The Joint Effort Princeton Safe Streets summer program returns to Princeton celebrating Black families and history of the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood.
The approximate weeklong Joint Effort Witherspoon-Jackson Community Princeton Safe Streets summer program kicks off on Aug. 5 and will conclude festivities with a closing program on Aug. 14.
The theme in 2022 is “Dedicated to the Memory of Our Ancestors.”
The summer program kickoff is on Aug. 5. There will be a reception and long-time Princeton resident Shirley Satterfield will be honored.
Satterfield continues to serve as a local historian on the history of the Witherspoon-Jackson Community and also co-founded the Witherspoon-Jackson Cultural and Historical Society.
The Witherspoon-Jackson community is Princeton’s 20th Historic District.
The Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood was established in the 1830s in part by James R. Ferguson, a landowner in Princeton. The Ferguson Tract extended from Witherspoon Street to John Street.
In the late 1800s, the African American population in the neighborhood grew. The community also contained Irish families and Italian immigrants.
Since that time, the number of African American families in the neighborhood have since declined within the community.
The annual Joint Effort Princeton Safe Streets program has brought in a gospel music festival, panel discussions on topics such as “reparations and racism,” hosting a candidates’ forum, community block festival, meet and greets and basketball games.
The program is coordinated by John Bailey, who grew up in the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood and currently lives in Colorado.
Program Schedule
Aug. 5 – 5-7:30 p.m. – Kick-Off reception and community salute to Shirley Satterfield, Studio Hillier, 190 Witherspoon St.
Aug. 6 – 10 a.m. to noon – a self-guided community tour at the Witherspoon-Jackson Historical & Cultural Society, 30 Quarry St.
1-7 p.m. – Fish fry, meet and greet at Witherspoon Lodge Elks, 124 Birch Ave.
Aug. 7 – 5-7 p.m. – Gospel Music Festival and Black Family Recognition, First Baptist Church, 30 Green St.
Aug. 9 – 5:30-7:30 p.m. – Reparations in New Jersey and Princeton, Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon St.
Aug. 10 – 5:30-8 p.m. – Arts, Cultural and Scholarship Program, Cynthia “Chip” Fisher Memorial Art Exhibit and Jim Floyd Memorial Lecture, Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon St. Reception is at 5:30 p.m. and program begins at 6 p.m.
Aug. 11 – 5:30-7:30 p.m. – Panel on Racism in America: What Does It Mean for Princeton, Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, 124 Witherspoon St.
7:00 pm – Meet and Greet, Witherspoon Lodge Elks, 124 Birch Ave.
Aug. 12 – Beginning at 6 p.m. – Meet and Greet with Black Princeton High School alumni reception, Witherspoon Lodge Elks, 124 Birch Ave.
Aug. 13 – 10 a.m. to noon – Education, Development, Affordable Housing, Marijuana, Candidates Forum, First Baptist Church, 30 Green St.
10 a.m. to noon – Basketball Clinic, Community Park Basketball Courts, 372 Witherspoon St. (Rear of school).
1-7:00 p.m. – Community Block Festival, YMCA Field, 59 Paul Robeson Place
7:00 p.m. Meet and Greet, Witherspoon Lodge Elks, 124 Birch Ave.
Aug. 14 – 10 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Pete Young Memorial Basketball Games. Community Park Basketball Courts, 372 Witherspoon St. (Rear of school).
7:00 p.m. Closing Program, Witherspoon Lodge Elks, 124 Birch Ave.
