It is nice that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived there briefly but, in the broader picture, it is meaningless to preserve the house.
It goes without saying that I greatly respect the contributions and sacrifices that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made for our nation. I also have tremendous respect and appreciation for U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who has often put his life on the line to advance the human rights effort in our country.
Thus, I was not surprised when Lewis stood in front of 753 Walnut St. in Camden to lend his support for the building there to be designated a historic site. With all due respect to the Lewis, giving this designation to this dilapidated house, arguably in one of the city's most blighted neighborhoods, is misguided and a waste of resources.
A brief history of the property shows that its most recent owner, Jeanette Hunter, abandoned the property decades ago and left the city. She had no interest in it, and as the years passed it became run down and a danger to the neighborhood. It was verified through research that when King was a student at Crozer Theological Seminary in nearby Upland, Pa., he resided in the home for a short time. For that reason, many have pushed for the historic designation.
It is nice King lived there briefly but, in the broader picture, it is meaningless to preserve the house for multiple reasons.
First, King stayed for short periods of time in various locations throughout the Northeast when attending undergraduate school in Boston and the seminary. But he and his family are firmly rooted and identified with Atlanta. That will never change.
I understand the effort to declare the ruins in Camden as historic is well intentioned, but it is still nonsensical. I say with confidence that practically no one will venture down Walnut Street to visit a newly rehabbed "King House." This property was slated to be torn down, and that is exactly what should have happened. There are many other issues in Camden that should take priority, and there are better-suited sites in our area for historic designation.
Establishing a "King House" will do little, if anything, for Camden residents. What the city needs are services that are commonly paid for with property tax dollars, but are lacking there. How about repaving the streets that are in poor condition, and doing something with the unused trolley tracks breaking through the cobblestones on some streets? How about installing new street lights where needed, and repairing the broken ones?
The list of needed improvements is long. Someone driving through the city's various neighborhoods will find trees on city-owned and abandoned properties that have grown to excessive heights, posing a real danger to others' homes. It would be a great service to residents to have the trees cut down and removed.
Declaring a house historic solely because King there is so far down on Camden's list of needs that it's barely worth mentioning. Admittedly, most of the list could not be accomplished with funds from the New Jersey Office of Historic Preservation, which the Cooper's Ferry Partnership may seek to help with restoration.
If there is interest in preserving significant elements of black history in southern New Jersey, opportunity is plentiful.
There are two area cemeteries where United States Colored Troops, veterans of the Civil War, are interred that are much better candidates for historic designation than the King house.
Mount Zion AME Church Cemetery in Woolwich Township has 200 identified graves. It is the final resting place of many runaway slaves, as well as the soldiers. Those found there are all from the 22nd Regiment, which fought in the Battle of Richmond and captured that city. They later played an integral role in tracking down President Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth.
Mount Zion is worthy of receiving historic designation because of the sacrifices of those buried there, and because they are our own. They faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles in order to serve the nation, yet, have been practically forgotten by the historical record.
Then, there is Mount Peace Cemetery in Lawnside, the final resting place of 77 Civil War veterans including John Henry Lawson. Lawson was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service on the USS Hartford during the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864. Again, the accomplishments of these soldiers and civilians, New Jersey's own, deserve recognition similar to what Dr. King has already been afforded.
That premise that "Martin Luther King Slept Here" at 753 Walnut St. for a short time is historically insignificant.
Milton W. Hinton Jr. is director of equal opportunity for the Gloucester County government. He is past president of the Gloucester County Branch NAACP. His column states his personal views, not those of any organization or agency. Email: mwhjr678@gmail.com.