The borough will celebrate Juneteenth by unveiling the first historical marker in the area formerly known as “The Point.”
Matt Skoufaros | June 19, 2024
Black Haddonfield historic preservation advocates were honored with a proclamation from the office of U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross. Photo by Matt Skoufaros.
Few Southern New Jersey communities know and are as proud of their roots as Haddonfield.
Founded in 1713, this community of about 12,500 people was established as a Quaker settlement and is home to the second-oldest volunteer fire department in the country, a crossroads in the American Revolutionary War and the site of the discovery of one of the earliest complete dinosaur skeletons.
But while much is known about the community’s roots and its historical importance to New Jersey and the nation itself, little has been said about the contributions made by its black residents at the time.
But for the past two years, a dedicated group of Haddonfield Memorial High School alumni has partnered with the borough historical society and local high school students to unearth those stories.
“We are amateurs with a passion for preserving history,” said C. Adrienne Rose, a strategic communications specialist.
“It took a group of people who understood the impact a lack of information has on communities and wanted to change that.”
Black Americans had lived in Haddonfield since its founding, but Rose was less interested in the slave era than in how they lived as citizens in the decades that followed.
“Not all black people in this community were slaves,” Rose said. “There were doctors, teachers, entrepreneurs. They were free when my family came here in the 1840s. Second-class citizenship didn’t make sense to them.”
Black Haddonfield Historic Preserve Map. Courtesy of Matt Skoufalos.
Local history studies similarly tell the story of how many of Haddonfield’s early black residents were driven out of the borough by death, high taxes, and social pressures.
For Rose, “it’s their contribution that can alleviate the societal pressures that people of color face. [to the community]Are known.
“I hope to see a revival of this area,” she said. “People who know our history. [Haddonfield] Residents would benefit from a more diverse community.
“The idea of putting up a banner celebrating Juneteenth would have been unthinkable even two years ago,” Rose said.
The project kicked off Friday with a walking tour of several historic sites in The Point, a historic neighborhood of Black Haddonfield bounded by Potter and Ellis streets and Lincoln and Douglas streets.
Haddonfield Mayor Colleen Bianco Begich officially proclaimed June 21 as Juneteenth Day to be celebrated in the borough and spoke of her support for the Black Haddonfield Historic Preservation Project as an “expansion.”[ing]Movement.
Black Haddonfield History placard at Lincoln School. Photo by Matt Skoufalos.
“It’s so important that we celebrate, resurrect and tell Black history every day,” the mayor said.
In a statement from the Haddonfield Human Rights Commission, Bianco-Begich described the holiday as “a time to celebrate the resilience and strength of those who fought for freedom and equality.”
Camden County Commissioner John Young said faithfully preserving local history enriches the entire community.
“History is history,” Young said.
“How will people know about the rich history of our county if we hide it, bury it or don’t tell the true story?”
Haddonfield Librarian Eric Gino described his workplace as a “story building” and said the project “breaks down the barrier of discomfort” surrounding the untold history of Haddonfield’s Black residents.
“We want to know and welcome everyone,” Gino says, “and get over the hurdle of ‘I didn’t know.'”
Former Haddonfield Mayor Jack Tarditi, who unveiled two placards commemorating local historic sites Mount Olivet Church and Lincoln School (now named after him as Tarditi Commons), said the project is a long-awaited reconciliation for a community with deep ties to local history.
“This is an important moment for us to step back and recognize the history of Black Americans in this city,” Tarditi said.
Built in 1923, Lincoln School was built to educate Haddonfield’s black children during the era of racial segregation. Enrollment had dwindled to just 13 students by the time the district school board voted to close it in 1948, just one year after Gov. Albert E. Driscoll, a Haddonfield resident, pushed through an amendment to the state constitution to integrate New Jersey’s schools.
A pivotal figure in local educational history was Theresa Marvel Dansbury, who taught in the district’s schools from 1916 to 1962, both before and after racial integration.
Haddonfield schoolteacher Teresa Marvel Dansbury. Photo by Alfred J. Dansbury Sr.
Her grandson, Alfred J. Dansbury Sr., remembers his paternal grandmother as a “socialite and activist,” though that was far removed from the time he was growing up, when she was a public school teacher.
“It’s a tradition,” Dansbury Sr. said.
“I didn’t realize the impact she had growing up as a child.
“All I knew was that she was a teacher and the founder of the NAACP in Camden County.”
But the stories her family told her about the hardships she faced in predominantly white Haddonfield were not inconceivable to him.
At the bottom of the “hierarchy of discrimination” were “blacks, Jews and Catholics,” Dansbury Sr. said, and his grandmother endured the abuse that came with it.
Dansbury Sr. had childhood memories of The Point, even though he grew up in the neighboring town of Cherry Hill. He played at Centennial Field every weekend when his grandparents lived in the area and attended Mount Olivet Church, where his uncle, the Rev. J.B. Dix, led the congregation.
Dansbury Sr. also had less-than-fun memories of experiencing racism, which was once commonplace: As teenagers, Dansbury and his buddies would swim at Evans Pond, during the days of whites-only community pools.
One day, he said, two young white men passed them on the channel in a boat, and moments later, a bullet whizzed past their heads.
“They passed us and I heard gunshots,” said Dansberry Sr. “Luckily I wasn’t hit.”
The father tracked the children down to their home and discovered the rifle they were carrying; the case was later settled in court.
Still, Dansbury Sr. said his daily experiences in the historic district are his personal and family heritage, and he is pleased that they will be commemorated in this historic way and shared with new generations of residents and visitors.
“It’s enlightening,” he said. “It’s an amazing experience to feel and believe that I’ve seen this from the past to the present.”
