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The Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center
| Newark Public Library |
Hours: |
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| 3rd Floor, Main Library |
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| 5 Washington Street |
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: |
10:30 am - 5:30 pm |
| Newark, NJ 07102 |
Wednesday: |
10:30 am - 7:30 pm |
| (973) 733-7775 |
Saturday: |
10:30 am - 5:30 pm* |
| fax: (973) 733-4867 |
*Saturday Summer (July 1 – Sept. 7): |
11 am - 3 pm |
| njreference@npl.org
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We regret that due to staff shortages, the hours of the Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center have been reduced. If you are travelling from outside the Newark area or have extensive research to conduct, please contact the department by phone or email in advance of your visit to verify hours.
The Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center is a research-level
collection of materials relating to New Jersey, Essex County and
Newark. It includes both historical and current information in
these formats: books, newspapers, documents, pictures and
archives.
Your support of the Library's Robert Treat Endowment Fund helps to ensure that the New Jersey Information Center collections are enhanced and preserved in perpetuity. To learn more about giving, click here.
The Newark Public Library's Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center has received generous support from the New Jersey Historical Commission (a division of the Department
of State) in the form of an operating support grant.
About the Collection
The Book Collection:
The book collection includes a variety of popular as well as
scholarly items with theses and dissertations. A basic law
collection contains the New Jersey Statutes Annotated
and New Jersey Administrative Code, law reporters,
clippings, monographs, hearings and reports. The backbone of the
historical collection includes municipal, county, local and
regional histories covering all parts of the state. Enriching the
materials are bibliographies, an author and imprint collection,
fiction set in New Jersey, technical reports, flood reports and
cook books. There are 2500 maps historical and current, bound and
on film, and there is a large Sanborn map file along with
miscellaneous fire insurance atlases for Newark and nearby
communities.
The Division is the state center for telephone
directories from the beginning of the 20th century as well as a
rich 20th century depository of city directories for the entire
state.
The Newspaper Collection:
There is some newspaper coverage for New Jersey from 1791 to the
present, with the bulk of the files found in the 20th century.
Copies may be made on the NJIC's reader/printers. The Newark
Evening News morgue file was added to the Division in the
early 1970s, and currently is being microfilmed. More than half
of the approximately 3 million clippings have already been filmed.
In addition, the Division's own “Information Files”
offer more than 4,000 folders from a variety of newspapers
statewide on historical as well as current topics. The file has
been added to for more than 50 years and is updated daily by the
Division's staff. The New Jersey Periodical Notes is a 6,000
card file index to information appearing in regional and local
new Jersey magazines and also is maintained by the staff.
The Document Collection:
The Document collection is composed of several groups of
materials mainly primary in nature, and including New Jersey
State, Newark, Essex, and quasi-official reports. The New Jersey
Information Center is part of the New Jersey document depository
system and since 1968 automatically receives all available state
publications. Newark and Essex reports are added as they are
received and several hundred quasi-official agencies are in the
collection. The United States Census from 1830 to 1920 as well as
the New Jersey State Census from 1855 until 1915 are found and
are heavily used by genealogists and family historians.
The Picture Collection:
The picture collection is divided into two parts. The
first consists of approximately 35,000 black and white separate
photographs or illustrations in books, indexed in the New
Jersey Illustration Index which has been maintained from WPA
days to the present. Included also are prints from the Fine Print
Collection, 19th century illustrations from various editions of Harper's,
Godey's Ladies Book and Frank Leslie's Magazine,
post cards and other interesting picture sources. Entire
groupings added to the picture collection include the John T.
Cunningham photographs, the Samuel Berg street studies of Newark
and the Jean-Rae Turner statewide and local photographs. The
second part of the picture collection was acquired as part of the
Newark News morgue –approximately 800,000 black and white
images not only of New Jersey but also of worldwide interest.
This is stored off site and is available by appointment. Items
owned by the Library may be copied for publication subject to
institutional copy fees.
Archives, Manuscripts and Mementos:
New Jersey ephemera is one of the Division's most
unusual and interesting areas. It includes traditional papers
such as those of the Newark Eagles, library director John Cotton
Dana, the Newark Public Librariana Collection and several hundred
scrapbooks of agencies and/or individuals. Included for example
are the volumes on Newark's 250th anniversary celebration in 1916,
the Flanagan Scrapbooks on theatre and notebooks of the Griffith
Music Foundation. It also houses miscellaneous information
concerning past officials as well as varied memorabilia of
companies, invitations, business cards, bumper stickers, posters,
restaurant place mats and menus, seals, and buttons.
Indexes and Outside Activities:
Dissemination of local history is available through
indexes compiled by library staff. Samples include the NJ
Illustration Index (graphics), the NJ Periodical Notes
(magazines), the NJ Law Journal Index (biographical, 1971-1991), the NJ
Folklore Index (key to the Henry Beck files), the NJ
Lake Index (a WPA project), the NJ Author File (WPA
era through 1970s), the Newark News Indexes (1916-1970), and the current
Star-Ledger Index (on line), all available for patrons engaged in
research in the NJ Room.
Finding Aids
Daniel Sutherland Anthony Papers
This collection consists of the administrative records and correspondence of Daniel S. Anthony pertaining to his work with the U.S. Department of War, the Muncie Community Discussion Council, and the Newark Human Rights Commission. 1942-1976
Ernest Erber Papers
This collection consists of the personal records of Ernest Erber, which were formed while he served in the capacity as director and/or member of the executive board of several planning organizations located in Northern New Jersey. 1949-1982
Hellenic Heritage Collection
This collection consists of photographs, certificates, passports, clippings, and ephemera reflecting the Greek-American community of Newark, New Jersey during the 20th century. ca. 1906-2007
Edward J. White Papers
Collection of financial records, photographs and personal correspondence of Edward J. White, an electrical contractor and his company, based in Newark, N.J. 1913-1958
Additional Materials
Ankner, T. (2013). Libraries & Repositories: The Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center at the Newark Public Library. GSNJ Newsletter, 22(1) 6–7.
Read about Newark's Literary Lights.(pdf)
New Jersey Cultural Heritage Organizations
From the New Jersey Digital Highway project (a collaborative effort to preserve the state's cultural resources through digitization, storage, and access technologies), this site allows searching for archives, historical societies, libraries, and museums.
Inventory of New Jersey Newspapers on Microfilm
List
of Selected Materials Relative to Genealogical Research
Full-text articles about the 1967 Newark Riots from the Newark Evening News, July 13 - 16, 1967
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