From the Morristown National Historical Park:
Morristown Churches Partner with Morristown NHP in National Park Service’s
Day of Healing – Nationwide Bell Ringing Ceremony
“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all inhabitants thereof.”
–Engraved on the Liberty Bell, from Leviticus 25:10
Sunday, Aug. 25, 2019, at 3 pm
Morristown Green
Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown, NJ – It is with great humility that the Morristown National Historical Park (NHP) partners with the churches of Morristown, NJ, to participate in the National Park Service’s (NPS) Day of Healing – Nationwide Bell Ringing Ceremony.
Aug. 25, 2019, is the 400th anniversary of the first landing of enslaved Africans in English-occupied North America at Point Comfort in Hampton, VA, now part of Fort Monroe National Monument, a unit of the NPS.
The anniversary will be commemorated at Fort Monroe as a day of healing and reconciliation. Fort Monroe and its partners invite all 419 national parks, NPS programs, community partners, and the public to gather in solidarity to ring bells simultaneously across the nation for four minutes–one for each century–to honor the first Africans who landed in 1619 at Point Comfort and 400 years of African American history.
Coordinated with Morristown NHP, Morristown, New Jersey’s local faith community, as organized by Pastor Sidney Williams Jr. of the Bethel AME Church of Morristown, along with the Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Morristown, and the Rev. Luana Cook Scott of the United Methodist Church of Morristown, invites all to join in this moment of reflection.
At 3 pm, Aug. 25th, the bells of the local churches will toll for four minutes as the Day of Healing recognizes a seminal moment in America history. Those wishing to attend should gather on the Morristown Green for a procession to the front lawn of the nearby Presbyterian Church.
Here is more about the nationwide Day of Healing – Nationwide Bell Ringing Ceremony.
Learn more about the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in English-occupied North America.
Morristown National Historical Park is currently hosting an exhibit curated by Pastor Williams entitled The Ties That Bind—How Race Relations Shaped Morris County New Jersey 1688-2018. The exhibit is on view through Dec. 31, 2019, at Morristown NHP’s museum auditorium, 30 Washington Place, Morristown.
For more information about Morristown NHP, please call 973-539-2016 ext. 210 or visit our website. You can also check out our Museum Blog .
