RED BANK: NURTURING FORTUNE’S LEGACY

Oct 9, 2023

T. Thomas Fortune, below, and the cultural center dedicated to him in his onetime Red Bank home, above. (Above photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

With an exhibit examining the history of America’s Black press opening October 28 at Red Bank’s T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center, redbankgreen presents this feature story, written for CivicStory, about the center’s namesake.

By DEBORAH YAFFE

When the Black newspaper editor and civil-rights activist T. Thomas Fortune moved to Red Bank in the summer of 1901, his arrival was front-page news. “Mr. Fortune is one of the most noted colored men of the country,” the Red Bank Register reported.

But a century later, the elegant Red Bank home that Fortune’s family called Maple Hall stood vandalized and derelict, its brick foundation crumbling, its windows boarded up. Still, the once-grand old place caught Gilda Rogers’ eye whenever she passed by. “That home probably was something really special in its heyday,” she would think.

She wasn’t wrong.

October 9, 2023 - 8:00 am |

RED BANK: HUNDREDS CELEBRATE JUNETEENTH

Jun 19, 2023

Eric Jones Jr., above, kicked off Red Bank’s third annual Juneteenth celebration with a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in Johnny Jazz Park Sunday.

June 19, 2023 - 7:00 am |

RED BANK: JUNETEENTH EVENTS SLATED

Jun 16, 2023

Juneteenth marchers on Shrewsbury Avenue in 2021. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Red Bankers are set to commemorate the federal and New Jersey state holiday of Juneteenth with an afternoon of activities Sunday.

June 16, 2023 - 8:45 am |

RED BANK: FORTUNE TO HONOR PARKERS

May 17, 2022

Fortune Center Executive Director Gilda Rogers in the newly designated Parker Family Legacy Room. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A new, permanent exhibit opening this month at the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center in Red Bank pays tribute to three African-American men of medicine who played vital roles in the community.

The unveiling also marks another milestone for the three-year-old center, housed in the onetime home of an influential journalist and civil rights advocate.

May 17, 2022 - 9:17 am |

RED BANK: SOIL BEARS WITNESS TO LYNCHING

May 3, 2022

Press release by the the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center

The New Jersey Social Justice Remembrance Coalition (NJSJRC) is ready to display the soil that was collected from the site where the only recorded lynching in Eatontown, New Jersey, of Samuel “Mingo” Jack Johnson, took place in 1886.

May 3, 2022 - 2:39 pm |

RED BANK: FORTUNE TO HOST VIEWING PARTY

Dec 20, 2021

Press release by the the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center

On January 24, 2022, HBO Max will start streaming a new series,“The Gilded
Age.” The show will feature the character of T. Thomas Fortune, played by actor Sullivan Jones.

It takes place in New York in 1882 during the American Gilded Age, a time of economic change and conflict between the old world and the new world.

December 20, 2021 - 3:20 pm |

RED BANK: FORTUNE TO HOST PARKER ROOM

Jun 23, 2021

Press release by the the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center

On the heels of Juneteenth, the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center announces its partnership with Monmouth Medical Center, a part of RWJ Barnabas Health, as the exclusive sponsor of the Parker Family Legacy Room – a permanent exhibit of the history of the family of prominent Red Bank black doctors, who served their community for over 80 years.

June 23, 2021 - 9:26 am |

RED BANK: MARCH INAUGURATES JUNETEENTH

Jun 21, 2021

Juneteenth marchers on Shrewsbury Avenue, above, and Drs. James Parker Boulevard, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bankers commemorated the new federal and New Jersey state holiday of Juneteenth with a march Saturday.

The hike on a humid last day of spring was bookended by gatherings at Pilgrim Baptist Church on Shrewsbury Avenue and the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center on Drs. James Parker Boulevard.

June 21, 2021 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: JAZZMAN VISITS FORTUNE CENTER

Feb 27, 2020

Gilda Rogers, right, led saxophonist Branford Marsalis on a tour of the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center in Red Bank Wednesday afternoon.

February 27, 2020 - 6:45 am |

RED BANK: FORTUNE SETS ‘BASIE 2020’ SKED

Feb 18, 2020

Images of William ‘Count’ Basie on display at the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center last week. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center, built to honor a pioneering African-American journalist with Red Bank ties, plans to spotlight the borough-born musical giant William ‘Count’ Basie through 2020.

The occasion is the 85th anniversary of the formation of the Count Basie Orchestra, which is still touring 36 years after its founder’s death.

