Newark's public school history is an invaluable collection that needs a home to display its fascinating story.
Newark's public school history needs a permanent home, one with stature reflective of its fascinating story.
State Street School - the oldest standing school in the city- appeared to be such a place.
The two-story building is already part of a historical corridor, where State and Broad streets intersect near Route 280. It's next door to the House of Prayer, a charming 1844 Episcopal church located behind the Plume House, Newark's second oldest building, constructed in the 18th century.
Marion Bolden, the district's guardian of school history, saw no other spot than State Street School as a museum for future generations to gaze at items such as vintage movie projectors, board minutes written in German, maps of Newark schools from the 1800s or a picture of Ed Koch, the late New York mayor, from when he was a student at South Side High School.
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But her vision took a hit last month when the School Advisory Board voted on a plan to transfer 12 of the district's properties to the Newark Housing Authority.
The State Street School, which closed in 2012, is on that list. Built in 1845, the school for "colored girls,'' is listed on state and national registers of historic places. James Baxter was its first African-American principal.
State Street, regrettably, wasn't the only bad news for Bolden. Warren Street School, which serves as the temporary home of the city's public school history, is on the list, too.
"They're wearing me out,'' said Bolden. "We were that close to getting State Street."
The frustrating part for Bolden is that Superintendent Christopher Cerf knew she wanted the building to display the district's history.
Not for nothing, she is a former superintendent and the go-to person for the Newark Public Schools Historic Preservation Committee.
Bolden doesn't get it and neither do I. Still waiting for an answer from the district's Central Office.
It's not certain what will happen, but the NHA is going to determine if the 12 buildings can be sold or used for housing.
When the district turned over the properties to the housing authority, Cerf had said any of the buildings could be pulled back from a sale, if the NHA doesn't find a good fit. And since the State Street School is registered as a historic place, state officials said any sales, leases or transfer of deeds require a review by the New Jersey Historic Sites Council.
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"It's incumbent upon the (School Advisory) Board and the community to make sure that this issue is still addressed, even though the district no longer has those buildings,'' said Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson, chairwoman of the board.
Vice chairman Marques-Aquil Lewis said he had no idea anyone was interested in the building and questioned why Bolden and the preservation committee had not reached out to the advisory board.
Well, now the board can expect to see her or someone from her team.
It's tough preserving history in this town.
Bolden learned that in 2008, the year she retired, when school history was literally being thrown out. Some of it happened when administrators - not realizing the value of certain items - cleaned out school buildings at the end of the year. Other times, it happened when the district sold its buildings to charter schools.
Bolden and other history enthusiasts started the preservation committee to stop the reckless practice. They convinced the School Advisory Board to adopt a policy on what administrators should hang on to when discarding property.
It was a good move because Elizbeth Del Tufo, president of the Newark Preservation Landmarks Committee, said Bolden's effort to reclaim the district's history has been nothing short of heroic.
She has school desks and benches, yearbooks and class rings. There are documents of teacher's salaries, old telephones, building plans, book purchases and more. Preservationists say her archival treasure dwarfs information at the Newark Public Library and the New Jersey Historical Society.
"There is really no collection or anything like it anywhere,'' said Gail Malmgreen, director of the Newark Archives Project. "It's something that absolutely should be preserved.''
The district allowed Bolden to use Warren Street School to temporarily store the archives in 2010-2011. It was vast, taking up four rooms. High school and college students did research routinely until Bolden was kept out of the building in 2014 under then-Superintendent Cami Anderson.
When she was allowed back into the school in 2015, Bolden inspected the rooms and determined that some photographs and yearbooks were missing.
"This is very frustrating,'' she said. "I can't get people to appreciate our history.''
Think about that and this: The district's history is invaluable and precious.
It needs a home.
Bolden wants everyone to believe that, too.
Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL