Old Mill Hill Society
“You don’t need to be a museum, and you don’t need to be a historian, to jump in and do meaningful community history work.”
The Old Mill Hill Society is dedicated to historic preservation and restoration of properties within the Mill Hill area of Trenton. Community members launched this history project in response to graffiti appearing on a statue of George Washington in the neighborhood following the Black Lives Matter protests during the summer of 2020, creating opportunities for the Mill Hill community to discuss how the Revolutionary War and its rhetoric resonates with African Americans. The project team sent out surveys and held public discussions to discern which issues to were most important to community members, and then settled on a plan to research and share stories of African Americans during the Revolutionary War. The committee involved Sprout U School of the Arts in Trenton to create a “living history” event at Trenton Free Public Library with students portraying various individuals from the Revolutionary War period, such as Boston King, Phillis Wheatley, and Ona Judge. They also created an archive of historical photographs and newspaper articles that will expand as the project continues.