Veit Presents on Revolutionary War Battles in NJ

Richard Veit, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and professor in the Department of Anthropology, will cohost a presentation examining the Revolutionary War Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield, New Jersey. His talk, "The American Revolution in Union County: Using Maps, Pension Records, and Archaeological Finds to Illuminate the Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield," will take place on June 24 at 6 p.m. at the Trailside Nature & Science Center Theater.

The battles, fought in June 1780, were among the last major military confrontations in New Jersey before the war shifted to the southern colonies. This digital exhibit and discussion reexamine these events while centering the experiences of individuals "often overlooked in traditional Revolutionary War narratives, including local militiamen, women on the home front, and New Jersey residents who defended their communities during the conflict."

Through personal correspondence, Hessian journals, orderly books, Revolutionary War pension applications, and archaeological findings, the presentation will provide attendees with a "deeper understanding of how the battles unfolded across landscapes that remain familiar to Union County residents today."

The program will also feature presentations from historian Nicole Skalenko, geosciences lecturer and former Monmouth University professor Geoffrey Fouad, and Kean University history professor Jonathan Mercantini, Ph.D.

This event is supported in part by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State's Division of Cultural Affairs. For more information about this event and other programs highlighting the arts and the history of Union County, please contact the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs at 633 Pearl Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07202 or at 908-558-2550.

This event is free and open to the public. Register now online.