Paul Goldfinger. Blogfinger.net. The above was found on the Net. No mention at Oceangrove.org.
Paul Goldfinger photo 9/18/23. Blogfinger.net
9/18/23. Back view. Paul Goldfinger photo.9/18/23. Our original article about this topic appeared on Blogfinger in June, 2023 (see below.). Now we find the new sign at the park formally known as “Boswell.” Do Amanda Berry Smith’s qualifications, as described above, make sense for naming a park for her?
There were many individuals who came to OG in the late 19th and then 20th centuries to preach, pray, and sing hymns, and some, like Paul Robeson and Mrs. Berry were black.
The CMA has taken abuse from the left starting in 2007 with the gay civil ceremony issue and then regarding GA speakers who didn’t support gay marriage, and more recently when Neptune United began to promote the idea that the CMA has a relationship to “extremist” Christian organizations.
This is from their current website: “The OGCMA has aligned itself with a nationally recognized hate group.”
It looks like the CMA has cynically bowed to pressure to placate the politically left NU. Anyone who looks at this park issue will understand what’s going on here. Is this really about honoring Mrs. Berry?
Meanwhile, the park has not been kept up with respect. In June I interviewed a resident of the park’s neighborhood. He and others had formed an advocacy group to make the park more presentable and usable. They tried to persuade authorities to make improvements like benches and landscaping, but they were told that there was no money to do that.
I don’t know whom they spoke to, but they were frustrated and deeply disappointed. And now the CMA is honoring Mrs. Berry with a park in disrepair?
Meanwhile, the small Christian shrine that had been there for a long while has been removed.
So finally why allow any religious iconography in any of our public spaces?
If you want to know more, please read our June 2023 post below:
June, 2023 post: Blogfinger.net by Paul Goldfinger editor.
This is an interesting turn of events. Dr. Charles M. Boswell, former CMA President, has evidently been dumped in favor of a gospel singer from over 100 years ago. We have not seen verification, but it looks real.
It’s ironic, because when Amanda Berry Smith performed in Ocean Grove, African-Americans were not welcomed here except as laborers, kitchen workers, hotel help, and guests during Methodist services. There were “Black Methodists.”
Smith was welcomed in the Grove as a preacher and gospel singer. She was a celebrity. She had no issues here regarding race.
But does this make her enough of an iconic figure to justify naming a park in 2023 OG for her? How about a park for Neil Sedaka in the diverse OG of today? Our parks are “public” despite CMA ownership.
OG is no longer a theocracy whose only heroes are religious leaders. Look at Stokes and Osborne….no parks named for them, so what’s the plan and what’s the explanation backed by facts? This is a good opportunity to discuss the possibilities.
Mrs. Smith’s bio is complex, and what we have found so far doesn’t say anything about her and the Grove.
We do know that she performed here and at many venues around the world. She lived in England, India, and Africa for years.
There is no mention of Ocean Grove in the bio. below from England:
Where is the evidence that Ms. Smith “spent her summers in OG,” and if it is true, where did she stay?
We reviewed some of this in our 2020 article about segregation in Asbury Park. Below is from that piece on Blogfinger:
Asbury “black beach.” Source ?“We know that black workers were hired in 19th century Ocean Grove (and later) to work in the hotels and restaurants. They often stayed in segregated quarters, and there are old photos which show blacks posing with guests and other workers. We also know that black gospel singers and preachers performed in the Great Auditorium.
“But we don’t know if African- Americans came to the Grove for recreation such as the amusements at the North End, the boardwalk and the beaches.
“We also don”t know if Ocean Grove’s leaders took any inspiration from the segregationists in Asbury Park or if they resisted segregation on moral grounds. Goldberg’s paper doesn’t mention the Grove. We do know that Stokes worried abut secularism, but we found no references to racial issues in his autobiography.
“Ocean Grove in the 19th century was a white Methodist town, but that was due to their trying to establish an enclave for Methodists, so the town tried to limit its home-owning citizens by excluding all sorts of groups including Roman Catholics, Jews, and blacks.
“So can we call that racism since the basis of exclusion was not color but religion—-unless they did exclude black Methodists. It’s probably more like isolationism rather than exclusionism. It was more about keeping to themselves rather than keeping others out.
” And it is certainly not segregation such as Bradley is accused of in Asbury.
“Stokes is probably safe from the 21st century witch hunters who are prowling around the Jersey Shore looking for statues to take down.” When will they come for Bradley or for Stokes?
Now we see a park being named after a famous black gospel singer. But why is the CMA now deciding to make this change? Are they merely trying to buff up their image as a racially tolerant organization, but history doesn’t support that image very well.
The Historical Society of Ocean Grove studied the history of African-Americans in OG. Now would be a good time for them to come out of hiding and tell us all about that history. We would post a summary if they cared enough to share their information with us and the current (2023) population of Grovers.
Blogfinger has just finished posting a piece on the CMA’s “Independence Parade.” We pointed out, and not the first time, that the CMA has done nothing to encourage the large Neptune African-American population to come to our town, our beaches and to our parades. They have not found a means to cut the beach badges prices on the basis of need for the same reasons.
