Links to additional information
LINK TO THE NATIONAL AAHGS WEBSITE: Click Here
African-American Slaves of Monmouth County
LOST SOULS PROJECT
The Lost Souls Public Memorial Project is a local community effort to build a public memorial to the nearly 100 Blacks who were sold into permanent slavery by Judge J. Van Wickle in 1818. The project is headed by the Unitarian Society, the New Brunswick Area NAACP and other organizations.
In 1818, three slave ships left the East Brunswick area with African-Americans who were lost to the trade. Slavery was abolished in New Jersey in 1804.
“It was a human atrocity,” historian Rich Walling said in one interview. “Even though the judge didn’t handle all the people sent south, his property was used as the depot to hold them before their trans-shipment. About 100 people from the New Jersey area were sent into slavery and their lives were destroyed.”
Walling added that 80 names of the more than 100 people sold into slavery were recorded with some being slaves and some being freed. Any Black born in New Jersey after 1804 was free but was under the control of the parents’ masters.
The Lost Souls Public Memorial Project is a local community effort to build a public memorial to the nearly 100 Blacks who were sold into permanent slavery by Judge J. Van Wickle in 1818. The project is headed by the Unitarian Society, the New Brunswick Area NAACP and other organizations.
In 1818, three slave ships left the East Brunswick area with African-Americans who were lost to the trade. Slavery was abolished in New Jersey in 1804.
“It was a human atrocity,” historian Rich Walling said in one interview. “Even though the judge didn’t handle all the people sent south, his property was used as the depot to hold them before their trans-shipment. About 100 people from the New Jersey area were sent into slavery and their lives were destroyed.”
Walling added that 80 names of the more than 100 people sold into slavery were recorded with some being slaves and some being freed. Any Black born in New Jersey after 1804 was free but was under the control of the parents’ masters.
Links to articles and videos related to the Lost Souls Public Memorial Project:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCpx6MLexds&feature=youtu.be
May 25, 2018, reading of the Lost Souls names at the site of the VanWickle “slave castle”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV0OTk2lw7U
Dec. 6, 2018, promotional piece about the Lost Souls Day of Remembrance and the Lost Souls project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-JNVJBsqb0
Feb. 8, 2016, promotional piece with New Brunswick Area Branch, NAACP about Van Wickle Slave Ring program for Black History Month, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqLD_n9doUU
March 3, 2016, Van Wickle Slave Ring program held at the East Brunswick Library, 2016
https://www.facebook.com/lostsoulspublicmemorialproject/
Lost Souls Public Memorial Project Facebook page
https://www.instagram.com/lostsoulseb/?fbclid=IwAR3Mqd98Y6o0jYhAK0m-0FSpu_-JfJtD0ksXS-Rj1EIZAvcB6jVwZGJAPik
Lost Souls on Instagram
https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/2018/10/01/lost-souls-public-memorial-project-receives-incubation-grant/1436974002/?fbclid=IwAR1eQtexHyTkWV6x8KhubXvh5UfEhaCnY265WcTIssoPWDBrBFpbtTO4r5s
Article about NJ Council for the Humanities grant to the Lost Souls project
http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2018/may/31/lost-souls-public-memorial-project-wants-put-slave/?fbclid=IwAR0mmeQR8xjUYFnJo91kh-5u3Hy0ioqBw_zo02Ffh-JwNZmfc_ZQDVJzeIg
NY’s Amsterdam News article from June 1, 2018
https://medium.com/quest-for-meaning/september-25-2017-public-testimony-a46e310c62f2?fbclid=IwAR1D8qmP9f6A3CPXniekCJNOHcI7kO-5vOTgEItlOj-aQ0wc2qHQznMbjjI
Article about Van Wickle Road controversy, East Brunswick, Sept. 25, 2017
http://purehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/Van-Wickle-Presentation.pdf?lbisphpreq=1&fbclid=IwAR2fG1Lw8raCMGZPFf8wphdUZk6IQaDy_qFaJrJtrWs0G_bKMHhzf7hVrPQ
Pdf of An Abominable Business presentation on the Van Wickle Slave Ring
http://www.centraljersey.com/news/sentinel_east_brunswick/stories/local-historian-creates-film-depicting-van-wickle-slave-ring/article_311e3115-9ac6-514b-89f9-68f9868565da.html?fbclid=IwAR2lMX-zKDXvbNgZ8MSAi1p2pgJ7S7mgrfnqKmY7RrfiCjwtR5TvhslVpiw
Sold South Film article
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCpx6MLexds&feature=youtu.be
May 25, 2018, reading of the Lost Souls names at the site of the VanWickle “slave castle”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV0OTk2lw7U
Dec. 6, 2018, promotional piece about the Lost Souls Day of Remembrance and the Lost Souls project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-JNVJBsqb0
Feb. 8, 2016, promotional piece with New Brunswick Area Branch, NAACP about Van Wickle Slave Ring program for Black History Month, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqLD_n9doUU
March 3, 2016, Van Wickle Slave Ring program held at the East Brunswick Library, 2016
https://www.facebook.com/lostsoulspublicmemorialproject/
Lost Souls Public Memorial Project Facebook page
https://www.instagram.com/lostsoulseb/?fbclid=IwAR3Mqd98Y6o0jYhAK0m-0FSpu_-JfJtD0ksXS-Rj1EIZAvcB6jVwZGJAPik
Lost Souls on Instagram
https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/2018/10/01/lost-souls-public-memorial-project-receives-incubation-grant/1436974002/?fbclid=IwAR1eQtexHyTkWV6x8KhubXvh5UfEhaCnY265WcTIssoPWDBrBFpbtTO4r5s
Article about NJ Council for the Humanities grant to the Lost Souls project
http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2018/may/31/lost-souls-public-memorial-project-wants-put-slave/?fbclid=IwAR0mmeQR8xjUYFnJo91kh-5u3Hy0ioqBw_zo02Ffh-JwNZmfc_ZQDVJzeIg
NY’s Amsterdam News article from June 1, 2018
https://medium.com/quest-for-meaning/september-25-2017-public-testimony-a46e310c62f2?fbclid=IwAR1D8qmP9f6A3CPXniekCJNOHcI7kO-5vOTgEItlOj-aQ0wc2qHQznMbjjI
Article about Van Wickle Road controversy, East Brunswick, Sept. 25, 2017
http://purehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/Van-Wickle-Presentation.pdf?lbisphpreq=1&fbclid=IwAR2fG1Lw8raCMGZPFf8wphdUZk6IQaDy_qFaJrJtrWs0G_bKMHhzf7hVrPQ
Pdf of An Abominable Business presentation on the Van Wickle Slave Ring
http://www.centraljersey.com/news/sentinel_east_brunswick/stories/local-historian-creates-film-depicting-van-wickle-slave-ring/article_311e3115-9ac6-514b-89f9-68f9868565da.html?fbclid=IwAR2lMX-zKDXvbNgZ8MSAi1p2pgJ7S7mgrfnqKmY7RrfiCjwtR5TvhslVpiw
Sold South Film article