Painting depicting the Battle of Springfield, N.J. called “Give ‘em Watts, Boys” by John Ward Dunsmore / Fraunces Tavern Museum, Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York via NPS

The National Park Service awarded $117,333.00 in Battlefield Interpretation Grants through the American Battlefield Protection Program on Wednesday, October 25. The two grant recipients will help enhance the interpretation of Revolutionary War battlefields in New York and New Jersey, with each applying the funds to interpretive planning and community outreach to bring forward new understanding of the influence of this conflict on broader populations. 

“Today’s grants provided through American Battlefield Protection Programs help our preservation partners enhance our understanding of the spark that set off the American Revolutionary War and our way forward to democracy almost 250 years ago,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “By supporting these localized efforts, all Americans gain the opportunity to learn about this conflict from more than history books and understand their impact on the foundation of how we created a free and democratic nation."

The American Battlefield Trust will collaborate with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to create a mobile application dedicated to three of New York’s Revolutionary War Battlefields: Oriskany, Bennington, and New Town. This project will bring extensive digital interpretation to New York State’s battlefield parks for the first time and share new historical narratives related to Native Americans, women, and individual soldiers in addition to the associated military history. The content presented will encourage visitors to deepen their understanding of the American Revolution by considering new information about participants and impacts on local populations.

Kean University, in collaboration with Monmouth University, will enhance the interpretation of battlefield sites through archaeological research, georeferencing and wayfinding maps, multi-lingual interpretative signage, and an audio tour staff taking participants from Elizabethtown to Morristown. The Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield were the last military confrontations in New Jersey during the American Revolution. This reexamination of the battles will shed light on the perspectives of individuals who participated in and witnessed these engagements. We have succeeded in doing that, bringing forward the voices of women, African Americans, and other historically marginalized people.    

The awards also include:

• $74,508.00 to the American Battlefield Trust for their project titled “New York’s Revolutionary War Battlefields” in Oneida, Rensselaer, and Chemung Counties, New York.
• $42,825.00 to the Kean University for their project titled “Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield” in Union and Morris Counties, New Jersey.

The American Battlefield Protection Program’s Battlefield Interpretation allows the National Park Service to promote a broad and inclusive stewardship of battlefields and sites of armed conflict on American soil. In addition, the program administers three other grant programs: Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants, Preservation Planning Grants, and Battlefield Restoration grants. This financial assistance generates community-driven stewardship of historic resources at the state, tribal and local levels.