Revealing Our Past

  Capturing Somerville’s (NJ) African American,  One Correction At a Time   T his part 3 in a series, seeks to correct and rebuild the historical context by which to view the experiences of early African Americans residents of Somerville, New Jersey. The Publication:    History at Home: Stories About Somerville (2000) by Jessie Havens is an updated, expanded, and illustrated booklet of short articles based on Havens’ original newspaper  columns.  The booklet, written for children, parents, and teachers includes articles about St. Thomas AME Zion Church, the Lottery Field African American neighborhood, Samuel Davenport, and Paul Robeson. The booklet recounts the relationship between the African American Lottery Field Community and Mr. Samuel  Davenport. It notes, “Mr. Davenport tried to help those very poor people by giving money to help them build a church and land on which to build the school. ”   The Clarification: The accoun...