New Cultural Center a Milestone in Historic Preservation

1093

By Laura D.C. Kolnoski

RED BANK – It was a day over a decade in the making for those involved, but the historic significance dates to 1901.

On May 23, residents, local officials and stakeholders gathered on the lawn of 94 Drs. James Parker Blvd. to witness the ribbon-cutting of the T. Thomas Fortune House, a living museum and cultural center honoring the largely unsung early 1900s journalist and civil rights leader.

Officially opening to the public May 30, the preserved and completely renovated circa 1870 home, a National Historic Landmark, features exhibits, art and informational materials and will host a variety of programs and events for students and the public.

Born a slave in Florida and freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, Timothy Thomas Fortune became editor and publisher of his era’s most prominent African-American newspaper, The New York Age, which he used as a platform to promote justice. He also founded the African American League, which evolved into today’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Among Fortune’s colleagues and contemporaries were Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey and Frederick Douglass. A goal of the center’s supporters is to make Fortune’s name as well known as those of his influential friends.

Fortune lived in the home, which he dubbed Maple Hall, for about 14 years. In recent decades, it belonged to the Vaccarelli family and was the site of the family’s commercial bakery. Vaccarelli family members were among close to 100 attendees at the ribbon-cutting.

“This day represents fate, the fate that T. Thomas Fortune came to live here, which became our fate,” said Mark Fitzsimmons, board member of the T. Thomas Fortune Foundation. “Now it is your fate,” he told the crowd.

To illustrate the point, he and other speakers related how the effort to save the home began with borough resident Gilda Rogers, a journalist, speaker, writer and activist, who serves as vice president of the T. Thomas Fortune Foundation. Rogers passed by the deteriorating home frequently and felt it beckoned her to fulfill a higher purpose, particularly when the house was headed for demolition.

Rogers formed a coalition of volunteers and governmental officials who undertook the long process of spreading the word and securing sufficient financial support. Traveling the state, they spoke at libraries, schools, churches and before civic and other groups to garner support. Among those who got the message was Roger Mumford, founder of Roger Mumford Homes, who contacted Rogers with a plan of his own. To establish a financial foundation for the restoration of Maple Hall, his company would build 31 apartments on the property and deed Maple Hall to the foundation for $1.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Gilda Rogers presented Roger Mumford with their favorite book, “The Warmth of Other Suns,” signed by the author, Isabel Wilkerson, as Monmouth County Freeholder Director Thomas Arnone, right, looked on. Photo by Laura D.C. Kolnoski

Speakers at the ceremony praised Rogers, Mumford and those who persevered and donated to the effort. They included Walter D. Greason, founding president of the T. Thomas Fortune Foundation and an associate professor at Monmouth University, who spoke about Fortune’s commitment to freedom and justice.

“You can come here and find a new mission and a place to belong,” he said. Shawn Alexander, director of the Langston Hughes Center at the University of Kansas and editor of an anthology of Fortune’s writings, spoke of the pioneering activist’s personal history, noting, “T. Thomas Fortune stood for truth and spoke truth to power. We continue to need to fight and organize.” Red Bank Mayor Pasquale “Pat” Menna thanked “those who made it happen and made this idea a reality. This cultural center is a repository of history and a beacon of hope.”

Lillian G. Burry, a Monmouth County freeholder and a former history teacher, noted that Fortune was a supporter of William McKinley during his 1900 presidential campaign and moved to Red Bank from New York a year later. “Fortune came to then still rural New Jersey to buy a piece of land for his family,” she said. “He brought with him his passion for civil rights and helped weave it into the fabric of a growing community.”

Invoking Fortune’s quote, “Forward ever, backward never,” Rogers asked for ongoing support as the center strives to provide ongoing programming. “We are all in this together and I need you to be here for the long haul to keep the doors of the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center open,” she said.

“I am extremely grateful to be part of this effort,” said Mumford, the last to speak. “The solution was to find an economic purpose to underwrite the restoration of the house.”

Rogers and Mumford related how they bonded over a beloved book, “The Warmth of Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson, which Mumford pulled from his bookshelf at their first meeting. At the conclusion of the program, Rogers presented Mumford with an edition signed by the author, which she traveled to Newark to obtain when Wilkerson was speaking there.

For hours, programs and more information, visit t-thomas-fortune-cultural-center.business.site.