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  • ABOUT US
  • REVOLUTIONARY WRITERS
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Stay: The Black Women of 19th-Century Newark


Noelle Lorraine Williams

Discover the Fascinating History of AFRICAN AMERICANS WHO LIVED IN THE BALLANTINE HOUSE NEIGHBORHOOD

Newark artist and historian Noelle Lorraine Williams, uses newspapers and archival research to center Newark's 19th-century Black community, highlighting courageous leaders, activists and artists and connects them with the women of Newark's 20th century most pivotal moments.

 


Overview

The Black Community Near the ballantine house

Black women in America have worked tirelessly for centuries to wrestle control of their bodies 

and their lives away from others. 


These three Newark women–Sara O’Fake Evans, Ellen King, and Hannah Mandeville–were as 

respected in Newark’s Black community as the Ballantines were in theirs. They lived only blocks 

away from The Ballantine House. Descendants of community activists, freedom seekers, and 

abolitionists, they were artists, teachers, businesswomen, and homeowners.


These leaders have been pushed out of historical narratives—until now. They changed their 

lives in the face of misogyny, racism, and worker discrimination, and their stories illuminate our 

centuries-long struggle. Even today, Black women continue to fight and thrive in Newark. 


I am grateful to the Newark Museum of Art for this opportunity to continue this conversation on the legacy of Newark's Black women's activism that I explored in my Zocalo 2020  article  The Incredible Legacy of Newark's Black Women Activists  and with this project Black Power! 19th Century. 


Looking forward and thank you for sharing, 



Noelle Lorraine Williams

Newark, NJ, 2023





Page Contents 


StayVideo 


The Women - 19th Century 


The Women - 20th Century


Video Bibliography


Resources


New York Times Article about The Ballantine House 




Video Still: Stay: The Monumental Stories of Newark’s Black Women

Video Still: Stay: The Monumental Stories of Newark’s Black Women

Stay: The Monumental Stories of Newark's Black Women

In this video Newark artist and historian Noelle Lorraine Williams, centers Newark's 19th-century Black community, highlighting courageous leaders, activists, and artists and connecting them with the women of Newark's 20th-century most transformative activist moments.  This video is a part of the installation "Stay: The Black Women of 19th-Century Newark" which is on view at The Ballantine House at The Newark Museum of Art in Newark, NJ.  V

THE WOMEN - 19th CENTURY

Ellen king

Hannah MANDEVILLE

O'FAKE WOMEN

  Ellen King (1839–1936) spent her life in the world of Black liberation that her parents built. She remembered, as a little girl, the free and enslaved freedom seekers, that would take refuge in her home. This would compel her to teach and serve the Black community, here and in the South.  

O'FAKE WOMEN

Hannah MANDEVILLE

O'FAKE WOMEN

  Sara O’Fake Evans (1871–1906) was the granddaughter of Peter and Sara O’Fake, Black freedom activists from a nationally recognized musical family. She was a member of one of the richest Black families in Newark. They owned several houses near The Ballantine House. Evans helped run the properties and gave piano lessons. 

Hannah MANDEVILLE

Hannah MANDEVILLE

Hannah MANDEVILLE

  Formerly enslaved in Jersey City, Hannah Mandeville (1811–1902) moved to Newark. She married, started a family, and became a women’s leader in Newark’s Plane Street Colored Church. Despite the respect from the entire community, as an older woman, she was unjustly forced out of the home she owned into the street with her belongings. 

THE WOMEN- 20th Century

Louise Epperson

Louise Epperson

Louise Epperson

 1908-2002 

Louise Epperson helped form the Committee Against Negro and Puerto Rican Removal which fought the eviction of thousands of homeowners and renters from Newark's Central Ward so that a hospital could be built.

During this period she attended Clinton Avenue Presbyterian Church.  This church was descended from Newark's Underground Railroad affiliated church Plane Street Colored Church.


Sakia Gunn

Louise Epperson

Louise Epperson

1987-2003

Sakia Gunn was a 15-year-old Black, lesbian, high school student who was murdered by Richard McCullough for standing up to his violence against her and her friends.

Sakia played on the basketball and had returned from hanging out in New York's Greenwich Village which was then a place where LGBT folks to be free,

Her murder incited many to take a stance again LGBT violence and misogny by vowing to create a safe space for LGBTQI youth.


Eloise SPELLMAN

Louise Epperson

Eloise SPELLMAN

1925-1967

Eloise Spellman was the widowed mother of 11 children when she was murdered  by National Guardsman or Police after looking out the window during the Newark rebellion.

Despite the portrayal of Blacks in Newark as "violent" during the Newark rebellion and riot - it was mainly Blacks who were murdered by law enforcement. In many ways, Eloise Spellman became a symbol of the folks that were abused or murdered during this period.

Ballantine House Overhaul to ‘Wake It Up and Shake It Up’ The renovated Gilded Age mansion of beer makers in Newark is filled with surprises: a Black history from the 19th century that has been largely invisible.


New York Times, November 15, 2023, Eve M. Kahn

Video Bibliography

Curator, Artist, Historian | Noelle Lorraine Williams

Reenactors - Noelle Lorraine Williams and Sharon Davis

The Incredible Legacy of Newark's Black Women Activists Noelle Lorraine Williams https://www.zoca

Read Article

"Louise Epperson Reflects Upon the Medical School Fight in Newark" Interview,

Interview

Getty Stock Video Footage Newark, NJ Overview

For Sale, Advertisement, The New Jersey Journal, 1797

Newark Star Ledger, July 16, 1967, Page 13, Section 1

The_Star-Ledger, July 17,1967, page 4 Section 1

RESOURCES

Black Power 19th Century : Newark's First African American Rebellion by Noelle Lorraine Willliams

Visit Virtual Exhibition

Singer, Katie, "Over My Dead Body!," Newest Americans,

Read and Listen

Krueger-Scott Oral History Collection,

Reand and Listen

Rise Up North Newark

Join the Program

Newark Women by Beth Zak-Cohen

Join the Program
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Black Power! 19th Century

Copyright © 2025 Black Power! 19th Century - All Rights Reserved.

Exhibition Newark Museum of Art Ballantine House Reopens!

Welcome! Stay! The Black Women of Nineteenth Century Newark is currently open. Also, check out online exhibitions - including www.mappingslaverynewark.com!

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