Ranney Graduate Honored For Her Historical Research

Kate Guidone, Class of 2008, was recently honored for her historical contributions to the Borough of Fair Haven. During a special ceremony held in September by the Fair Haven Borough Council, she was presented with a framed proclamation by Mayor Michael Halfacre for her research on the freed black descendents of Fair Haven.

As part of her senior Capstone Project at Ranney, Kate spent two years researching the Freed Black Descendents of Fair Haven, New Jersey to eventually provide a full recorded account on this undocumented history. Her research included interviews with the descendents of the freed slaves and book research on the slave communities in New York and New Jersey. Her recordings, along with her 50-page research report entitled “The Relevance of History: The Black Community of Fair Haven,” was presented to the Fair Haven Library for their archives - the only historical record of a population that is slowly dwindling in numbers.

The decision to write about a community of descendents of freed black slaves who live in the same Fair Haven neighborhood their ancestors helped build grew out of her desire to pursue a history that was in danger of being lost. In her research, Kate documented a dwindling African American population in Fair Haven – the result of an aging population, high property taxes and lack of job opportunities. Said Kate, “Every time someone passes away, a bundle of history disappears with them. Their memory and the voices of their ancestors could be lost forever.” Several of her interview subjects have since died.

Kate is continuing to pursue her love of history and research as a Medieval History major at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

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