February 18, 2020 - 7:30 am |

FAIR HAVEN: PARK OPENS ON OLD HOUSE SITE

Oct 16, 2019

Local officials lined the shoreline of the Navesink River for the park opening. Below, the house that formerly stood on the site, as seen in 2009. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

More than a decade after it began, an effort to turn prime riverfront property in Fair Haven into a park ended with a ribbon-cutting Tuesday evening.

Dubbed “Williams, Albert and Robards Park” for the successive generations of the family that lived there, the site at the northern end of Denormandie Avenue will now serve as a place for “contemplation,” Mayor Ben Lucarelli told several dozen onlookers at a brief ceremony.

October 16, 2019 - 7:25 am |

RED BANK: FORTUNE CULTURAL CENTER OPENS

May 24, 2019

Dozens of supporters gathered on the front lawn for the opening of the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center. Below, a view of the ceremony from inside the restored house. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

More than a century after the departure of its most famous resident, the T. Thomas Fortune House in Red Bank reopened Thursday as a cultural center dedicated to his mission of advancing civil and human rights.

May 24, 2019 - 9:00 am |

RED BANK: FORTUNE ‘MIRACLE’ COMPLETED

Feb 21, 2019

The restored T. Thomas Fortune House on Drs. James Parker Boulevard plans to formally open as a cultural center in May. Below, restoration supervisor Spencer Foxworth and foundation member Robin Blair examine a chandelier to be installed. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

An against-the-odds, decade-long effort to save a Red Bank house that was once the home of a pioneering civil rights journalist has reached its improbable conclusion, people involved in the effort say.

This weekend, local history lovers will get their first-ever chance to tour the T. Thomas Fortune House, a National Historic Register structure that not long ago was about to be razed.

February 21, 2019 - 11:00 am |

RED BANK: NEW HISTORY IN FORTUNE HOUSE

Nov 14, 2017

Restoration work on the T. Thomas Fortune house is underway in conjunction with the construction of 31 apartments behind it, where an elevator tower is visible. Below, builder Roger Mumford shows off an original decorative corbel removed from just below the roof line of the house, and, in his left hand, a replica made from mahogany. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After a decade-long effort to save it from the wrecking ball, Red Bank’s T. Thomas Fortune house is in the midst of a restoration that has served up some additional history.

Part of the Second Empire-style mansion on Drs. James Parker Boulevard may be much older than previously believed, says developer Roger Mumford, who is racing to conserve what he can of the structure even as it crumbles before his eyes.

November 14, 2017 - 11:00 am |

RED BANK: RACIAL ROOTS OF MEMORIAL DAY

May 31, 2017

Walter Greason in 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

As part of a continuing series of discussions called “Let’s Talk About Race,” the Red Bank Public Library hosts a lecture Wednesday night on “The Surprising Origins of Memorial Day.”

May 31, 2017 - 5:59 am |

RED BANK: HOMEBUILDER EYES FACTORIES

Apr 25, 2017

A cluster of industrial buildings between Catherine Street, above, and River Street would be razed for new brownstones, according to the prospective builder. Part of the site abuts the Cedar Crossing homes, seen in the distance above. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A block of factory buildings on Red Bank’s West Side, including some old millworks and a former guitar factory, could give way to new housing in coming months, redbankgreen has learned.

April 25, 2017 - 2:00 pm |

RED BANK: FORTUNE HOUSE’S GOOD FORTUNE

Jul 28, 2016

Developer Roger Mumford leads high school journalism students on a tour of the Fortune House. Below, Mumford with preservationist Gilda Rogers. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Less than a week after the Red Bank zoning board approved a plan to save it, the still-crumbling T. Thomas Fortune House offered a preview Wednesday of its anticipated role: as a cultural and educational center.

About a dozen high school students from around New Jersey took an exterior tour of the onetime home of pioneering civil rights journalist, who lived in it for a decade starting in 1901 and entertained the leading lights of black culture there. In the process, they also got a lesson in how the interests of preservationists and profit-minded developers might converge.

July 28, 2016 - 10:29 am |

RED BANK: FORTUNE HOUSE RESCUE PLAN OK’D

Jul 22, 2016

Developer Roger Mumford with an architect’s rendering of the T. Thomas Fortune house as it would appear after restoration. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A decade-long effort to save an endangered artifact of African-American history cleared a major milestone Thursday night when the Red Bank zoning board approved a developer’s plan to rebuild the T. Thomas Fortune house and create 31 apartments on its one-acre property.

Borough-based homebuilder Roger Mumford, who vowed to restore and donate the house for use as a cultural center before he would seek certificates of occupancy for the apartments, was hailed as the last-chance savior of a vital relic of the civil rights movement that its current owners want to raze. Residents told the board before its vote that Mumford deserved the tradeoff of more than a dozen variances, most of them arising from the apartment plan.

