{"id":3339,"date":"2026-07-29T20:33:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T00:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/?page_id=3339"},"modified":"2026-07-29T20:33:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T00:33:59","slug":"history-of-african-americans-in-paterson-new-jersey","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/history-of-african-americans-in-paterson-new-jersey\/","title":{"rendered":"History of African Americans in Paterson, New Jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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The history of African Americans in Paterson is a story of perseverance, faith, entrepreneurship, civil rights, and cultural achievement. From the colonial era through the Great Migration and into the twenty-first century, African Americans have helped shape the city’s social, political, religious, and economic development. Paterson today is home to one of New Jersey’s oldest continuously organized African American communities.<\/p>\n

Colonial Period (1678\u20131804)<\/h2>\n

African Americans first arrived in the Passaic Valley during the Dutch colonial era. Enslaved Africans were brought to the Acquackanonk region in the late seventeenth century to work on Dutch farms and in households. Although slavery never reached the scale seen in the American South, it remained an important part of the local economy through the eighteenth century.<\/p>\n

When Paterson was founded in 1792, a small number of enslaved people still lived within the township. New Jersey’s gradual emancipation law of 1804 began a slow transition away from slavery, but full abolition in the state was delayed for decades.<\/p>\n

The First Free Black Community<\/h2>\n

By the 1830s, a small but determined free African American community had emerged in Paterson. Despite discrimination in employment, housing, and education, residents established churches, schools, and mutual aid organizations.<\/p>\n

One of the community’s greatest achievements came in 1834<\/strong>, when the congregation that became First AME Zion Church<\/strong> was organized. It was among the earliest African American churches in New Jersey and became the spiritual, educational, and political center of Black life in Paterson.<\/p>\n

Underground Railroad<\/h2>\n

Paterson was an important stop on the Underground Railroad.<\/p>\n

Local abolitionists\u2014including both Black and white residents\u2014assisted freedom seekers traveling north. A notable Underground Railroad station operated from the Excelsior Coffee and Spice Factory on Broadway through the partnership of William Van Rensalier, a formerly enslaved man, and Josiah Huntoon. Frederick Douglass also passed through Paterson in 1859 while traveling after the Harpers Ferry raid.<\/p>\n

Civil War<\/h2>\n

African American men from Paterson volunteered for the Union Army, serving in the United States Colored Troops. Their service helped secure Union victory while strengthening demands for equal rights during Reconstruction.<\/p>\n

The Great Migration<\/h2>\n

Following the Civil War\u2014and especially between about 1915 and 1970\u2014thousands of African Americans moved from the South to Paterson during the Great Migration.<\/p>\n

They were drawn by employment opportunities in:<\/p>\n

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  • Silk mills<\/li>\n
  • Textile factories<\/li>\n
  • Rogers Locomotive Works<\/li>\n
  • Foundries<\/li>\n
  • Machine shops<\/li>\n
  • Construction<\/li>\n
  • Municipal government<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Many settled in neighborhoods around River Street, Straight Street, Broadway, and later the Fourth Ward, helping create vibrant residential and commercial communities.<\/p>\n

    African American Churches<\/h2>\n
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    Churches became the heart of community life, providing worship, education, social services, and civil-rights leadership.<\/p>\n

    Among the most influential congregations were:<\/p>\n