Description:
Part 1:
Mr. Fred Vereen, Jr., born in 1933, describes his early life in Trenton, New Jersey, and Eldridge Park, Lawrence Township, New Jersey. His parents originally came from South Carolina. Racist hiring practices kept them out of Trenton's robust industrial economy, forcing them to work agricultural jobs in Central New Jersey.
Fred describes the quality of housing in each home as well as his daily chores, such as taking care of the family's chickens and garden. He also recounts the impact of racism on his community and education.
After graduating from Trenton Central High School in 1951, he began working at the National Guard Armory in Lawrence Township. In 1956, Fred was drafted into the US Army, trained as a supply clerk at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and was deployed to Japan.
Part 2:
Mr. Vereen recounts how the Lawrence Township Community Action Program came to be born out of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty." They quickly developed their first project, the Lawrence Township Community Center, which prompted Fred to leave his job at the National Guard Armory and become the Director of the Center. He goes into detail about the community organizing required to create the Center, how the facility came together, how his new role as Director took shape and the Center's offerings to the community.
He then describes the creation of the Eggerts Crossing Village housing project in 1974, how the effort began and the prejudice they faced in presenting it to the community. Fred then left the Center and became the manager of Eggerts Crossing Village. He goes on to relate the creation of the Architects Housing complex in Trenton in 1979, where he also served as manager.
Mr. Vereen also describes the general African American community in Lawrence Township from his youth through the 1980s, its relationship to the rest of the town, how forms of racism affected the community and how the community marshaled its efforts and political capital to combat bias and negligence.
Part 3:
Mr. Vereen relates the history of his family's homes on Landover Road (later renamed Fred Vereen, Jr. Road) in Lawrence Township. He then discusses further the African American community, particularly the black-owned businesses in the area, several of which he worked for as a teen and young man. He later took second jobs working for family or elsewhere in the community while working at the Armory.
Fred details his tenure as manager of Eggerts Crossing Village, including how the property developed, his management philosophy and how he worked with the community to find solutions to various problems that arose. In the 1980s, he helped to establish the St. James Village affordable senior community in East Windsor, New Jersey, and became its manager. He goes on to describe other housing projects he worked on across New Jersey.
Fred also helped establish and raise funds for the Every Child Valued after-school program. He recounts his time with the New Jersey State Planning Commission, the board that oversees environmentally-friendly development and redevelopment throughout the state. He also recalls attending the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City and how his brother was honored for his service in World War II decades later.
Mr. Vereen has provided a number of photos and documents to supplement his oral history. You can find them throughout his interview series transcripts as well as in this gallery on the Rutgers Oral History Archives website.
The Rutgers Oral History Archives received an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. In the 2024-2025 cycle, this grant assisted the ROHA staff in making this oral history available to you for your use.