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The Lighthouse: The Morris Merger, Integration and NJ’s Historic Supreme Court Decision tells the story of eight plaintiffs who bravely placed their names on a lawsuit (Jenkins v. The Township of Morris School District and Board of Education) to help prevent segregated schools from being a permanent fixture in American society.

 

Beatrice Jenkins, Cliff Burton, Charles C. “Moose” Jamison, Jr., Theodore King, Valerie Kowalski, Lloyd Newberry, Inge Nierenberg, and Ernestine Ritchie uplifted the goals of the landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education. The exhibit highlights what came before the merger as it is just as important as what came after. As the Jenkins decision notes, true integration that begins in schools has reverberating effects that help displace racial intolerance and the polarization of political attitudes.

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But there is still work to do. Classrooms around the country are as segregated now as they were before Brown even though schoolchildren are more racially and ethnically diverse than ever. Half of all students attend schools in which more than three-quarters of their peers are of the same race. Simply knowing each other and knowing history has redemptive power to heal divisions.

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Candace Kelley, J.D., M.S., Curator

Stan Cain Design, LLC, Exhibit Designer