MHC collections

The Montclair History Center collections encompass a treasure trove of artifacts related to Montclair’s history. Everything from tax and county maps, old and new Montclair history books, vintage photos, phone directories dating back to the late 1800s, school yearbooks, oral histories, extensive Crane family genealogy, scrapbooks and files on 20th century, African-American life in Montclair, and ephemera from local history and Montclair organizations can be found within our archives. A few select collections have been made available online through our Digital Collections including some of our city directories, quilts, and photographs. Discover what more lies in our archives by digging through our Finding Aids including our African-American history collection, Football collection, and World War II collection. Take a listen to Montclair residents, both current and former, as they describe what life was like in Montclair through our Oral Histories. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Give the MHC office a call at 973-744-1796 or email at mail@montclairhistory.org and we may be able to help.


Digital Collections

Several of our collections are now available online through LUNA, a digital asset management system that allows you to search across the collections or browse through a specific collection. We welcome all — students, teachers, researchers, genealogists, Montclair-lovers, and others — to enjoy the collections. We request that you credit the Montclair History Center Digital Collections should you use the information you find publicly. Click on the Collection in bold to go straight to the digital collection or use the button below to see them all. For more help please see our blog post on navigating the digital collections.

 
 

Quilts: The Montclair History Center has an excellent collection of quilts from the 18th, 19th, and 20th century. See a sample of them online and read what we know about their history. Most of these photographs were taken during a 2016 joint project with the Nubian Quilters — Common Heritage, Uncommon Quilts — that was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Directories: Thanks to a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission and a partnership with the Montclair Public Library, we were able to digitize all of the directories in our joint collections. We have prepared all the directories that predate 1929 so you easily search through them online. To search all the directories through 1969, visit the Montclair Public Library’s database here.

Dudley Van Antwerp Collection: Dudley Van Antwerp was a prolific Montclair architect. Many photos of his buildings can now be seen online. Special thanks to Majda Whittaker who curated this collection.

Lantern Slides: Thanks to a grant from the Albert Payson Terhune Foundation, we were able to digitize a portion of our lantern slide collection. The images here feature scenes of Montclair in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From everyday farm life to the sculptures made by Montclair Art Colony residents, these lantern slides capture life in early Montclair.

Maps: The Montclair History Center has a collection of tax maps, Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, and atlases from a variety of years. You can view those maps that have been digitized here. The maps demonstrate how the town of Montclair has evolved over time, in terms of property ownership, boundaries, and more.

Montclair Ambulance Unit: This collection contains photographs, documents, and other materials documenting the history of the Montclair Ambulance Unit (MAU), founded in 1953. In honor of its 70th Anniversary, MAU provided the archival materials to the Montclair History Center for digitization. The physical collection is still housed at MAU, but all the material can be viewed online here!

Montclair Dramatic Club: The Montclair Dramatic Club (MDC) was founded on April 17, 1889. The club was the oldest continuing amateur theater in the United States when it disbanded in the 1990s. The photographs here display the various productions that the club put on and how the club changed over the years, starting with the earliest photo in 1910 to the latest dated photo in 1987.

Montclair High School Football: This collection contains a variety of files on the Montclair High School Football team in the twentieth century and early twenty-first century. It includes an assortment of material on specific people as well as events and occurrences from the team’s history. Featured are photographs, news articles, and programs.

Photograph Collection: Get a sample of the photographs in the Montclair History Center Collection. See images of the Israel Crane House, the Shultz Family, class photos, and individual residences throughout town. Photos are continuously being added to the online collection so be sure to check back for any new additions!

Postcards: Enjoy the these images from our postcard collection, many of which have never been seen online before. See what Montclair looked like in the early 1900s!

 

 

MANY VOICES OF MONTCLAIR, ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

In honor of the 150th anniversary of Montclair, the Montclair History Center compiled oral histories from people who grew up in Montclair and/or lived here prior to 1960. The project recorded the stories of people who grew up in Montclair in a wide variety of neighborhoods and decades, creating a multifaceted snapshot of Montclair in the early to mid 20th century.

Click the button below to start listening and reading to their stories. And keep an eye out - more stories to come!


 

Finding Aids

MHC’s finding aids list available archival materials, books, maps, newspapers, and more from our collections. Each finding aid lists the material found within various collection from our archives including our African-American history collection, Football collection, Crane Family collection, map and blueprint collection, Zenas Crane and Dr. Love collection, and World War II collection. While these materials are not available for online viewing (yet!), you can contact our staff to inquire as to how to view the material.

 

 

Photo Reproduction Policy

Interested in having a high-resolution scan of a photograph or archival material in our collection? Take a look at our policy below. Please fill it out and return to us either my email or mail.