Yesterday, after having suffered a stroke over the weekend, Dr. Clement Price died at the age of 69. In his death, Newark has lost a father. A giant. And we will forever be changed because of it. Clement Price was a voice in Newark’s collective ears, helping us remember our history and maintain a sense of self.
Mayor Ras Baraka released a statement last night, saying, “I believe I can speak for the entire City of Newark when we say that we are in sadness, shock, and mourning upon hearing of the death of Rutgers University-Newark Professor Clement Alexander Price today. Not only was he a dear friend to me, he was a friend to all of Newark. His great intelligence, his vast learning, his eloquence, and most of all, his unbelievable personal warmth, made him one of our City’s most titanic, respected, and beloved figures.
He empowered and energized everyone he met and touched with his warmth and wisdom, and we were proud to return that warmth and wisdom by appointing him as Newark’s first African-American City Historian. Our celebrations of Newark’s 350th Anniversary in 2016 will be a tribute to his love of Newark and his vision of its greatness as our nation’s third-oldest city. He defined the transformation we are making to turn Newark into a City we can all believe in.
Our prayers go out to his wife, Mary Sue Sweeney Price, and his entire family.”
“Newark has lost one of its great statesmen. Clem Price was not only our leading historian but he was a powerful spiritual force in our state’s largest city,” said Sen. Cory Booker. “He helped us all learn, grow, heal and come together – he was a chief architect of community unity and in so many ways helped create a Newark civic space that was more vibrant and more loving. All of Newark deeply mourns his loss.”
He was the author of Freedom Not Far Distant: A Documentary History of Afro-Americans in New Jersey (1980), and other works that explored history, race relations and modern culture in the U.S. and New Jersey. His most recent book was a three-volume work, Slave Culture: A Documentary Collection of the Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project.
In 2011 President Obama appointed Dr. Clement Price to serve as Vice Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Price is survived by his wife Mary Sue Sweeney Price, his sister, Jarmila, and his brother, James.
Rutgers University is working with Price’s family to plan for memorializing and celebrating his life.
