PLAINFIELD, NJ SCHOOL DISTRICT DESEGREGATION
A New Jersey Historical Commission Black Heritage Trail Site
Plainfield School District Desegregation
Visit theCharles & Anna Booker Elementary School (https://www.plainfieldnjk12.org/o/cabs), a newly built school located at 730 Central Street in Plainfield named in honor of Mr. Charles and Mrs. Anna Booker. These two civil rights activists along with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P), used the US Supreme Court Case, Brown v. Board of Education, as the defining language for the New Jersey Supreme Court - Booker v. Board of Education of the City of Plainfield, Union County Case.
A jubilant ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday for the brand-new Charles and Anna Booker Elementary School, which officially opened its doors to the public almost exactly two years after its groundbreaking.
At noon, the school’s namesakes were joined by the superintendent of the Plainfield Public Schools, Board of Education Commissioners, School Development Association and Department of Education officials, district employees, the mayor, several city councilors, and at least 200 community members.
The Charles and Anna Booker Elementary School, a 123,148 square foot, three-story building located on Woodland Avenue and Central Street, will educate around 700 students in grades K-5 starting in early September 2023.
How can this website content be used?
Primary and secondary students, teachers, historians, should attend the New Jersey State Library’s NJ250 Exhibits where they can read the words of the New Jersey Supreme Court that were approved in the Plainfield Board of Education Plan on May 2, 1966 by Dr. Frederick M. Raubinger, Commissioner of Education. [https://www.njstatelib.org/exhibits/nj250/1947era/booker-v-board-of-education/]
Visit the New Jersey State Library in Trenton to see the NJ250 exhibits or visit the NJ State Library online at: (https://www.njstatelib.org/exhibits/nj250/1947era/booker-v-board-of-education/) to read more details about this desegregation case and review the historical timeline about the “New Jersey Modern Era Court Ruling” case where the Booker family was the driving force behind the desegregation of the Plainfield School District.
Teachers and their students are encouraged to attend the current and future curated New Jersey Orators’ community educational workshops and oratorical events to support student’s understanding that occurred during this historical period and virtually, and maybe, meet in-person these two living Civil Rights activists – Charles & Anna Booker.
“Oral History
in Your Community:
Preserving Voices of the Past”
Listen to intergenerational Oral History Interviews by experienced youth of the New Jersey Orators, Inc.
The video contains an interview by an Experienced New Jersey Orator interviewing Mrs. Anna Booker discussing her recollections and experiences during the Civil Rights Era. She discusses details about the desegregation of Plainfield School District.
Background: Motivation for Change
By 1963, the Black population of the Plainfield Public schools had risen to 40%, with the rest of the school population almost entirely white. But Washington School was 96% Black. Emerson (72%), Stillman (67%), and Bryant (65%) were heavily majority Black as well, and these schools weren’t given the same resources or opportunity as the rest, which included a school with less than a 1% Black population.
The school district refused to implement a rezoning plan and instead offered an optional desegregation plan that fell totally flat.
On March 2, 1965 the Bookers sued, with the assistance of NAACP lead attorney Robert L. Carter. On June 28 of that year, they won. Their victory changed how students were placed in schools and how funding was allocated.
Mrs Booker called the moment bittersweet, as many of the people involved in the case, including the Bookers’ son Charles, are no longer with us.
She singled out the late Reverend Allen, who was the head of the Plainfield NAACP, as a key contributor to the effort to desegregate Plainfield’s schools.
“The NAACP – Plainfield Branch and National – were the directing force of the action that led, finally, to the case of Booker vs the Board of Education,” recalled Anna Booker shortly before calling for a moment of silence in honor of those who have passed on.
Mrs Booker called the moment bittersweet, as many of the people involved in the case, including the Bookers’ son Charles, are no longer with us. She singled out the late Reverend Allen, who was the head of the Plainfield NAACP, as a key contributor to the effort to desegregate Plainfield’s schools.
“The NAACP – Plainfield Branch and National – were the directing force of the action that led, finally, to the case of Booker vs the Board of Education,” recalled Anna Booker shortly before calling for a moment of silence in honor of those who have passed on.
Anna Booker urged future educators at the school to understand and address the need for equity in education.
“We need you to accept the fact that all students do not have the same or equal privilege, background, exposure, or experience, so you have to be sensitive to their needs” she said, before recalling an experience where a teacher told her she couldn’t go to college since her mother was a domestic worker. She went on to become one of the first Black teachers in Metuchen before working in Plainfield for two decades.
The New Jersey Orators is a non-profit youth organization founded in 1985, with the mission to teach the art of public speaking, an appreciation for literature, reading literacy, oral history interviewing, civic engagement, college readiness, and life skills to youth from 7 to 18 years of age in preparation for college.