T. Thomas Fortune Foundation Hires New Curator, Holds Preview

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By Rick Geffken

RED BANK – With the naming of its first curator and a much-anticipated unveiling next weekend as part of Black History Month, Red Bank’s T. Thomas Fortune Foundation (TTFF) is moving forward on its goal to establish an important local cultural center at the preserved home of the African-American journalist and civil rights pioneer.

Monica Montgomery brings years of curatorial and museum experience to her new position as curator for Red Bank’s T. Thomas For- tune Foundation.

Monica Montgomery brings years of curatorial and museum experience to her new position as curator for Red Bank’s T. Thomas Fortune Foundation.

Monica O. Montgomery, an independent curator who has collaborated with the Brooklyn Museum, the Williamsburg Library, President Lincoln’s Cottage and others, was selected by the foundation’s board to help tell the little-known story of Timothy Thomas Fortune at the newly restored mansion at 94 Drs. James Parker Blvd., one of only two National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey devoted to African-American history.

Opening the doors this weekend for a preliminary look inside the restored structure, once known as Maple Hall, is a milestone for the volunteers.

It’s “an important step to anchor us to the very heart of Red Bank and the wider community for years to come,” said Robin Blair, the foundation’s events chairperson and board secretary.

Montgomery is the founding director of the Museum of Impact (MOI), a mobile social justice museum where she has curated more than 40 exhibits and festivals on art, activism and today’s society. A graduate of Temple and LaSalle universities in Philadelphia where she earned her communications degrees, Montgomery has a strong background in museum studies and has been an adjunct professor at several prominent Ivy League institutions. She advocates for social justice and the dissemination of culture in her self-described role as “a museum activist.”

She came to the attention of the foundation leaders after Gilda Rogers, an educator, journalist and social activist who has been a driving force behind TTFF, discovered her work at the Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn last summer. The center is at the site of an African-American community of formerly enslaved people that dates back more than 140 years. After discussions, Rogers offer her the curatorial job. Montgomery says she is “excited by this new position to explore ways to have black history extend for more than just a month.”

Blair said the foundation is counting on Montgomery to tell the story. “We asked her to spin this all together to tell the story of this ‘hidden figure,’ Timothy Thomas Fortune, an enslaved man who rose to great prominence. A journalist, editor and publisher of the most widely read African-American newspaper of the day, The New York Age, he used the power of his pen to work toward the betterment of all people. He was a civil rights pioneer and deserves the same prominence as his better-known friends and colleagues, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells and Frederick Douglas.”

The building now known as the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center was purchased three years ago by local real estate developer Roger Mumford. His company donated the building to the TTFF and shouldered the expense of its extensive restoration in a deal that allowed Roger Mumford Homes to build a 31-unit apartment building on one acre in the rear called Fortune Square, in a complementary French Mansard style. The redevelopment project, realized with French & Parrello Associates, also includes an entry area with benches and a monument commemorating Fortune, parking areas for visitors and internal walkways circulating the site. For more information about the TTFF and its preview opening Feb. 23 and 24, call 732-383-5483 or visit tthomasfortuneculturalcenter org