Morris schools mark 50 years of integration that followed landmark civil rights ruling

Fifty years ago, Morristown and Morris Township schools came together in an arranged marriage after a “brutal” fight over integration.

By 1972, efforts to integrate schools were running aground around the nation. But the merger of the two Morris County communities – mixed-income, mostly Black Morristown and the affluent, largely white township surrounding it – has come to be seen as a welcome exception: a “lighthouse” moment for civil rights activists, according to the nonprofit Morris Educational Foundation.

The foundation begin to recognize the 50th anniversary of the historic merger with a series of events over the weekend. The lineup included a Morris School District exhibit at the Morristown and Morris Township Library that will run through December 15. The foundation also planned to host student-led tours at Morristown High School prior to Saturday's varsity football game and had a presence at the Fall Festival on the Green on Sunday.

“We got a lot of help from a lot of people in the town and township, which tended to integrate the marriage between the town and township, which was not always a smooth marriage," recalled Christopher Martin, a former president of the combined district’s board of education who was also the first African-American member of the Morristown Board of Alderman (now the town council.)

While disputes over details of the merger continued into 1972 and beyond, integration "was a beautiful experience for all the kids, white and Black," said Martin, 85, who served on the board of education between 1978 and 1990.

The merger of the K-8 districts followed a year after the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered it in a landmark ruling, Jenkins v. Township of Morris School District and Board of Education. The court empowered a 1970 ruling by state Commissioner of Education Carl Marburger, who said he favored welding the two districts together but did not have legal authority to enforce it.

The original lawsuit was brought by the Morris County Urban League and its then-president, Beatrice Jenkins, to prevent Morris Township from pulling its older students from Morristown High and building a separate high school. The two municipalities each had their own elementary school systems, but Morristown High had been integrated since the late 1800s, and also taught students from nearby Harding and Morris Plains.

At the time, the township had a population of about 20,000, less than 5% of it Black. Morristown had almost 18,000 residents, about a quarter of them African-American, according to court records. Economic disparities were reflected in real estate prices: single-family homes in Morristown sold for an average $22,000 to $24,000 by the early 1970s, while properties in the township averaged $40,000 to $60,000.

An era of 'white flight'

In an era of "white flight," Morristown feared that more affluent, mostly-white Morris Plains and Harding might be next. They could also pull their students, leaving Morristown High School racially unbalanced, underpopulated and without the tax revenue to keep up the quality of education.

Racism "absolutely" was an element of the conflict, Martin said. "There was very good reason in Morristown to be concerned about the separation. There was resistance from Morris Township that we had to get over."

Preceding the merger, Martin recalled meetings between Morristown and Morris Township school board members as "brutal" in tone.

The Supreme Court decision, in keeping with a nationwide movement to integrate schools, led to enforcement of what became known as the Marburger Decision, named for the former education commissioner. The ruling, requiring an integrated K-12 district for Morristown and the township, forever changed the educational landscape in central Morris County.

"There was no dancing in the streets, but there was celebration," Martin said. "More so in the town than the township."

Harding was later permitted to pull its high school students and send them to Madison, and Morris Plains later developed its own pre-K to eighth-grade school system.

Eventually, the adults got with the program, according to Martin, who served one term as school board president.

"A lot of my support on the board was from the township, which was an indication that the times had changed, sentiments had changed and the township had changed," he said.

Construction and equipment issues in the schools, he said, were resolved by residents from both towns, including professionals from local companies like Bell Labs, who installed a crucial computer system for the district. Martin, an engineer, oversaw many of the structural changes to the schools.

Morristown students, he said, benefitted greatly from the tax revenue their hometown could not produce on its own. Those students also surprised district administrators on standardized tests.

'Post-pandemic landscape'

"When the schools were first merged, there were Black and white kids from Morristown, and the Morris Township kids were all white," Martin recalled. "The scores from the Morristown kids were so high they made them do the test over."

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The Morris School District now serves all students in Morristown and Morris Township, and high school students from Morris Plains. The district serves a student body of more than 5,700 with one preschool, three primary schools (grades K-2), three intermediate schools (3-5), one multiage magnet school (K-5), one middle school (6-8) and the high school.

The district student body is now about 45% White, 7% Black, 4% Asian or Asian-Pacific Islander and 42% Hispanic and Latino, according to a 2021 U.S. News and World Report study.

Jenkins has since passed away. The Urban League's attorney in the case, Stephen Wiley, established the Educational Foundation in 1992 as an independent nonprofit dedicated to providing scholarships, grants and other support for the district. Wiley was a successful businessman and philanthropist who backed many causes in Morristown. He helped raise millions to reopen the Community Theatre, now the Mayo Performing Arts Center.

"Stephen Wiley is a giant as far as Morristown is concerned," Martin said. "He had a real love for Morristown."

The foundation "is honored to support and celebrate the anniversary of the Morris School District,” said Executive Director Joelle Servais, a 1992 graduate of Morristown High. It's partnership with the district "created a legacy that endures today as we continue to collaborate and respond to the emerging needs of our students, teachers and families in the post-pandemic landscape.”

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com

Twitter: @wwesthoven

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ school integration: Morristown, Morris Township mark merger