CAMDEN, NJ (KYW Newsradio) — A fire at an abandoned home in Camden Saturday morning may have destroyed any possibility of an important historical landmark being preserved.
Officials say the fire happened around 3:15 a.m. at 753 Walnut St., a house that Martin Luther King, Jr. used to frequent while studying at Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Delaware County.
As of now, no one was injured, but the fire spread to the multi-family home connected to 753 where Vaughn Russell resides.
Russell was displaced by the fire but seemed more concerned about the destruction of King’s former home than his rental.
“It's just a shame,” he said. “It's a hope they can really find out what actually happened and make it a history museum for Martin Luther King.”
Activist Patrick Duff has been attempting to get the home listed on the state and national historic registry since 2015 but has done nothing but fight with New Jersey Historic Preservation Office about the application.
Almost five years after submitting the application, he heard back. The office rejected his request, stating there was insufficient evidence that a “significant” event happened at the address, and that Duff’s application and research failed to demonstrate the “strength and duration” of King’s visits to the house.
But Duff believes a significant event did happen there, as the house at 753 was where King made the deliberate decision to go to Mary’s Cafe, which had a reputation for not serving Black people, and conduct a non-violent protest if he were refused service.
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Notably, four young Black people who went to the cafe were denied service. They conducted a sit-in, left and reported the incident to the police. One of the signatures on the police report is King's, and the address accompanying the name is 753 Walnut Street in Camden.
“There's a resolution from the state of New Jersey, from the assembly and from the senate saying place this home on the New Jersey registry, there is a letter from the NAACP, there's a letter from Dr. Lewis Baldwin from Vanderbilt University saying place this home on the New Jersey register, but none of it's good enough,” Duff said.
“I find this to be a very good example of how the people of Camden have been neglected by the powers that be.”
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While no immediate cause for the fire was given, Duff believes “wilful neglect of the state caused this.”
“No matter if a squatter was in there and set the fire or even the fire was intentionally set. It was the willful neglect to leave this building the way it's been.”