Paying Tribute to the Past at Newark Cemeteries

When South Orange's Jewish congregations grew away from Newark, they left loved ones behind. The 22nd annual Newark Cemetery Visiting Day, Sunday, September 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, is an opportunity to go back and visit. 

Sponsored by the Cemetery Committee of the Community Relations Committee of United Jewish Communities (UJC) of MetroWest NJ, the day offers a chance to visit five historic cemeteries. B'nai Abraham Cemetery, Grove Street Cemetery, McClellan Street Cemetery, Talmud Torah Cemetery, and Union Field will be open, with ample security in place.

Four of the five cemeteries were established in the nineteenth century, the oldest dating back to the 1850s. The fifth, Talmud Torah Cemetery, was dedicated in the early twentieth century.

The visit is important both for families and for local historians. Many of the cemeteries were divided into sections reserved for members of a given congregation or fraternal organization. McClellan Cemetery, for example, has an area designated for Congregation Agudath Israel, now in Caldwell, and South Orange's Beth El Memorial Park Association. Other areas of the cemeteries were reserved for members of the Workmen's Circle and Newark City Lodge.

The history of the Newark cemeteries has been collected by the Jewish Genealogical Society of North Jersey, has gathered information about all five cemeteries. Over a number of years, volunteers from the society and the community-at-large copied the information on the gravestones.

Although the cemeteries open on September 12 are old, they are not deserted or forgotten, says the Cemetery Committee of the Community Relations Committee. Newark Cemetery Visiting Day offers a rare chance to come and see.