Righting Civil Wrongs and Ensuring Civil Rights

Righting Civil Wrongs and Ensuring Civil Rights (HM2AI)

Location: Trenton, NJ 08611 Mercer County
Buy New Jersey State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 40° 11.936', W 74° 45.513'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 529 views
Inscription
Civil rights, the rights to freedom from discrimination that every citizen and inhabitant enjoys by law, have evolved gradually over the years in the United States. For African-Americans, civil rights have been hard-won and are still an issue. Trenton's African-American community like those in many other American cities, has experienced its own share of tribulation in attaining proper acceptance within mainstream society and has also contributed significantly to the broader civil rights movement.

In the 1940s, segregation and racist attitudes were still strongly pervasive in Trenton - in the neighborhoods, in the schools and in the workplace. One landmark legal challenge took place in the city during this period when Gladys Hedgepeth and Berline Williams filed suit in 1944 against the Trenton Board of Education in the New Jersey Supreme Court, objecting to their children having to walk two miles from their homes to the all-Black Lincoln School, when other public schools were closer at hand. This case helped set the stage for the U.S. Supreme Court's hearing of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka ten years later and the decision that barred segregation throughout the nation's public schools.

In the 1960s, Trenton's African-Americans and other civil right's sympathizers stood solidly behind the cause for racial justice. A march by 4,000 protestors through the downtown to the War Memorial in 1963 culminated in a rally to raise awareness over discriminatory practices in the workplace and the need for minimum wage legislation. Other civil rights demonstrations were mounted in the city in the mid-1960s, and Trenton was one of many American communities to experience rioting following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. This represented the high point in racial tension in the city and since that time Trenton's African-American community has built a strong political presence in local government as befits its growth in numbers.

Links to learn more - New Jersey State House, Trenton; Trenton Free Public Library, Trenton
Details
HM NumberHM2AI
Tags
Year Placed2004
Placed ByNew Jersey Department of Transportation
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Saturday, September 20th, 2014 at 6:25pm PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18T E 520550 N 4449865
Decimal Degrees40.19893333, -74.75855000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 40° 11.936', W 74° 45.513'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds40° 11' 56.16" N, 74° 45' 30.78" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)609
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 1251-1351 NJ-29, Trenton NJ 08611, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. Is this marker part of a series?
  2. What historical period does the marker represent?
  3. What historical place does the marker represent?
  4. What type of marker is it?
  5. What class is the marker?
  6. What style is the marker?
  7. Does the marker have a number?
  8. This marker needs at least one picture.
  9. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  10. Is the marker in the median?