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Lawnside and the Underground Railroad in South Jersey with Linda Shockley
February 18 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Linda Schockley, President of the Lawnside Historical Society will present and engaging program about the historic Pete Mott House and the town of Lawnside in the context of Black communities in South Jersey where freedom seekers found refuge and free people made their homes.
The Peter Mott House is the oldest house in Lawnside, NJ, built around 1845. The house was the residence of Peter Mott, an African-American preacher and his wife, Elizabeth Ann Thomas Mott. Peter and Eliza provided refuge to escaped slaves by using their home as a station along the Underground Railroad. Mott was himself a free Black and a leader in the abolitionist movement.
The Borough of Lawnside, located eight miles north of Camden, is the only historically African-American incorporated municipality in the northern United States. It dates to Colonial times as a settlement of people of color.
The house, owned by The Lawnside Historical Society, has been restored as a museum and is listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. – Journey Through New Jersey
Presenter Bio:
Linda P. Shockley is a founding member of the Historical Society and president since 1994. She is a native of Lawnside where she learned the unique history of the town shaped and governed by African Americans. Mrs. Shockley is an ordained deacon, member of the Stewards Ministry and co-chair of the Black History and Culture Ministry at Grace Temple.
She retired in 2020 as managing director from the Dow Jones News Fund, a nonprofit foundation supported by Dow Jones and Company. She was responsible for promoting careers in journalism to high school and college students, providing summer workshops, scholarships and professional internships at media companies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Bridgeport.
