Public and Educational Outreach
Firms like ours that work in cultural resource management - conducting historical research, performing archaeological investigations, and studying historic buildings - are usually making use of public funds, or are supported by private funds being spent in compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations. We have a professional obligation to communicate the results of our activities to the communities in which we work. We recognize that we have an extraordinary opportunity to educate the general public and to heighten their awareness of local history and our shared cultural heritage.
Hunter Research enjoys and excels at meeting the challenge of communicating history, archaeology and historic architecture to the host communities where we work. Over the past three decades, we have frequently re-cast the results of our endeavors, painstakingly laid out in technical reports, into other media more appetizing to the general public - for example, in-person presentations, brochures, booklets, posters, signage, exhibits, websites and videos. We especially cherish sharing with schoolchildren the excitement of archaeological discovery and historical puzzle-solving, and communicating to kids how history is embedded in our everyday lives. In this role our firm has developed innovative archaeological training programs, lesson plans and educational materials for the 5th through 8th grades within several school systems in New Jersey.
Sample Projects Include:
William Trent House Field School
City of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey
In the summer of 2019, in collaboration with Monmouth University’s Department of History and Anthropology, Hunter Research devised and implemented an archaeological field school at the William Trent House property, a National Historic Landmark in historic downtown Trenton. Continue
Howell Living History Farm Archaeological Field School
Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey
In the summer of 2015 the Howell Farm retained our firm to organize a three-week archaeology camp, open to high school students in the local community. Continue
Fishkill Military Supply Depot, Booklet and Public Outreach Materials
Town of Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York
In 2015-16, Hunter Research, working for the Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot (FOFSD) and with funding support from the American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP), completed a major synthesis of past historical and archaeological research relating to the Fishkill Supply Depot, a key facility in the Hudson Highlands that supported the operations of the Continental Army and the New York State militia throughout the Revolutionary War. Continue
Non-Technical Summaries of Cultural Resources Projects
Multiple Projects, Statewide, New Jersey
Since 2004, the New Jersey Department of Transportation has been issuing “cultural resource digests,” popular booklets aimed at communicating to the general public the results of historical, archaeological and historic architectural studies required by historic preservation law. Our firm designed the graphic design template that all of the cultural resource digests follow. Continue
Woodbridge Cloverleaf
In 2012, working with Dave Sica and Eric Weisgerber of Sica Productions, our firm oversaw and helped create a 30-minute, award-winning documentary video. about the Woodbridge Cloverleaf, which, when constructed in 1928, was the very first vehicular traffic interchange of its type built in the United States. Continue
Green Book Bi-lingual Booklet
Somerset and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey
As one of several public outreach measures designed to mitigate the project’s effects on archaeological and historical resources, Hunter Research researched, wrote and designed a 30-page booklet about the Green Brook drainage basin. Continue
Route 29 Reconstruction, Booklets and Park Exhibits
City of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey
Hunter Research provided a wide range of archaeological and cultural resource services to the New Jersey Department of Transportation in connection with the reconstruction of N.J. Route 29 along the Delaware River frontage in South Trenton in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including an innovative program of public outreach that resulted in the publication of six booklets and a video, and the design of historic and archaeological interpretive elements within an urban waterfront park. Continue
Trenton Highway Projects, Alternative Mitigation
Trenton Potteries Database and From Teacups to Toilets Booklet
Mitigation of a transportation project’s adverse effects saw Hunter Research undertake a research-based project resulting in the creation of the Trenton Potteries Database, soon to be launched as an interactive website, as well as produce an introductory booklet “From Teacups to Toilets” Continue