Plainfield’s New Faculty to be Named after Civil Rights Activists Charles and Anna Booker

By Last updated Feb 18, 2021

Longtime civil rights activist who fought for the desegregation of Plainfield schools

PLAINFIELD, NJ – The Plainfield Board of Education unanimously voted Tuesday to name the new school building being built on the site of the former Woodland Elementary School “The Charles and Anna Booker School.” The Bookers who live in Queen City are civil rights activists who fought for desegregation in Plainfield public schools and are active members of the community.

In 1965, Mr. Booker, an Army veteran who worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and his wife Anna, the first African American teacher in Metuchen, brought the lawsuit against the Plainfield Board of Education after numerous Trying not to correct the imbalance in education for African American students in the city.

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Ms. Booker said the books were out of date, the education was inferior, and the children felt neglected by their schools. With the help of the NAACP and its lead litigator Robert L. Carter, the Bookers sued and won.

The Charles B. Booker v. Plainfield City Board of Education was settled on June 28, 1965. The lawsuit changed the way students were housed in schools and how the funds were distributed. It also changed how boards were selected. Mr Booker said, “We fought to get the board to be elected by the electorate rather than by the mayor.”

The Superintendent of Plainfield Public Schools, Dr. Diana Mitchell said an official school naming ceremony, expected to be completed in 2022, will be held at a later date when students and the Plainfield community can come together to honor the bookers for this historic event.

Dr. Mitchell on Tuesday congratulated the board on its decision and said it was proud. “It is extremely important that the name of a school reflects the community.”

The school’s name was chosen by a 16-person committee convened by the superintendent after the board passed a policy setting out a procedure for naming school property. As a result, the naming of the school was carried out along with the naming of the route in Hub Stine Field. The track is now officially called the Milt Campbell Track.

Observe: The board approves the designation of the school to be built on the site of the old Woodland Elementary

Richard Wyatt, Member of the Board of Education, said, “This is a monumental moment for the Plainfield Board of Education. I am proud to have contributed to the efforts of Charles and Anna Booker and all of the appeal leaders on this landmark case. “

Board member Carmencita Pile read the historic resolution into the minutes. (Pile had already applied in 2018 to name the new school building after the Bookers.)

When the Bookers got home with the news, they said they had received calls from well-wishers all day.

Mrs. Booker said, “This is amazing. We are in shock. It is an outstanding tribute to us, and we are blessed that God has given us the strength and the mind to do what you say we did. We don’t take the credit.

“It’s exciting and I think (we feel) all the positive emotions you can think of. It’s exciting, it’s amazing, and we’re just grateful that someone feels we deserve that kind of honor. We are humble. Really. We are humble about it. ”

Mr. Booker said, “This is something we didn’t plan on. Little did we know that this would result from our work. The legend goes on for us so that others may witness lives. We are very happy.”

READ: “Car-a-Bration” birthday party for Anna and Charles Booker

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