Voices of Cape May’s African-American Community Trace History in Exhibit

CAPE MAY – An exhibit documenting Cape May’s African-American community from its earliest days to the present opened Jan. 18 at the Carroll Gallery of the Emlen Physick Estate.
Using the words of people who knew history best, the voices and stories have been preserved through videos, oral histories and printed documents.
“This is our 18th year of holding this event,” Tom Carroll, first vice president of the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities, Inc. (MAC) said, to the standing-room-only crowd attending the opening ceremony, “I think it gains in popularity each year.”
Entitled “History Speaks: From the Underground Railroad to Segregated Schools to Urban Renewal – Hear the Voices of Cape May’s African-American Community,” the exhibit is sponsored by the Center for Community Arts (CCA) and MAC.
Rachel Dolhanczyk, CCA curator and archivist, said the exhibit is a compilation from four current projects of the Center for Community Arts:
A guided walking tour highlighting buildings that were key to the business, religious, social and educational life of Cape May’s African-American community.
Sixty recorded oral history interviews of current and former residents of the community.
Research conducted as a part of CCA’s work to preserve and rehabilitate Franklin Street School, a segregated elementary school built in 1927.
Research and development of a self-guided driving/bike tour highlighting the role of Cape May in the Underground Railroad.
“In the 1920s, about 30 percent of Cape May was African-American,” Dolhanczyk said. “Today, about 2-3 percent is. After the (March) storm in 1962, Cape May was in pretty rough shape. That’s when people started thinking about saving some of the Victorian architecture and documenting some of its history.”
Dolhanzyck said that while Cape May was not on the direct route of the Underground Railroad, “local folklore has stories of people meeting runaway slaves and helping them. There is a story to be told.”
The section of Cape May from Jefferson Street down Lafayette to Jackson to Broad Street and St. John’s Street was “basically the African-American section of Cape May” according to Dolhancyzk.
“In the 1960s, a lot of it was demolished for urban renewal. There were a few buildings left when Amelia Hampton sent a letter to then-President (Lyndon) Johnson to spare the Stephen Smith House from being demolished. It was saved.”
Smith is said to be the founder of Cape May’s African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and was said to be the “richest Black east of the Mississippi” at the time, according to Dolhanczyk. He summered in Cape May.
Also saved from demolition was Franklin Street School, Cape May’s segregated school from 1928-48, when New Jersey outlawed segregation.
“The oral histories talk about different perspectives,” Dolhanczyk said. “People had all different types of experiences with segregation here.”
This is the first time technology has been incorporated with the exhibit, according to David Mackenzie, executive director of CCA, as he noted three large screens where visitors could watch digitized oral histories from Cape May residents.
The exhibit also includes stories about the dozens of African-American businesses and the role of black churches in the community. Artifacts, documents and photographs housed in the John and Janet Nash Archives, which are maintained by CCA, are also part of the exhibit.
“Our next step is to take the 60 recorded oral interviews we have and about 30 transcripts and digitize them as well so they will be available in digital, audio and book form,” Mackenzie said.
“Visitors will be impressed with the quality of the exhibit,” Cape May Mayor Edward Mahaney Jr. noted. “At the same time, we have a historical archive of this information.”
The exhibit, at 1048 Washington Street, will be open:
– Feb. 6 and Feb. 20, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
– Feb. 13 and March 26, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
– Feb. 27 through March 19, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
– Feb. 14 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
– March 20, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
– Feb. 15, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
– March 25, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
– March 21 through March 31, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
– April 1-8, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
– April 2 and 9, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
– April 3 and 10, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
CCA is a multicultural educational non-profit organization whose arts and humanities programs foster creativity, community building, and appreciation for the rich diversity of the world.
The Center’s Community History Program is dedicated to preserving, interpreting and celebrating Cape May’s African-American heritage through exhibits, tours, and its John and Janet Nash African-American History Archive. The Center currently is rehabilitating the Franklin Street School, a Cape May African-American Historic Site, to house a community cultural center, runs youth arts programs and operates WCFA-LP 101.5 FM, a community radio station. For further information, call 609-884-7525 or access CCA’s website at www.CenterforCommunityArts.org.
MAC is a multifaceted not-for-profit organization committed to promoting the preservation, interpretation, and cultural enrichment of the Cape May region for its residents and visitors. MAC membership is open to all. For information about MAC’s year-round schedule of tours, festivals, and special events, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278, or visit MAC’s website at www.capemaymac.org.
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.