I was trying to see if the 1800’s wax recordings made in the GA contained one of Mrs. Smith, but so far no luck. Those recordings were made in 1890 to 1900. Ira Sankey was the star evangelist doing most of the singing for those many performances on wax cylinders.
And the Neptuners have a divided town with white sections (OG and Shark River) and black sections. (Mid-town.). Asbury and Neptune are both still segregated.
So one wonders if the CMA is being cynical or even hypocritical in renaming this OG park after Amanda Berry Smith.
What is the reason the CMA is moving in this direction just now? It was only a couple of weeks ago the CMA was proclaiming the name of “Boswell Park.” Before that they did nothing to correct the local nick-name called “Poop Park.”
This sign went up about three weeks ago. What has happened in the interim? Has the CMA decided to change the subject? Who is buying that? Blogfinger photo. June 2023.
Current appearance of this park—-September 18, 2023.
“What’s in a name?” (Shakespeare). Who cares about the name if the park looks like crap. Paul Goldfinger photo 9/18/23. Ocean Grove, NJ
ALISON KRAUSS From the movie O Brother Where Art Thou: “Down to the River to Pray.”
“O brothers, let’s go down
Let’s go down, come on down
Come on, brothers, let’s go down
Down in the river to pray.”
Thanks David. The issue here is not that parks acquire different names over time, but whether it is appropriate or even constitutional to name parks, which are public thoroughfares, using religious references, and that includes whether religious icons (such as the creche in Firemen’s Park) are constitutional.
The CMA owns all these parks and is rewarded with tax relief because they allow the public to use and operate the parks. It may not seem like a big deal, but many folks are not amused by religious symbols in their public spaces, including parks, boardwalks, beaches, town halls, etc.
If we can ever properly and legally define the role of the CMA in our lives, then maybe we can stop debating these issues in Ocean Grove.
David. You live in New York City. Are there any public parks, Central or otherwise, that have religious symbols? The last time I was in Central Park I found the Mad Tea Party statue. I would like that here, on the boardwalk.
Several parks in OG have undergone name changes in addition to the Amanda Berry Smith Park, formerly Boswell Park and Park Heights. The small surviving remnant of Evergreen Park is now the Main Ave. Gates Park. Woodlawn Park was renamed in memory of the Rev. J. H. Alday, M. D., who was active in the Association serving as health officer. This gave way to Firemen’s Park. Founders Park was originally named after Rev. Edward Thomson (1810-1870). The elusive McKendrie Park was near the head of Wesley Lake and featured a rustic bridge to Fairy Island that was dug out in 1880 to improve water flow. Centennial Park (between the Arlington Apts. and Thornley Chapel) is now considered part of Auditorium Park since its iron vase was smashed by Halloween vandals in 1922. Stokes Park was the area around the statue and never seems to have gain traction as a name.
Other towns around here do a better job keeping up their parks. In Asbury they did major improvements in Sunset Park which is a beautiful place. And now they are redoing Kennedy Park on Cookman Avenue where a US President is honored. You won’t find religious themes in Asbury parks or even Central Park in New York.
Amanda Berry Smith was part of what was probably the earliest national movement to fight segregation. This possibly not only inspired Dr. King but also Rosa Parks who both would have been aware of this successful movement. Sadly, it seems as though it is only through the OGCMA giving Ms. Smith the chance in telling about this movement in their annual report of 1874 that it is known today.
Blacks were buying first class tickets on trains, establishing their right to sit where ever they chose to. The train companies were then removing first class ticket holders who were Black to leave their seats they were entitled to. They successfully sued the train companies for their segregated practices.
So in fact, Amanda Berry Smith, who had a wide audience at the many campmeetings that she preached at, was able, with the help of the OGCMA to spread her anti-segregation story.
Kevin: This woman was an entertainer known for preaching and singing. She was a world traveler and she was not known as a “leader fighting segregation.” In fact she was treated very well by whites in the Grove.
If the CMA wants someone who fought segregation, they should name the park after Martin Luther King.
The idea of naming the park in 2023 after a famous gospel singer/preacher is something like making the pier in the shape of a cross: it’s harmless but may be offensive to many of those who live in this town as secular citizens who wish to see separation of church and state in the Grove.
This park is set aside for the public, so there should be no religion there regardless of who owns it. And the same is true of all the parks in OG.
This is yet another example of expanded Christian iconography as the CMA increases its signage while they strive to make this town a “Christian seaside resort” which was a goal of the CMA going back to OG’s founding.
Amanda Berry Smith was an incredible woman who had a long history with Ocean Grove. As a resident in OG, I don’t see this as pandering at all but a wonderful tribute to an amazing woman who was a leader fighting segregation, was a leader in education, let alone her wonder abilities in preaching and singing.
Amanda Berry Smith is truly deserving of having a park named after her in Ocean Grove. I applaud the OGCMA for their decision.
Kevin Chambers
How many preachers and gospel singers have come thorough the Grove? This looks like pandering to the race hustlers in our society.
African-Americans in Neptune and Ocean Grove would benefit from some genuine caring from the CMA. Let’s encourage blacks to visit here and move here.