Woodbury Black Heritage Trail

Dr. Synatra Smith, Project Manager of the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail, will be the keynote speaker at the Nov. 14 ceremony celebrating the recent addition of Woodbury's Red Bank Avenue Burial Ground to the Black Heritage Trail's list of historic New Jersey African American sites. The program is free and open to the public.

A collaboration among the City of Woodbury, the Gloucester County Historical Society, and the New Jersey Historical Commission, the event will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Historical Society's Museum at 58 N. Broad St. in Woodbury. Councilwoman Donna Miller will deliver the opening remarks.

Featured speaker Dr. James E. Johnson of the Black History Consortium of Southern New Jersey will present the history of the burial ground. He is well known for his investigations that established the identities of local African Americans who served in the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) during the Civil War and were buried at the site.

The Black Heritage Trail project grew out of the state's efforts in 2021 to make Black history more visible across New Jersey. In 2022, the initiative became part of the New Jersey Historical Commission's African American History Program. The commission now lists 76 officially approved Black Heritage Trail sites across 16 counties, and historical markers have been or will be installed at those locations. Nominations for additional sites are still being accepted.

Woodbury's Red Bank Avenue Burial Ground for African Americans was established in 1832 near the intersection of North Broad Street and Red Bank Avenue. Those buried there include 11 Black Civil War veterans, among them Union Army Pvt. Isaac J. Hill of the 29th Connecticut Colored Regiment — one of only five Black soldiers who wrote and published a book about their unit's wartime experiences.

There was more on this message, but you can look it up to get the full page of information. Sounds lie going in the right direction with including all members pf society in the conservation of our shared history! If I were back on the road, I would attend, but I haven't got a car back yet after my ccident and I think it will be a couple of weks of practice before I amback on all the roads again. wrightj45@yahoo.com