booklet group set a deadline of Thanksgiving for completion of detailed drafts. 

The end result will be as many as three or four stand-alone articles, one on the architecture and ceilings, an article on the Vought homestead and colonial life ways and one on Stoffel and John’s regimental history.  Read the rest of this entry »

 What’s New at The 1759 Vought House?

 1)  We received a donor matching grant from Chubb,  which together with recent generous gifts from new members and the $1,700 Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission grant assures we’ll have resources for two critical printing projects:  the large educational booklet and the single page trifold brochure.

2) Adam Wengryn got the complete (300+ page) Hunter Research Report on the Vought House on Compact Disk.  I’ve divided this PDF into chapters for faster downloads and posted the chapters for public access below:

• Hunter Report on Vought House (prepared in 2005)
  • Site Maps and Table of Contents
  • Introduction and Geographical Setting
  • Cultural Background (historic narrative)
  • Archeology (historic investigation)
  • Archeology (field investigation)
  • Evaluation of Significance
  • References and list of appendices

 If you do not have the FREE Adobe PDF Reader, you can download it here.

You can also pick up the report  on Compact Disk at my office - RE/MAX Town & Country, 44 Leigh Street, Clinton, NJ 08809 -Please call ahead (908) 730-6900.

3) Our next meeting will be September 14, 2007     AGENDA:

1. Review trifold brochure for use in raising awareness and membership
2. Discuss progress on the educational booklet
3. Update on the subdivision process (comments to planning board)
4. Organize to approach private and corporate donors
5. (to be announced)

Our NEXT MEETING = June 8th 3pm Action items from the April 30th meeting:

• Spirit of the Jerseys State History Fair  (May 5th)-(Antje, Melissa & Tim) 
  
    -Shared a table with Fleming Castle, enjoyed the beautiful sunny day and made excellent contacts.
    -Improved our profile, with the public, the history community and the Crossroads of the Revolution.
    -We received crucial support from Kathy Faulks, Staats House, in our IRS Letter of Non-Profit Recognition application process.
•   -We got a promise of help clarifying the DEP fines issue which will help move this process forward.
• Collections Policy (in process)-(Melissa & group edit) This is something we need to have in place before we need it/receive our first material gift.  A draft is ready for your review, posted on the Trustee Only Page (password protected) Please download the Word document and have your revisions ready for our next meeting June 8th.  Melissa also prepared an intrepretive policy and a promotional trifold brochure, also for your review.   We’ll review and revise these documents at our June 8th meeting.
• Site Visit to Jones Tavern and 18th Century home on Studer Road (in process)-(Beth and Don, open attendence) Possibly June 8th, possibly later.
• Newsletter (no action yet)-(Melissa, Beth, Don)
• Acquisition of the property (in process)-(Adam)  Adam will seek info. on any progress with the subdivision, hopefully with Dr. Nastus and/or district at time of the NJ DEP site visit.
• Educational Book (in process)-(Don, group input and edit) I’ve posted the Project overview, notes and a preliminary outline, both on a web page and as a Word document.  Please take a look, develop your proposed outline and/or revise the outline I proposed. 
  This book’s content will be determined by the group as a whole –how you conceive of the Vought House narrative, your research and/or writing interests– even if the final drafts are (by necessity) handled by one or two people.  My suggestions can be accessed via the Trustee Only Page.  Please visit that page to post your input.
• Agenda items: Post your comments on our last meeting or next. Click here->

Read the rest of this entry »

National Park Service:  The Preserve America matching-grant program provides funding to designated Preserve America Communities to support preservation efforts through heritage tourism, education and historic preservation planning.

There’s a February 14th application deadline on this grant application. Click here for the web site.

“The application must be signed and submitted by the chief elected governing official of the jurisdiction. In most cases, this will mean a mayor, county executive, or tribal chairman.”

It seems to me that the first step is to become a Preserve America Community - and the best place for that to happen locally is at the County level.  Then a number of museums would be able to seek matching-grant funding.