Montclair makes history during Black History Month

In Montclair, New Jersey, the future's looking bright with a significant change to local Black history: As this year's Black History Month began, a...

March 2, 2023
8:38 AM

In Montclair, New Jersey, the future's looking bright with a significant change to local Black history: As this year's Black History Month began, a local grassroots group celebrated a major milestone in their efforts to save 369 Claremont Avenue, the property known as the James Howe House—the first townhouse owned by a freed slave. 'We have the keys!' Friends of the Howe House shouted at a news conference on Feb. 13 in front of the house. The house has so much importance in Black history, according to Friends of the Howe House: 'One of the oldest structures in Montclair, dating to the Revolutionary era, this house helps tell the story of freedom and slavery, the development of a Black community, and also the founding of Montclair as a town.

Morgan Alston