New Jersey Division of State – Press Releases

Trenton, NJ – The New Jersey State Museum is happy to announce the publication of a brand new e-book, “Grant Castner: The Lost Archive.” Co-authored by the Museum’s Curator of Cultural History Nicholas P. Ciotola and images historian Gary D. Saretzky, the e-book is printed by Rutgers University Press beneath their Ceres: Rutgers Studies in History division. It presents the collective work of Grant Castner, an beginner artist whose story and images have been the topic of a Museum exhibition in 2024. The pictures doc the on a regular basis lives of New Jerseyans and current an archive of Garden State historical past and tradition. The e-book is obtainable for buy on-line, at e-book retailers and within the State Museum Shop.

In July 2019, State Museum workers visited a cramped and dusty storage locker in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Inside was a treasure trove of a couple of thousand glass plate negatives, each an inventive, fastidiously composed picture of New Jersey on the flip of the 20 th century. They have been created by Trenton resident Grant Castner (1863–1941), who captured a visible document of New Jersey’s social and cultural historical past; they’re artworks in their very own proper. Castner’s versatility and expertise for composition, gentle and framing illuminate his many topics. The donation of this photographic archive to the Museum turned the premise for the 2024 exhibition, Discovering Grant Castner: The Lost Archive of a New Jersey Photographer, curated by Ciotola and Saretzky.

Rutgers University Press, in a first-time partnership with the State Museum, agreed to the e-book challenge in an effort to share the historic trove of pictures and the tales they include with a wider viewers. The e-book is drawn from the analysis and writing for the exhibition and options all of the prints used within the present. Beyond their intrinsic inventive worth, the authors share the tales behind every {photograph} and their context to the time interval. The e-book delves deeper into Castner’s household story, formative years, and the trail that led him to turn into a gifted regional photographer. It additionally explores the place Castner suits within the bigger context of American photographers of the interval.

Curator and co-author Nicholas Ciotola famous, “I will always remember the first moment that I heard the name Grant Castner.” He continued, “The phone call offering the donation of more than 1,000 glass plate negatives to the Museum has led us to a long-lost archive that transports the viewer on a visual journey into a New Jersey of days gone by. We hope readers find the book as captivating as the exhibition.” Added Museum Executive Director Margaret O’Reilly, “We are thrilled to partner with Rutgers University Press on this project which will introduce new audiences to Grant Castner’s extraordinary photographs. I congratulate co-curators/co-authors Nick Ciotola and Gary Saretzy on the realization of this volume, and extend gratitude to the NJ State Museum Foundation for project support and to Rutgers University Press for their commitment to New Jersey history and culture through this publication and others in the Ceres series.”

The New Jersey State Museum is open Tuesday via Sunday, 9:00 am to 4:45 pm; closed on all State holidays. General admission is free. The Museum Shop, operated by the New Jersey State Museum Foundation, is open Tuesday via Sunday, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. For extra info, go to statemuseum.nj.gov, just like the Museum’s Facebook web page (@NJStateMuseum), and comply with us on X (njstatemuseum), Instagram (nj_statemuseum), Threads (nj_statemuseum) and YouTube (@newjerseystatemuseum1895.)

About the New Jersey State Museum


The New Jersey State Museum is a middle for the exploration of science, historical past and the humanities. We protect and share tales that encourage curiosity and creativity for the enrichment of our communities. Located at 205 West State Street in Trenton, the New Jersey State Museum encompasses three buildings together with a state-of-the-art Planetarium. Established in 1895, the State Museum’s collections in Archaeology/Ethnography, Cultural History, Fine Art and Natural History include over 2 million objects, the most important museum assortment within the state.

About the New Jersey State Museum Foundation


The New Jersey State Museum Foundation was based in 1968 as a non-government, non-profit 501(c)(3) to assist the Museum’s collections, exhibitions, applications and analysis via fundraising, volunteerism and advocacy. In latest years, the Foundation has obtained beneficiant assist from the PNC Foundation, NJM Insurance Group, the New Jersey Cultural Trust, New Jersey Historical Commission, New Jersey Council for the Humanities, The Henry Luce Foundation and Princeton Area Community Foundation. The Foundation additionally operates the Museum membership program, in addition to the Museum Shop, which sells merchandise associated to the Museum’s exhibitions, collections, and New Jersey historical past and tradition.