PLAINFIELD, NJ SCHOOL DISTRICT DESEGREGATION

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.

“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.

TEACH AND LEARN THE HISTORY OF SCHOOL DESEGREGATION IN PLAINFIELD AND BEYOND

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.