Learn about NJ’s Pioneering Free Black Community at the Ocean County Library Toms River Branch

TOMS RIVER – The Ocean County Library is pleased to present a penetrating look at a remarkable Garden State locale that presaged civil rights 50 years after the Revolutionary War. Join us for “Timbuctoo: New Jersey’s Free Black Community before the Civil War” in the Bishop Building of the OCL Toms River Branch, 3:30 PM Wednesday, March 19.

Guy Weston, MA, Managing Director of the Timbuctoo Historical Society, will detail the Burlington County community’s settlement in 1826, the people who enabled its formation and significant episodes such as its role in the Underground Railroad system. The group’s research reveals that its peak population was about 125, and today consists of 19 households within 50 acres.

The Timbuctoo Historical Society is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2019 to “seek, document, preserve, interpret and perpetuate the history and heritage of Timbuctoo...” The group has been featured extensively in the Cherry Hill Courier Post, Burlington County Times, Discover New Jersey, NJ.com, Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post and CBS Philadelphia.

Guy Weston’s work encompasses research and public history initiatives to raise the profile of Timbuctoo, where his fourth great-grandfather purchased land in 1829. Guy’s efforts include in interpretive signage in the village, educational collaborations with local teachers and preservation of the Timbuctoo cemetery, where the oldest gravestone bears a date of 1847.

He serves as editor of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Journal, a contributing writer to the AAHGS Journal and AAHGS News, and a visiting scholar at Rutgers University.

Please register at https://tinyurl.com/OclTimbuctoo for this free program. For more details, stop by the OCL Toms River Branch, 101 Washington Street, or call (732) 349-6200. See the full schedule of Library programs in the online Calendar of Events.

OCL turns 100 this year and you’re why we’re celebrating! See details on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Spotify, Pinterest and www.theoceancountylibrary.org.