Film Project Sets To Tell Black History In Morristown

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Three locals enlisted a documentary filmmaker to help tell the story of Black history in Morristown. Now they're collecting funds to make The Morristown New Jersey African American Film Project possible.

Organizers plan to create a two-part documentary series on how people of color have shaped Morristown since the 18th century. Award-winning documentarian Edward J. Harris II will produce the film series, which will educate future generations through school programs and nonprofits.

Project organizers include former council- and school board member Christopher L Martin, former council president and retired teacher Michelle Dupree Harris, and Morris School District teacher Warren Kersey.

Morristown wears its history on its sleeve, especially from the Revolutionary War era. But the town has also been pivotal for Black history. The project's fundraising page notes the following:

• Abolitionist Frederick Douglas gave a speech on the Morristown Green decrying slavery.
• Dr. Evelyn Lewis, who graduated from integrated Morristown High School about a century ago, went on to Howard University Medical School. She later became the house doctor at Provident Hospital in Baltimore.
• Lanny Smoot — director of multimedia communications at Bellcore Labs in Morris Township — architected the technology allowing video-demand signals to get transmitted over telephone lines.
• The New York Times called the Morris School District a "national model of diversity and inclusion." The report attributed the merger 50 years ago between Morristown and Morris Township schools, which came as a result of a New Jersey Supreme Court decision. But film-project organizers note that the decision became possible because of political and social involvement from many citizens of color beginning in the early 1960s.

Harris's work includes award-winning films of Babe Ruth (Universal Babe), the 2004 Democratic primaries (Slap the Donkey) and historic Black economic centers (The Lessons of Hayti).

Click here for the fundraising page.

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