Saturday’s party was a long time coming for the first pastor of the Bethel A.M.E. Church in Morristown.
Willis Nazery had to keep a low profile in his day.
In fact, things got so hot, he had to leave the country for the frozen north. In the years preceding the Civil War, the United States was not a friendly place for black conductors on the Underground Railroad.
Led by present Pastor Sidney Williams Jr., the Bethel flock tried to give the late bishop his due on Saturday, when the community celebrated the renaming of Center Street as Bishop Nazery Way.
In this video, Pastor Sidney explains why Morristown should be proud of this former slave, who is honored in Canada for his work resettling slaves who escaped from the U.S.
And Keith Bodden of the Morris County chapter of the NAACP reminds African Americans that the struggle for civil rights continues. He is concerned that the Voting Rights Act is in jeopardy and in the video urges members of the congregation to register to vote in this fall’s presidential election.
Mayor Tim Dougherty, First Lady Mary Dougherty and Jan Williams of the Morris County Preservation Trust were among the dignitaries on hand.
“It’s a very important piece of Morristown’s history,” the Mayor says of the church and the Bishop’s role in the 19th-century quest for black freedom.