Artist and Historian Noelle Williams on Her Mission to Preserve Early Black History in New Jersey

Summary

Podcast Summary

All Of It — Artist and Historian Noelle Williams on Her Mission to Preserve Early Black History in New Jersey

Host: Alison Stewart (WNYC)
Guest: Noelle Lorraine Williams, Artist, Historian, Curator
Date: October 16, 2025

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Overview

In this episode, Alison Stewart interviews Noelle Lorraine Williams, the curator of the Newark Museum of Art’s exhibition, "Stay: The Black Women of 19th Century Newark." Williams is a New Jersey-based artist and historian, directing African American History and the Black Heritage Trail for the NJ State Historical Commission. They discuss the little-known histories of three prominent 19th-century African American women—Sarah Ofake Evans, Ellen King, and Hannah Mandeville—whose lives reflect resilience, activism, and community-building against the hostile backdrop of northern racial oppression. Williams shares her research journey, the exhibit's immersive storytelling, and the ongoing relevance of these histories.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Research Journey: Uncovering Forgotten Histories

[01:28]

• Williams describes her early fascination with Black activism and how, during graduate school, she was drawn to 19th-century African American histories in Northern cities:
  • "I just couldn't believe I didn't learn more about these stories when I was younger.” – Noelle Williams [01:32]
• Comparing Newark’s overlooked narrative to well-known sites like Seneca Village and Black Gotham in Manhattan, she asks, “What is Newark’s story?” [01:48]

Black Life in 19th Century Newark

[02:17]

• Williams depicts a dynamic, varied Black community: wealthy families, freed slaves, working-class individuals—all engaged in building churches, communities, fighting for voting rights, and opposing slavery:
  • "They're doing all of these things, making communities... black activism in the 1960s, and yo, it's happening here in the 1830s." [03:12]
• The conversation draws parallels between the activism of the 1860s and 1960s.

Surprising Discoveries and Unseen Legacies

[03:35]

• Williams shares a powerful moment in her research: discovering that places like Rutgers fields were once epicenters for Black community life, churches, and activism:
  • “There was once a black church here.” [03:56]
  • “They did poetry, like spoken word in the 1860s.” [04:17]
• She reveals that luminaries like Frederick Douglass once spoke in Newark, drawing a line from past to present.

The Ballantine House and Expanding Histories

[05:15]

• The Ballantine House, a former Gilded Age mansion and current museum landmark, hosts the exhibit.
• Williams stresses the exhibition is unique in focusing on community women who lived near—not worked for—the Ballantine family: “These are the black community that lived around the house... the middle class comparison of the Ballantines.” [06:15]

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Spotlight on Three Women

Sarah Ofake Evans and the Ofake Family

[06:41]

• The Ofakes were a prominent Black middle-class family, likely descended from enslaved people brought from Barbados.
• Peter Ofake, Sarah’s father, was a musician and teacher deeply involved in both Black and white Newarker’s lives; he helped sustain St. Philip’s Church:
  • "You have these folks who are creating, taking stake in this life... helping us sustain St. Philip's Church." [08:09]
• Sarah’s mother’s diaries revealed active community care and Underground Railroad involvement; their story shows the interconnectedness and activism of Newark’s Black middle-class families.
• Quote: “When we think about these black churches, these are our first black political centers.” [08:28]

Hannah Mandeville: Resilience and Displacement

[10:50]

• Born enslaved in Jersey City, freed as a young woman under NJ law, she married and settled in Newark near today’s Rutgers.
• Mandeville was a community leader, fundraiser, and women’s group organizer. In her 90s, she resisted displacement from her home—a story Williams connects to ongoing struggles:
  • “She was dragged out by a realtor, literally… she stayed there in a chair. The same avenue where students walk every day.” [11:52]
• Williams designed the exhibit to convey this resilience, using silhouettes and music—specifically a violin rendition of “I Will Survive” by Newark-born Gloria Gaynor—to symbolize enduring strength.
  • “What does it mean for Newark's resilience to be transplanted around the world and for people to find power in the story?” [13:08]

Ellen King and the Underground Railroad Legacy

[14:14]

