BURLINGTON COUNTY (KYW Newsradio) — Burlington County is providing about $60,000 for several small organizations to spend on historic education projects. County Commissioner Allison Eckel says these 10 projects work to preserve the area's rich history.
"History, of course, encompasses more than events from the distant past. It is also the ongoing events in our local communities. And these organizations represent a broad swath of what history means," Eckel said.
Some of the money is going to the Tabernacle Historical Society, which is converting local historic newspapers into a digital format and also researching biographies of Revolutionary War and Civil War soldiers buried at the historic cemetery.
The Armed Forces Heritage Museum in Burlington City is getting $10,000 to chronicle the struggle of Black men and women to earn equal rights in the military.
Delanco's historic society is hiring an intern to do deed research and data entry, Riverside's historical society will get money for the restoration of the grandfather clock at the Zurbrugg Memorial Hospital, the township of Edgewater Park is getting money to fund its 100th anniversary celebration.
Commissioner Eckel says they will continue to look for more opportunities to provide funding to groups who tell important stories about the county's past.
Mary Pat Robbie, Burlington County's director of resource conservation, says these groups work hard with few resources.
"They're run entirely by volunteers, and these volunteers don't have the wherewithal to apply for other granting opportunities, so we try to make our grant program simple, not complicated, so that every agency with a small staff can take advantage of the grant opportunity."
