Asbury Park Press article (“The Local Front,” Monmouth Diary) about a dispute over the site of an old Fair Haven cemetery believed to be associated with early African American residents. The article discusses concerns raised by neighbors and historians regarding proposed property expansion and evidence of graves/gravestones. Includes a photograph identifying Jesse Y. Harris, Marcelline Harris, and their grandson Jordan Harris (age 9) near the property boundary. By Angela Bartolomeo; photo credited to Peter Ackerman (staff photographer).

Collection Patricia Drummond Collection

Newspaper article examining the Fair Haven Ruling* of the 1880s and its significance as a legal precursor to the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education (by 70 years). The article discusses segregation in Fair Haven schools, the role of Fisk Chapel (formerly Bethel Church), and New Jersey’s legal history regarding “separate but equal” education. *What is commonly referred to as the Fair Haven Ruling refers to an 1881 school segregation dispute in Fair Haven and the New Jersey legislation and court decisions that followed.

Joseph A Grabas, author of Owning New Jersey: Historic Tales of War, Property Disputes & The Pursuit of Happiness" (2014, The History Press)

Letter by Joseph A. Grabas (July 14, 1998) documenting research on the Brown’s Lane African American community, including land ownership, the Free African Meeting House and School, and evidence of a historic burying ground.

Joseph A Grabas, author of Owning New Jersey: Historic Tales of War, Property Disputes & The Pursuit of Happiness" (2014, The History Press)

Letters to the editor by Joseph A. Grabas (August 1998) advocating for preservation and archaeological study of a historic African American burial ground on Brown’s Lane and describing the early free Black community in Fair Haven.