• Daughter of Jacob King, treasurer for the local Underground Railroad Society; Ellen herself was a teacher, equated with activism:
  • “Teaching as activism because writing and reading was autonomy. It was activism.” [14:28]
• King’s return to Newark after teaching in North Carolina exemplifies the tradition of Black women as pillars of community progress and self-determination.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “There were enslaved women who lived in Jersey City who became free, moved over here and continued to try to help the community... people like Frederick Douglass come out and speak.” – Noelle Williams [03:57]
• “I'm always very clear... these are the black community that lived around the house. So they walk the same streets as the Ballantine, but they are the middle class comparison of the Ballantines.” – Noelle Williams [06:15]
• "When we think about these black churches, these are our first black political centers. This is where folks are doing fundraising, feeding folks, sheltering folks on the underground railroad." – Noelle Williams [08:28]
• “She lived in this house on the field for 60 years. And then when she was in her 90s, she was dragged out by a realtor, literally. She wouldn’t leave the house... Even in her 90s, she was still fighting for her own rights.” – Noelle Williams [11:52]
• “Teaching as activism because writing and reading was autonomy. It was activism.” – Noelle Williams [14:28]
• “Each day you have the opportunity to make a decision and take action in your life, to express yourself, to join with others, to build your community and to learn more... there’s always so much more to learn.” – Noelle Williams [15:59]

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Important Segments and Timestamps

• [01:28] Noelle Williams on her research journey and fascination with 19th-century Black activism in the North
• [02:17] Description of Black Newark’s dynamic, multi-class community
• [03:35] Memorable research discoveries—the lost Black churches and activists
• [05:15] The Ballantine House and its significance
• [06:41] The Ofake family and Black middle-class life
• [10:50] Hannah Mandeville’s biography and fight for her home
• [13:08] Creating the exhibit’s experiential atmosphere
• [14:14] Ellen King’s legacy as a teacher and activist
• [15:59] Closing inspiration: learning, community, and ongoing action

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Episode Takeaways

• The exhibit and Williams’ work challenge assumptions about Black life and activism in the North, revealing an extensive tradition of resistance, leadership, and community-building.
• The personal stories of Evans, King, and Mandeville offer a nuanced, humanizing look at the period—centering Black women’s agency and resilience.
• Williams invites listeners to connect with Newark’s overlooked histories, emphasizing their lasting relevance and the power of everyday decisions to build community and claim autonomy.

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Further Engagement

• Exhibit: "Stay: The Black Women of 19th Century Newark" at the Newark Museum of Art (through 2028)
• See the work of Noelle Lorraine Williams and the Black Heritage Trail for more local history and upcoming projects.

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Transcript

[A]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. A Newark Museum of Art exhibition celebrates the legacy of 19th century African American women who left their marks within their New Jersey community. Their names are Sarah Ofake Evans, Ellen King and Hannah Mendeville. Staged in a brick style Renaissance mansion, the show reflects the lives of these women, an artist and businesswoman, a teacher and a freed slave. The show features portraits, old newspapers and archival documents. A review in Museum magazine states, in ambient light, the shadows of the house dance across these works which present not as history paintings but as symbols of of life. Stay the Black woman of the 19th century. Newark is on display at the Newark Museum of art until 2028. Curator Noelle Lorraine Williams joins me now in studio to discuss. She's a New Jersey based artist, historian, and the director of the African American History program and the Black Heritage Trail for the New Jersey State Historical Commission. Noelle, welcome to all of it.

[B]

Well. Oh, thank you for having us. I really appreciate it.

[A]

So these women lived between 1811 and 1936. How did you learn about them?

[B]

First of all, wow. So I've always really been fascinated by black activism. And when I was younger, I studied black activism in the 20th century, but then for graduate school, I just became pulled into African American activism in the north in the 1800s. I just couldn't believe I didn't learn more about these stories when I was younger. And so looking at stories like in Manhattan with black Gotham, learning about Seneca Village up there in, I was curious, like, what is Newark's story? What can we learn about Newark?

[A]

So as you studied these women, how did their lives illustrate what the conditions.

[C]

Were like for African Americans in Newark during that time, 1811 to 1936?

[B]

Well, one of the things that I learned about the lives of African Americans there is that for it was one of struggle, but it was one of community and learning. Right. So you have these African Americans, some of them with wealth, Right. Some of them were freed, enslaved people who had gotten money from enslavers, who had created their own money through being like carriage drivers and other types of work. And then you have poor folks that are a part of the African American community. And what they're doing is fighting slavery in New Jersey and throughout the country, building churches, they're buying houses, they're trying to win back the vote because in New Jersey, African Americans actually in the initial Constitution could vote. So they're doing all of these things, making communities. And I was like, wow, this is almost like what we're used to thinking of black activism in the 1960s and yo, it's happening here in the 1830s.

[C]

Oh, yeah. I've always said the 1860s and the 1960s were way more connected than people need to know about.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

What was a piece of research that you came across that just sort of blew your mind?

