HISTORY SHOWS HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED

How times have changed! Can you imagine religion at Trenton High School back during the "teens?" No, well check out the article above. A very common custom in all American schools back in the day.

Did you know the Democratic party was largely made up of racists in the post Civil War years? READ ON!

1901: CHARLIE SHA-TRENTON'S ONLY CHINESE RESIDENT

The way the newspapers described different races back in the 19th and early 20th century would never be accepted in today's much more tolerant society. From the "WHIMSICAL" folder in the Hamilton Library Local History database is this now antique article telling Charlie's story. This was an era when there was a very large section of the populace not only in Trenton, but in all of America were not too tolerant of people who didn't look like them, nor act like them.

1986: THE KKK COMES TO HAMILTON

Back in the first few decades of the 20th century, the KKK was a thriving organization. There were a number of members of Protestant clergy who were card carrying members of the organization. I wrote the article above detailing a visit to the then rural Hamilton Township area in the 1924, and the somewhat negative reaction which was expressed by local citizens.

1968: THE TRENTON RIOTS

Those 1968 riots changed the city of Trenton forever. In my opinion, the town never recovered from the incredibly senseless looting and destruction of public and personal property, all in the name of avenging the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King by a deranged racist animal. Why the city was blamed for that dastardly act is beyond reason. However, the city we all knew and loved never fully recovered from the senseless looting and burning which the town endured.

1932: RACISM 101 IN TRENTON SCHOOLS

THIS ARTICLE IS "MILD" COMPARED TO MANY OF THE OUTRAGEOUSLY RACIAL ARTICLES RELATING TO ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS TO AMERICA. SPECIAL VITRIOLE WAS RESERVED FOR IMMIGRANTS AND BLACK PEOPLE, AND ROMAN CATHOLICS BY A LARGELY "WASP" (WHITE, ANGLO-SAXON PROTESTANT) LOCAL AND NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS.

1896: A "2" on a scale of 1 to 10

After being ignored in the year 1895, Captain Tom Turner tries once again to get recognition of his troop of black National Guard soldiers.

1913: Jewish Community Protest Stereotyping

One thing that stands out in clear focus as I peruse the millions of pages in our local newspapers, is the rampant racism which existed in our own community back in the late 19th century and continuing well into the 20th century. Italians, Irish, African American, and Jewish immigrants, as well as numerous others in our community, and communities all over America were victims of very degrading public ridicule. Aparently if you weren't a white Anglo Saxon Protestant, you were fair game..