On Monday, April 9, 6-8:30 pm Purcell Carson & Alison Isenberg of The Trenton Project of Princeton University will present a special evening of community memory and public history at Artworks Trenton, 19 Everett Alley, Trenton, New Jersey 08611.
For the last three years, students and community partners have documented Trenton in the 1960s and the civil unrest of April 1968. April 9th marks the 50th anniversary of what many people call a watershed in Trenton’s history. It was the day of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s funeral, and in Trenton it turned into a night of broken windows, arrests and fires. It was also the night when one young man, Harlan Bruce Joseph, tragically lost his life. For several years they have looked at these events from many angles, gathered public records and collected private memories. “What happened that night? What did the news reporting get right — and what did it get wrong? What caused the unrest on the streets? And what are its repercussions today?”
They are eager to collect tangible records of the times — photos, home movies clippings, diaries and memorabilia — to share with other Trenton institutions like Trentoniana at the Trenton Free Public Library and the Conservatory Mansion and invite the public to bring treasures for scanning.
Project partners include Artworks, Trentoniana at the Trenton Free Public Library, The Conservatory Mansion, The Arts Council of Princeton, The New Jersey Council for the Humanities, The School of the Arts & Communication at The College of New Jersey