The State Street School in Newark, New Jersey is the city’s oldest building and may soon become a museum to celebrate its Black history thanks to new development plan.
The oldest school building in New Jersey may soon become a museum to celebrate its Black history.
Located in Newark, the 179-year-old State Street Public School is the only remaining location of the city’s former school for Black students as well as the home of the first Black principal in the city’s school system. Although the school has been vacant for decades, officials still aim to turn the building into a place where people can gather to learn more about its Black history.
“At some point in time you have to preserve what you can,” said Marian Bolden, who has led the efforts to turn the school into a museum since before she retired in 2008. “It’s certainly the oldest school building still standing, but it was also a building that served as a school of the ‘colored’ children. There’s a historic significance to the building.”