With a little help from Wendy

Today was the first day that I was able to really go through the material I am researching at the Trentoniana Room in Trenton Public Library and feel like I was making any headway. Wendy, the curator, has been vigorously going through the unorganized boxes of files left behind by the last members of the Trenton Committee for Unity, and putting them in some kind of order, chronologically as well. Before today I felt like I was going through a stack of papers 10 feet high that someone knocked over and told me to clean up.

The more I learn about this organization, the more excited I get to study what they did, who they were, and what their influence was in other places dealing with integration. They made connections with the NAACP, National Urban League, along with many other politicians and important people such as Eleanor Roosevelt. For a group that was so influential in New Jersey's capitol, it amazes me that there is no longer any notable public recognition for the good they did for the minorities of Trenton in the 1940s and 1950s. They set an example for the rest of the country at a time when they were needed most.

It will be interesting to see where this paper takes me over the next month and a half.

Finally a breakthrough....

After many unsuccessful Internet journal searches, as well as searching through the MSU library, I was finally able to get my hands dirty and narrow down the focus of my term paper. Today I ventured to the Trenton Public Library and spoke with their head historian. She pointed me in the direction of a catalogue of files from the short lived Trenton Committee of Unity, later renamed the Trenton Committee for Human Relations (or something like that). This was a group of citizens in Trenton who made it their business to diversify the public schools (students and teachers), and public housing. They seem to have been successful based upon the letters, meeting minutes, and other primary documents that I sorted through today. Just the fact that they lasted 20 years, all the time being funded solely by the members and other donations, makes this a topic of interest for the time period in which they existed (1945-1965).

The historian also made a point of saying that no one, in the 10 years she has been there, has studied or made any sense of this organization, what they did, or why they ceased to exist around the time of the race riots in the 1960s. As far as she is concerned the these files have been untouched since they were put on the shelves. This organization seems to have been of great importance to the city of Trenton, and had some pull politically and socially. They had speakers give lectures/speeches at their events, including the likes of Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Langston Hughes, and many professors from schools such as Columbia and U. Penn.

It will be quite time consuming going through all of this material, but I think it will be worth it as now my curiosity is peaked. Also, knowing that this is the epitome of original research makes me feel that I may even be able to give something back to the City of Trenton. However, as they keep the archives a cool 65.1 degrees Fahrenheit I'll be sure to wear some more layers next time.