Learn more about the origins and significance of Juneteenth and commemorate the day through a talk and tour of three black historic sites in Monmouth County. Trolley transportation will be provided.

Cedar View Cemetery in Lincroft, an 1850 cemetery containing the interments of formerly enslaved people, Civil War veterans (called U.S. Colored Troops), and their descendants. The burying ground has been recently renovated by the non-profit Friends of Cedar View.

The T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center in Red Bank, former home of the one-time enslaved, Timothy Thomas Fortune who lived there into the early 20th century while publisher of Black newspapers in New York. Numerous exhibits of Black cultural life on display. Catered lunch will be enjoyed at this location.

Wampum Park Memorial to Mingo Jack in Eatontown where the only recorded lynching of a New Jersey Black man, Samuel Johnson, occurred in 1886.

Trolley will depart from Parking Lot 1 on the Lincroft Campus

Gilda Rogers is a journalist, author & playwright, producer & director, and an educator. She was at the helm of a community group that came together and organized in 2013 to save the National Historic Landmark, located in Red Bank and the former home of the social justice crusader, journalist and newspaper publisher, T. Thomas Fortune. She has been honored with numerous awards as part of her commitment to the greater Red Bank community, including her contributions to the Monmouth County Historical Association’s current exhibition Beneath the Floorboards, Whispers of the Enslaved at Marlpit Hall.

Rick Geffken has taught New Jersey slavery for Monmouth University in West Long Branch. He is part of a project called the New Jersey Slavery Records Index under the auspices of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. He is an active member of the New Jersey Social Justice Reconciliation Committee and was instrumental in placing a memorial plaque in Eatontown, the 1886 site of the only recorded lynching of a Black man in New Jersey. He too contributed to Beneath the Floorboards Whispers of the Enslaved. Rick was the recipient of the 2023 Jane G. Clayton Award honoring individuals who’ve made exceptional contributions to the awareness, understanding or preservation of Monmouth County history.

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