NEWARK — When political leaders, local reporters and visiting dignitaries are looking for a lesson in Newark history, Clement Price is the biggest man on campus. Now, another leader will lean on the Rutgers distinguished service history professor — for a national perspective. President Barack Obama announced Friday that Price, 65, will be appointed vice chairman for the president’s...
Rutgers professor Clement Price will be appointed vice chairman for the president's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.NEWARK — When political leaders, local reporters and visiting dignitaries are looking for a lesson in Newark history, Clement Price is the biggest man on campus.
Now, another leader will lean on the Rutgers distinguished service history professor — for a national perspective.
President Barack Obama announced Friday that Price, 65, will be appointed vice chairman for the president’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Price, known to many as a walking encyclopedia of Newark’s past and present, said he plans to use his new post to shine a light on some of the more neglected corners of U.S. history.
"It may be that historic preservation, which is something that has been focused on spaces and places of the elite classes, (is) steered toward what I always thought American history should be about, which is all Americans," said Price, adding that the lives of struggling workers, slaves and immigrants may form the focus of his preservation efforts.
Price, a longtime resident and one of the city’s most devoted admirers, also hopes to spread the word on Newark’s boons.
"Being from Newark, the third oldest American city, might mean that I could bring to the council an appreciation of the city," he said, adding he will be "trying to recover a difficult complicated and enviable past as a way to bring people back to the memories of their forebears."
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