The West Windsor Arts Council, the West Windsor-Plainsboro African American Parent Support Group, and the New Jersey Council for the Humanities will jointly sponsor a screening of “A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School” at the West Windsor Library on Monday, February 8, at 7 p.m. Filmmaker David Davison and scholar Mark Krasovic, the Geraldine R. Dodge postdoctoral fellow at Rutgers-Newark Institute on Ethnicity, Culture and the Modern Experience, will introduce the film and lead a discussion following the screening.
“We are excited about providing the community with a critical examination of the issue of equal access to a quality education for all, regardless of race or ethnicity, during this Black History Month celebration,” says Kaija Greenberg, director of the West Windsor Library.
The Bordentown School was considered to be an educational utopia during the 70-year period where discrimination was law and custom. The school’s bloodlines go back to Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. Visitors included Paul Robeson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, and Joe Louis. Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Althea Gibson performed there.
Known as an incubator for black pride and intellect, the school taught values, discipline, and life skills to generations of black children. The film is the story of the school, as told by Bordentown alumni, historians, and archival footage. It is also the story of black education in America across three centuries, presenting a rarely-seen portrait of a separate black space; and a growing national discussion about historically black institutions and their role in nurturing identity and accomplishment. The film is narrated by Ruby Dee.
“Nearly 56 years following the anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, we are still faced with the challenge of eliminating the achievement gap in our public school systems across the nation,” says Barbara Edmonds, president of the WW-P African-American Parent Support Group. “This film reminds us that we must continue to work together diligently to achieve this important goal sooner rather than later.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the African American Support Group to be screening this highly acclaimed film,” says Ilene Dube, president of the West Windsor Arts Council. “This is just the kind of community partnership we plan to do more of when we move into the new arts center.” Although the arts council has been operating without walls for seven years, classes begin this month at the senior center. Visit www.westwindsorarts.org for more information and registration.
The parent support group is celebrating 25 years as a non-profit organization advocating on behalf of African American children who attend the WW-P schools. As part of the celebrations, there will be a black history display in the lobby of the Plainsboro Township Municipal building at 641 Plainsboro Road and the West Windsor Municipal Township building lobby at Clarksville Road and North Post Road through the month of February.
Black History Month Celebration, West Windsor Library, 333 North Post Road. Monday, February 8, 7 p.m. Free. 609-799-0462.
