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Join author Brian Armstrong for a presentation about his book, The Franklin Park Tragedy: A Forgotten Story of Racial Injustice in New Jersey (The History Press).
“The Franklin Park Tragedy, A Forgotten Story of Racial Injustice in New Jersey” (The History Press) provides a detailed account of the Franklin Park Tragedy murders of March 1, 1894, when Lucretia Baker and her daughter, Gertrude, were murdered in their home and her husband, Moore Baker, fought off the two African American attackers and killed them. The second part of the tragedy involves the group blame of the African American residents of the area and the expulsion of some of those residents by the Franklin Park vigilante society called the Mutual Endeavor Society. Lynchings, expulsions, and sundown town designations, which are normally associated with southern states during this era, are shown to have been contemplated by Franklin Park, New Jersey residents.
Author Brian Armstrong used surviving historical records, land records, and personal stories to demonstrate how the Great Migration of African American families from the South in the twentieth century, with the help of a new group of white farmers, changed the “sundown town” designation for the Franklin Park area. This community change began with the arrival of the Colemans and other families in the 1920s which was the beginning of the transformation of Franklin Park into the diverse place that it is today. Armstrong will also discuss prominent African American citizens of the Franklin Park area who worked on the farms and in some cases owned land during the 1800s, the role of the media in the racial issues of this era.
Armstrong received a bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from American University in Washington, D.C. He was President of the South River Historical & Preservation Society for 10 years and is now the Vice-President, Central Region, for the League of Historical Societies of New Jersey. He is a co-author of the Arcadia Book, South River. The Franklin Park Tragedy: A Forgotten Story of Racial Injustice in New Jersey won the 2020 NJSAA Author Award for the book. Armstrong’s most recent book is A History Lover’s Guide to Bar Harbor Maine (The History Press May 2021).
Registration is required. A link to the Zoom meeting will be included in your confirmation email (sent after you register) and a reminder email (sent one day prior to the program). If you do not receive the emails, please call the library. The 'meeting room' will open 10 minutes before the scheduled start of the program.
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