“If a development project has ever given back to the community, it’s this one,” said Kalman Pipo, a member of the borough’s Historic Preservation Commission. “If this project doesn’t go through, we are going to lose this house” to the wrecking ball, he said.

July 22, 2016 - 1:08 am |

RED BANK: FORTUNE HOUSE PLAN SCHEDULED

Jul 18, 2016

Developer Roger Mumford‘s plan to save the dilapidated T. Thomas Fortune house on Drs. James Parker Boulevard in Red Bank faces its first test this week.

The proposal, which is backed by a volunteer group hoping to preserve the pioneering civil rights journalist’s home, calls for restoring the National Historic Register structure for use as a cultural center devoted to preserving African American history and serving as a resource for social justice initiatives. The plan, dubbed “Fortune Square,” also includes a 32-unit apartment building proposed for the rear of the property. Multiple variances are required.

The hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at borough hall, 90 Monmouth Street. Here’s the agenda: RBZB agenda 072116. (Click to enlarge)

July 18, 2016 - 9:00 am |

RED BANK: BUILDER EYES FORTUNE HOUSE SITE

Jun 28, 2016

The home of pioneering human rights journalist T. Thomas Fortune would be restored for use as a cultural center, as shown in the architectural rendering above. Below, four views of the four-story, 32-unit apartment building proposed for the rear of the property. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After years of efforts by volunteer historians to halt decades of decay, an historic Red Bank residence may be spared the wrecking ball.

Developer Roger Mumford has proposed restoring what he calls the “highly deteriorated” T. Thomas Fortune house on Drs. James Parker Boulevard and turning it into a cultural center.

Mumford’s plan comes with a catch: he wants the town to grant him a host of variances to construct 32 apartments on the site — more than twice the density allowed by zoning law. But he’s billing it as a win for all involved.

June 28, 2016 - 9:52 am |

RED BANK: STATE BIDS FOR FORTUNE HOUSE

Sep 24, 2015

The home of pioneering human rights journalist T. Thomas Fortune has been vacant for many years. Below, an undated photo of Fortune, who owned it from 1901 to 1911. (Photo above by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The state of New Jersey has thrown its support behind efforts to save a historic Red Bank structure by offering to acquire it, redbankgreen has learned.

Two members of the borough Historic Preservation Committee said the state Department of Environmental Protection, though its Green Acres program, has made a purchase offer to the owners of the crumbling T. Thomas Fortune house on Drs. James Parker Boulevard.

September 24, 2015 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: NYTIMES NOTES FORTUNE EFFORT

Jun 20, 2015

Sunday’s edition of the New York Times includes an article on the divergent fates of two historic New Jersey homes, one of them the Red Bank abode of early 20th-century civil rights journalist T. Thomas Fortune.

Fortune’s house, on Dr. James Parker Boulevard, is the subject of an effort by the nonprofit T. Thomas Fortune Project to save it from demolition and turn it into a cultural center. At right, an undated photo of Fortune. (Photo above by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

June 20, 2015 - 8:22 pm |

FAIR HAVEN: 160-YEAR-OLD HOUSE RAZED

Apr 13, 2015

Old but not considered of historic value, Fair Haven’s Charles Williams house (seen at right in 2010), was reduced to splinters and dust Monday morning.

The house, built by a free African-American in 1855, was acquired by the borough for $1.2 million last November, and the now-vacant lot at the foot of Denormandie Avenue is to become a park property overlooking the Navesink River. Here are some background articles. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

April 13, 2015 - 10:36 am |

RED BANK: $100K PLEDGE FOR FORTUNE HOUSE

Mar 13, 2015

A volunteer group hopes to acquire the onetime home of pioneering human rights journalist T. Thomas Fortune for use as a cultural center. Below, an undated photo of Fortune. (Photo above by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A slow-building effort launched eight years ago to save a historic Red Bank structure from the wrecking ball has gotten a jolt of adrenaline.

A donor has pledged $100,000 to the effort to acquire and revitalize the onetime home of pioneering African-American journalist T. Thomas Fortune, redbankgreen has learned.

March 13, 2015 - 5:47 am |

FAIR HAVEN ACQUIRES OLD HOUSE FOR PARK

Nov 4, 2014

The Charles Williams house, with the river in the background. Below, a weathered medallion on the doorframe marks the structure as a Century House. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

More than five years after it embarked on the process, Fair Haven has acquired a riverfront property with roots as a home to African-Americans living free in the days of slavery.

Borough officials long ago determined, however, that the Charles Williams house, built overlooking the Navesink River before the Emancipation Proclamation, is not historically significant. It will be demolished to make way for a passive park.

November 4, 2014 - 10:30 am |

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