Special Collections Receives $19,872 Grant from New Jersey Historical Commission

The Monsignor William Noe Field Archives and Special Collections has received a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission to process its collections documenting Irish immigrant history. The project, titled “Irish Immigrant Solidarity in New Jersey, 1870-Present,” will organize and preserve an enormous collection of papers donated to the archives by John Concannon, the historian of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians, as well as three smaller collections: records of the Montclair chapter of the Knights of Columbus, the papers of James McFarland which document the activities of the Trenton branch of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians, and the records of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians from Bergen County and Rahway. These records build on Seton Hall’s long history of engagement with Irish American culture to illustrate the communal bonds that supported these immigrants as they built new lives in America. Immigrant history is a particular strength of Seton Hall’s Special Collections, and this grant will assist the archives in the preservation of this history for future generations, as well as sharing it with students and faculty today.