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Saturday's Historic Camp Meeting Revival benefits Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum

Alexander Lewis
Courier News and Home News Tribune
Stoutsburg Cemetery Association board members Elaine Buck and Beverly Mills.

Elaine Buck and Beverly Mills have long dreamed of creating a museum to highlight the important untold story of African Americans in the Sourland region, covering parts of Somerset, Mercer and Hunterdon counties.

Their dream is close to becoming a reality, thanks to a collaboration between The Stoutsburg Cemetery Association and the Sourland Conservancy. The groups are working together to create the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum in the renovated one-room Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church on Hollow Road in Montgomery. It will be the first African-American museum in Central Jersey. 

The third annual Historic Camp Meeting Revival on Saturday, Sept. 29, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Skillman Park, across Route 601 from the Montgomery High School, will benefit the ongoing work of bringing the museum and the region's history to life. 

“We see this project as more than an African-American History project — we see it as an American History project,” John Buck museum board president, said in a statement.

Mills' and Elaine Buck's upcoming book, “If These Stones Could Talk,” also documents some of that once-overlooked and almost-forgotten history. Scheduled for release this November, the book celebrates their ancestors and other African-Americans in the region who were previously missing from the historical record.

“The story of the African-American experience in the Sourlands and Hopewell Valley has been grossly under-represented," said Mills, a Pennington resident. "The past contributions of the African American slaves and free people in this region includes military service, beginning with the Revolutionary War up to the present. This was a community of people who thrived against startling odds and their history is rich with compelling stories."

Even the book's title has significance, said Buck, whose grandparents lived in Hopewell.

"In a lot of our research — in African American history — researchers would come to a brick wall because we weren't important," she said, "we were just property; some of us didn't even have names."

"The only way we knew our history is because after a while you had to register your property with the county government," Mills added. "Through wills, because slaveowners would pass down their slaves to their children."

Beginning the journey

Buck and Mills originally started their book research because a concerned community member felt that the disrepair of the Rock Road Cemetery was a desecration of a slave burial ground. This put Buck and Mills, who are Stoutsburg Cemetery Association board members, on the path to research who was buried in the cemetery and find their stories.

"For the Sourland region in particular, African American history is extremely important because of how unique their culture was," Mills said. "There was a community of black and white and Indians that were living together for quite some time in complete harmony without being bothered, which was different for that time period."

This story has been omitted from history books, she added.

"It all started with one black man, William Stives," Buck said. "He ends up in Hopewell and has 10 kids — we have all these connections but all our research started with him. We think he crossed the Delaware River with George Washington — he was also present at the Battle of Trenton."

The Sept. 29 fund-raiser for the museum also has its roots in the local history of the church, the historians said.

"Camp meetings started as a fund-raiser for the Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church," Mills said. "People would dress up — even their horses. It was always a competition to see who looked the best."

The public is invited to attend the 3rd Annual Historic Camp Meeting Revival on September 29th 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Skillman Park (across Route 601 from the Montgomery High School in Skillman, NJ) featuring the Capital City Gospel Singers and special guest Bertha Morgan.

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Buck added, "It wasn't just African Americans, whites, blacks — everybody would come from all over the Sourlands."

Working together

The Stoutsburg Cemetery Association is working with the Sourland Conservancy to make the museum a reality. The Sourland Conservancy’s mission is to protect, promote and preserve the unique character of the Sourland region. 

“We accomplish our mission through education and advocacy,” said Caroline Katmann, Sourland Conservancy’s executive director, in a statement. “The museum has already begun to host programs. The board of trustees is planning events and demonstrations to highlight the important contributions of African Americans to the history and culture of this region."

Two annual fundraising events — the Gospel Brunch in February and the Historic Camp Meeting Revival — help to fund the creation of the museum as well as provide participants with project updates, information and entertainment. Donations from members, contractors and volunteers have helped to lay the groundwork for the project.

The Historic Camp Meeting Revival will feature the Capital City Gospel Singers and special guest Bertha Morgan. East Amwell Historian, Jim Davidson, will present a history of the African-American community in the Sourland region.

The public is advised to bring friends, family, blanket or chair, beach umbrella and picnic lunch. Attendees may wear their Sunday best or come as they are. Tickets are on sale now: $25 for adults ($30 at the gate); $10 for children 7-12; children under 7, free.  To purchase tickets, visit sourland.org/2018-camp-meeting-revival.

A picnic lunch prepared by chef Shaun Palms will be available for purchase while supplies last ($12 cash or check only): bourbon barbecue pulled pork or chicken wings, coleslaw, maple vegetarian baked beans, roll and sweet tea or lemonade. For dessert ($5): homemade personal sweet potato pie or old-fashioned pound cake slices.

The Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is one of the most historic buildings in the Sourlands. Constructed sometime before 1850 on Zion Road near Province Line on Sourland Mountain, the AME Church served the black population of the East Mountain area. When the peach blight at the turn of the century took away their livelihoods, members of the church moved to Skillman at the base of the mountain. They brought their church with them, disassembling the structure and rebuilding it where it stands today. The congregation worshipped in that location for decades before it eventually stopped holding regular services. The church officially closed in 2005.

"Slaves were the ones that actually ran the peach orchards. They made baskets, picked the peaches which were sent everywhere, from Philadelphia to New York." Buck said.

The building quickly fell into disrepair, so the Sourland Conservancy conducted a special fundraising drive to repair and paint the church and completed the work in March 2012. The Montgomery Township Landmarks Commission provided a grant to help pay for the materials needed for that project.

The opening of the museum is the first part of a larger vision.

"It is a temporary location because it is our goal to one day open a large facility that would be for our exhibits and a cultural center and then the Mount Zion Church will be put back as it was originally," Mills said.

"We are currently working with Hopewell Valley Regional School District to enhance the existing social studies curriculum by integrating many of the stories and facts uncovered by Elaine and Beverly’s research into African American history in the Sourlands and Hopewell Valley," Katman said. "School and community groups will have educational, cultural and community-building experiences. The identity and special character of the Sourland region will be enriched and expanded to include the African-American story.”

"African American History or Black History Month should not be relegated to just a month," Mills said. "African American History is American History."

The Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum will be housed in the charming one-room Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church on Hollow Road - one of the most historic buildings in the Sourlands.

Grant awards from the Somerset County Historic Preservation Office and the NJ Council for the Humanities fund curriculum writing, the development of educational and cultural programs, the creation of museum exhibits and historic preservation work on the historic AME Church. These funds also support the vision planning workshops that were held develop mission and vision statements for the museum as well as a plan of action for the museum exhibits and programs.

The museum board is working now to oversee the renovation and conversion of the building. According to a news release, the board consists of members from various background who bring their expertise to the project: John Buck, Marylou Millard Ferrara, Jack Koeppel, Bruce Daniels, Kevin Burkman, Jonathan Lloyd, Edwin Lloyd, Catherine Fulmer-Hogan. Mills, Buck and Katmann serve as museum advisory board members.

Buck and Mills have also started the Sankofa Collaborative, which conducts educational workshops. The next one is set for Nov. 2 at Grounds For Sculpture, 80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton Township; the event  is open to educators, museum curators and anyone who is interested in learning on how to navigate difficult, controversial topics and how to use that information with difficult questions that may come up at their museums or historical sites.

For more information, follow the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum’s Facebook page, or visit ssaamuseum.org. For more information about the book "If These Stones Could Talk," go to facebook.com/ifthesestonescouldtalk/.