The Franklin Park Tragedy: A Forgotten Story of Racial Injustice in New Jersey

Author and historian Brian Armstrong tells the shocking story of this “sundown town” and how it evolved into the diverse community that exists today. In March 1894, two African American men broke into a home in rural Franklin Park and murdered a white woman and her daughter before her husband fought and killed the attackers. The newspapers called it the “Franklin Park Tragedy,” and the story captivated public attention nationally and abroad. Another tragedy came afterward, with the racist forced expulsion of many local African American residents.