The answer: Abraham Lincoln.
The question: Which well-loved Republican in Jersey City’s history will be celebrating his 200th birthday soon?
Yes, the 16th president of the United States, the man on the penny and the five dollar bill, the Great Emancipator, was born Feb. 12, 1809.
Since 1867, two years after Lincoln’s death, Jersey City has been the site of one of the longest running tributes to Lincoln. A birthday celebration in his honor is held each year by the Lincoln Association of Jersey City, the oldest organization in the United States to honor the late president.
Jersey City has always held Lincoln in high regard, with the former West Side Park renamed in his honor in 1930 and a high school bearing his name on Crescent Avenue.
Every year, Presidents’ Day occurs on the third Monday in February to commemorate the birthday of the first U.S. President George Washington (Feb. 22) but also to acknowledge Lincoln’s birthday on Feb. 12. On that day, the association will celebrate Lincoln as it has in years past.
The association will lay a wreath at the foot of the Lincoln Monument near the entrance of Lincoln Park at Kennedy Boulevard and Belmont Avenue during a morning ceremony. Then a dinner event will take place in the evening at Casino in the Park.
Events on various aspects of Lincoln will also be presented by the Lincoln Association and the Jersey City Free Public Library, both this coming Wednesday and in March and April (see sidebar).
But why does a Republican president continue to be honored in a Democratic stronghold after all these years?
Penny for their thoughts
Guy Catrillo is a Jersey City native who grew with a fascination about Lincoln that continues to the present day. He is also a longtime member of the Lincoln Association and will be made the president of the association on Feb. 12.
Catrillo offered why Lincoln stayed popular in a town dominated for many years by “Irish Democratic” politics.
“He is much more than just being a Republican, and there have always been a high regard for him from all political stripes,” Catrillo said.
Catrillo added, “I think what is enduring about his popularity is people’s awareness that Lincoln had great demands put upon him, and the tough decisions that he had to make while in office.”
Catrillo said when he thinks about Jersey City and Lincoln’s legacy, he is reminded unfortunately of the eerily ironic incident that took place in Jersey City some time in 1863 or 1864 when Lincoln’s son Robert was saved from near death by Edwin Booth, the brother of Lincoln’s notorious assassin, stage actor John Wilkes Booth. Booth prevented Robert from falling onto the railroad tracks.
An honest effort for Abe
The Lincoln Association had its beginnings just days after Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865, when business and civic leaders in the city met informally to mourn and remember their president.
Lincoln had come through Jersey City twice – once in 1861 when he spoke near Exchange Place, and in April 1865, when the train carrying his coffin stopped in Jersey City before continuing onward to New York.
Late Jersey City historian J. Owen Grundy wrote in a 1971 article that the association had their first official gathering on Feb. 12, 1867 at the long defunct Union House on Newark Avenue, where eight men met to discuss how to formally honor Lincoln. By Christmas Eve of that year, the Lincoln Association held its first dinner at the then newly constructed Library Hall on Grand Street and Ivy Place. The building still stands, most recently the location of the National Rug and Carpet Store but has since been converted into condos.
Was a Republican club
In the early years, the Association was a political club for the city’s predominately Republican base. When Democrats established themselves firmly after legendary mayor Frank Hague was elected mayor of Jersey City in 1917, the association still maintained its popularity.
While the association became known for their yearly dinners, they became proactive in the late 1920s when they led a fund-raising campaign to place a Lincoln monument in Lincoln Park. When the monument was erected in the park in 1930, another tradition began with the laying of a wreath at his feet.
As years have passed, the association has become a home for history buffs, Lincoln aficionados, and anyone wanting to join a group with very little politics.
The association consists of a core group of 30 trustees with three sets of 10 serving staggered three-year terms. The trustees meet six times a year to discuss association business. A president is elected to serve a one-year term, usually on the day of the dinner.
Sidebar
Lincoln events
The Lincoln Association of Jersey City will hold its annual tribute to Abraham Lincoln on Thursday, Feb. 12. A wreath will be laid at the Lincoln Monument in Lincoln Park. And from 5:30 to 10 p.m., the Lincoln Association will hold its annual dinner.
For more information on the dinner, call (201) 432-2806.
The Cunningham Branch Library, 275 Martin Luther King Drive, Jersey City has since last year been presenting a series of programs celebrating Lincoln’s 200th birthday.
Upcoming programs – Abraham Lincoln: The Writer, with featured speaker Eugene O’Connell, Past President of the Lincoln Association of Jersey City, on Wednesday, Jan. 21 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; Lincoln’s Virtues & the History of the Lincoln Association of Jersey City with featured Speaker Dennis Doran on Saturday, March 28, from 2 to 3:30 p.m., and Lincoln’s Influence on History: A Panel Discussion featuring Alex Booth, Guy Catrillo, John Hallanan, Eugene O’Connell & James Ryan on Saturday, April 25, from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
For more information, call (201) 547-4555. – RK