[B]

Wow. I mean, I've been researching this topic now for almost six years. So I. What would be the most amazing. I guess the most amazing thing is like being at a place like Rutgers University, right? You see a field and then you come to learn. Wow. There was once a black church here.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Wow. There were enslaved women who lived in Jersey City who became free, moved over here and continued to try to help the community. They bought houses, they tried to help the poor folks. They did fundraising, they had concerts, they had people like Frederick Douglass come out and speak. Henry Garnett. All of these figures who were kind of far away figures walk the same streets that I did. They did poetry, like spoken word in the 1860s. So in Newark, you know, we always talk about Amiri and Amina Baraka. Right. But to imagine someone like Elimas payson doing a 40 minute poem about enslavement and the blood and the courage of our people on these same streets was amazing to me. So I guess that was the most exciting thing to me was the fight, like seeing the fight. And that's actually why my project is called black power, 19th century.

[C]

Ooh, you just gimme chills talking about that. New Jersey based artist and historian Noelle Williams is here to talk about her work on a Newark Museum of Art exhibit called the Black women of 19th century Newark. Okay. This takes place at the Ballantine House. Tell us about the Ballantine House.

[B]

Yes. So the Ballantine House is a part. Oh, it's okay. The Ballantine House is actually what the Newark Museum of Art considers a part of their collection. Right. It's a house. It's right in downtown Newark in our arts education district, a couple of blocks from nj Pack right near the trains. And this house is a historic house. It's a Gilded Age house. The Ballantines, they were a beer making family. They had immigrated from Scotland. Peter Ballantyne, his son John Ballantyne created this house to display their wealth. Not in an ostentatious way, but it's just a beautiful artifact that we have in New Jersey. Folks should come check it out. You'll be amazed. It's been reconstructed, refurbished, and it's beautiful. And so what the Newark Museum and Amy, the curator there, what they wanted to do was bring in the lives of the people who worked in the house and the neighborhood. Now, what's different about state is that these are not the black women who worked in the house. I'm always very clear with that about that, with the dose. These are the black community that lived around the house. So they walk the same streets as the Ballantine, but they are the middle class comparison of the Ballantines.

[A]

Very interesting. Okay, let's talk about Sarah Ofake Evans.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

She was born in 1871. She lived in 1906, and she was a member of a very rich family in Newark.

[B]

Yes, yes, yes. So the rich family that she was a part of, they were called the Ofakes. I'm still doing more research on the genesis of the Ofakes. I believe that they're descendants of African Americans that came from the West Indies with this enslaver. What a lot of folks don't know is that in New Jersey, there were enslavers who came from Barbados and settled near Newark. It was actually called New Barbados. Right. But there were also other enslavers. They had plantations in South Carolina. They had some in Barbados and they moved to Newark. So some of these African Americans came with them. And so John Ofake, or actually Peter Ofake, is the father of the family. He played violin. He also played the flute. He traveled throughout New York City, upstate New York, all around the country. He taught music in Newark, taught the upper class white families how to dance. And he also worked with the black community there. Right. So this is what I love, right, Is that you have these folks who are creating, taking stake in this life. Right. So he's doing this in the 1840s. He's traveling around the country making music, but he's also helping us sustain St. Philip's Church, which was a black church in Newark, New Jersey. Right.

[C]

Which meant it was a black political center as well.

[B]

Thank you. Okay, I need to come chill with you because. Yeah, exactly, y'.

[C]

All.

[B]

And that's one thing I always say in my talks. When we think about these black churches, these are our first black political centers. This is where folks are doing fundraising, feeding folks, sheltering folks on the underground railroad, and that's what they were doing there in Newark, and that's what a lot of Black power in 19th century is about. So he had a son, John O'. Fake. John O' Fake was also a part of this music legacy. His daughter Emma is actually pictured there at the Ballantine house. So it's so exciting. Right? You have the Ballantines this Scottish beer making family. This house is preserved beautifully. We have so many things that even the Ballantines put in there, the fireplaces. But then now you have the black families, the black women who used to walk the same streets as the Valentine's present in the house. So you can experience what's both traditional but also a more augmented reality, but a real history of Emma Ofake. So I've rendered her on lace, and so we see her image. The other women I didn't have images of. And so we get to think about Newark history, Right? So we think about these black women like Emma Ofake. And then later I have diary entries from her mother, Sarah o', Fake, and she's talking about, you know, shopping in Newark, taking care of some of the older women who I had actually read about before, who had help with the underground railroad. Right. She talks about her aunt Hannah, you know, and this is Aunt Hannah, who I had been reading about, who had been trying to sustain a church in the 1850s. Here I'm reading about her in 1885. And that Sarah Ofake is going to go help her aunt, you know, and that's powerful to me, seeing those connections and seeing people forge their lives. So we get to see the Ofakes and what it meant to be a black middle class family, but what it meant to also still be connected to community.

