An Academic Historian Developing Public Materials: The “It Happened Here—New Jersey” Videos

For the 350^th anniversary of New Jersey, a team of academic scholars, public historians, K-12 professionals and media experts collaborated with the state’s Historical Commission on a two year project to create fifty-two 90 second videos highlighting key people, places, and events in the state’s history called “It Happened Here – New Jersey”.  All of the videos were connected to one of the NJ350 themes of Liberty, Diversity, and Innovation.  Designed to appeal to a public audience, these videos were to be rooted in scholarship yet use text and images to tell a story that was largely unknown to our audience.  In this way, the project would enhance public knowledge and understanding of the history of the Garden State.

This presentation will consider the process of selecting topics, drafting and revising scripts, selecting images, marketing the videos, and working with K-12 educators to prepare materials for NJ students – a key audience for the series.    “It Happened Here – New Jersey” achieved many of its key goals such as creating a lasting educational legacy from the state’s 350^th celebration, offering more opportunities for students  and teachers to engage with state history, and strengthening partnerships between university and K-12 educators.  My presentation will discuss some of the challenges faced during the project including writing for a popular audience, reaching the desired audiences, securing adequate funding, and the politics of topic selection and editing while highlighting the enduring accomplishments of the series.