J. Garfield Jackson, Sr, East Orange Educator 1951 to 1980

J. Garfield Jackson, Sr. came to East Orange in 1951 to teach at Eastern School becoming one of the city's earliest African-American teachers.* In 1962 he was appointed principal of the newly formed Kentopp School, a kindergarten to 4th grade school located in the former "Stockton School West" building, making Mr. Jackson the first African-American principal in the city (one source says first in Essex County). In 1972 he became interim East Orange School Superintendent and Director of Principals and retired in 1980.

Mr. Jackson was born April 28, 1912 in Americus, GA. He graduated from Hartford, CT schools in 1928 and from State Normal College** (teachers' college) at Glassboro, NJ in 1935. He began his career in the Elk Township, NJ School District as a teaching principal before coming to East Orange. Mr. Jackson passed away December 4, 2006 and is buried in Rosedale Cemetery in Orange.

Photos of Mr. Jackson and more biographical info

* The newspaper The Afro-American reported on June 19, 1948 that Mrs. Cornelia Whiting had just been appointed East Orange's first African-American teacher and would teach at Eastern School, also reporting in the article that Eastern's student population was then 80% African-American.

** The college is now named Rowan University.

Henry Eugene Kentopp, Superintendent 1936 to 1960

Henry Eugene Kentopp received his AB from Midland College in 1921, his AM from the University of Wisconsin in 1930, and in 1940 he received his doctorate degree from Columbia University. In 1922 he was already superintendent of schools in Central City (population 2500 in 1922), Nebraska, came to East Orange in 1933 to be principal of Elmwood School, and became superintendent of East Orange schools in 1936 at the death of Cliifford J Scott.

                               Below: Mr Kentopp in the 1955 East Orange High School yearbook

                                       above is a biography that appeared in the 1960 EOHS yearbook

Henry E Kentopp retired in 1960 and passed away while living in Hendersonville NC in 1978.

Stockton School West became a separate kindergarten through 4th grade elementary school in the early 1960's and the school was named the Kentopp School. The school has recently been renamed the Mildred Barry Garvin School.

Kentopp School

Kentopp School came into existence about 1961/62 when Stockton School West (the separate building next to The Oval) became a kindergarten to 4th grade elementary school separate from Stockton. Kentopp had over 900 students in 1964/65. It's not clear at this writing if Kentopp included the Stockton School annex across the street. When Kentopp was formed, Stockton became a school with 5th to 7th grades and when Eastern School finally closed in 1965 its 7th and 8th grades were absorbed by Stockton using the Stockton annex.

J. Garfield Jackson became principal of Kentopp in 1962 making him the first African-American principal of a school in East Orange (another source goes further and says first "in Essex County").

Kentopp School was named for Henry Eugene Kentopp who had been East Orange Superintendent of Schools from 1936 to about 1960.

The school has recently had its name changed to the "Mildred Barry Garvin School."

                    Below: Stockton School West in 1959 shortly before it became Kentopp School

Eastern School

The Eastern District of early 19th century Orange was sparsely populated by a few big landowners who lived on Main St, along Grove St and on the hill ("Peck's Hill" aka "Peck's Ridge") area where Maple Avenue intersected Main Street. The landowners had farms on the surrounding lowlands and some had businesses along Main St.

                                        Below: from a 1906 issue of The School Journal

The original Eastern School* was built in 1835 on the south side of Main near Maple Ave. and served the families and descendants of some of the early settlers e.g. Hedden, Mitchell, Peck, Dodd, Boylan, Munn, and Baldwin. One early teacher at Eastern was John Burroughs who taught there from about 1857 or 1858 to 1860 and would go on to become a world famous naturalist.

In 1870 the area had become part of recently (1863) formed East Orange and a new brick Eastern School was built on the north side of Main across from the original school. The building was designed by Frederick A Petersen, a well-known,** Prussian-born architect and civil engineer who had an office in Manhattan, but lived on Steuben Street in East Orange.

The first principal in the new building was Colonel Joel B Baker, followed in 1875 by Clarence Franklin Carroll, who was replaced in 1878 by Vernon Llewellyn Davey. In 1890 Davey left to become East Orange's first school superintendent, with a long-term teacher, Miss Georgianna Stevenson, becoming acting principal until Edward H. Dutcher*** became principal in 1891.

                 
              Above and below: photos from the September, 1914 issue of The Playground magazine

As the neighborhoods around Eastern were completely developed between 1890 and 1915, more schools (Columbian, Stockton, Lincoln) were added to ensure that all elementary school students lived within a half-mile radius of their schools.  By 1945 a school report foresaw the final phasing out of Eastern as the other schools finished absorbing its students. The newspaper The Afro-American reported on June 19, 1948 that Mrs. Cornelia Whiting had just been appointed East Orange's first African-American teacher and would teach at Eastern School and also reported in the article that Eastern's student population was then 80% African-American (there was a historic African-American neighborhood next to the school). The school was finally torn down in 1965 to make way for I-280 and its 7th and 8th grade students were transferred to Stockton.

Above: A photo taken by Dr. Sam Berg in October 1964 shortly before the area was bulldozed to make room for I-280; photo courtesy of The Newark Public Library


* The school is sometimes referred to as "Eastern District School," "Eastern Grammar School," or "Eastern Elementary School" in articles and documents over its history.

** Mr. Peterson (1808-1885) designed the 1858 Cooper Union building in Manhattan and was a founding member of the American Institute of Architects in 1857.

*** Mr. Dutcher was principal until his death in 1929 and, in 1922, simultaneously became principal of Stockton School. Eastern and Stockton shared principals from 1922 to 1955.