[C]

She only died when she was 37. Sarah Ofake.

[A]

Do we know why?

[B]

I can't remember what the reason why.

[C]

Things could happen in that time.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Let's talk about Hera. Hannah Mandeville.

[B]

Yes. Yes.

[C]

She was born enslaved.

[B]

Yes, yes. So Hannah Mandeville was born enslaved in what we would now identify as downtown Jersey City. So over there, by Exchange Place. And when she was freed, New Jersey had a law that if you were born by a certain date, you would be freed by the. If you were a woman by the time you were 21. So. So she was freed and then she married a man named Anthony Mandeville. They eventually ended up in Newark. They actually lived on the house that we've renamed Frederick Douglass Field at Rutgers, next to three other black owned houses and a black owned church. And she worked with the women's group. So I was really lucky because I was able to find articles in the newspaper about her doing fundraisers with the women there. And then the thing about Hannah's story that really always sticks with me, and I continue to live with the story, is that she lived in this house on the field for 60 years. And then when she was in her 90s, she was dragged out by a realtor, literally. She wouldn't leave the house. They had to put all of her things in the street, and she stayed there in a chair. The same avenue where students walk every day. Right. Where these various Newark histories have happened. The 1967 rebellion, you know, student activism, activism at Conklin College, at Rutgers. She lived on that field. This history existed. And the fact that Even in her 90s, she was still fighting for her own rights, you know, so to me, that's what's kind of exciting about Stay at the Newark Museum of Art is the fact that we get to hear these black women being resilient in the 1800s, going into the 1900s. They're the foundation of black activism in Newark.

[C]

Yeah. Is there a marker where Hannah sat in that chair?

[B]

No. I mean, I've done some videos for it. And actually, for the exhibition, I depict Hannah's story as a series of cutouts. So once you walk into the room, you'll hear music. I have a violin rendition of I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor, who was born in Newark. Because I'm wondering, what does it mean for Newark's resilience to be transplanted around the world and for people to find power in the story? So you hear that song, but then you see these silhouettes depicting Hannah leaving Jersey City building and praying with women and then being dragged out of her house. But that's not the end of her story. Her story lives in the exhibition. But we do have a marker at Rutgers that shows a map of the black community that lived on that field. And that's what was really important to me as an artist and a historian, was that it wasn't the Frederick Douglass field wouldn't just celebrate Frederick Douglass, but it would celebrate the community. So we can see where Hannah lived, where Christopher, where the King family, who had the Underground Railroad. We can see where Newark's second black church was.

[A]

That's what I wanted to ask you about Ellen King. Before we run out of time, tell us about Ellen King and the Underground Railroad.

[B]

Okay. So on the same field where Plain Street Colored Church was, we had the King's house and the King, Jacob King. I found an article in the newspaper where he was a treasurer for the Underground Railroad Society. Ellen King was his youngest daughter. And I actually found this interesting article where she's opening the door for a pastor who's coming by to visit. Ellen King went to North Carolina to go teach, but then she came back to Newark and she taught in. You know, we think of Teaching as activism because writing and reading was autonomy. It was activism. You know, I tell this story about this woman who couldn't read a contract, you know, and it was for her own freedom. So Ellen King teaching was an activist act. She comes back, she lives in that house on the field until she dies. And so we have her story. She's actually center in the room, you know, in front behind these images of Louise Epperson, who fought against displacement in newark in the 1960s, or Sakiya Gunn, a 15 year old lesbian who was killed only two blocks away for telling a man that he couldn't tell her to move. So Ellen King's story lives with those stories. And I'm just so happy the museum has allowed us to represent her in lace at 5ft.

[A]

We got this really great text that says, I remember hearing about Ballantine Ale when as a kid in the 70s. This segment is so interesting.

[B]

Oh, great. Come back to Newark.

[A]

As we wrap up, what inspiration do you believe that folks today could take from this exhibition?

[B]

I think that the inspiration is definitely each day you have the opportunity to make a decision and take action in your life, to express yourself, to join with others, to build your community and to learn more and that there's always so much more to learn. And here in Newark, in our arts education district, the Newark Museum, Newark Library, njpac, we welcome folks to come learn your history, enjoy art, connect with community, and we're just so excited for this opportunity.

[A]

The name of the exhibit is Stay the black women of 19th century Newark.

[C]

My guest has been artist and historian Noel Williams.

[A]

Thank you so much for coming in.

[C]

And sharing your stories and all the stories of these people with us.

[B]

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[D]

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