Oral History Interview with Jacqueline Hardy-Casey

Oral History Interview with Jacqueline Hardy-Casey

May 31, 2017

In 2015, the Library began recording interviews as part of a special initiative to create an audio archive of Plainfield residents' memories of the 1967 civil disorder. Project transcription was completed with funding received from the Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs.

Jacqueline Hardy-Casey Interview MELINDA ALLEN-GROTE: Today is May 31, 2017, and I am Melinda Allen-Grote, and I’m meeting with Jacqueline Hardy-Casey at the Plainfield Public Library in Plainfield, New Jersey. Thank you so much for agreeing to participate in this project, this oral history project. Tell me a little bit about what you remember the number -- the year 1967 and where you were. JACQUELINE HARDY-CASEY: The year 1967, I was married and had a child, and lived at 217 Church Street, which was right next door to the Plainfield Courier News. My child was, like, six months old. And I continued to live there all the way through 2000 -- [01:00] I mean 1970, but I was there during the Plainfield riots. My brother was the reporter for the Plainfield Courier News. In actuality, he was a sports reporter, but because of his racial -- his race background -- he was black and they asked him to be the reporter for the Plainfield riots when it was going on, because they could not send Caucasian reporters down there because they were being attacked. So he was the main reporter for that incident. MG: So tell me what you remember of that summer. JH: Well, I remember it being very hot. At that point, [02:00] other than just word of mouth that things were going to happen, through people just talking and my husband coming back and mentioning that there are going to be some incidents going on during this period, because of certain situations that had occurred in the town. And at that point, we really didn’t pay it much attention until actually the incident occurred. The riots were just something that was unbelievable to me. I know it had broke out in other towns, like in Newark, but I never thought it would reach our town, because it was such a quiet town and well-maintained town. People got along with one another. So I was just, like, really [03:00] outdone that it occurred in Plainfield. I lived in Plainfield all my life. My parents were original Plainfielders as well. And during that summer when the riots occurred, I was in the apartment and my brother told me to -- I was downtown shopping and my brother told me to go home. He said, “It’s going to get kind of really nasty, you know. I suggest you go home and stay in the house.” So me and my husband did with the one child. [04:00] I’ll never forget -- he was in a NBC news car and I saw him drive by me, and he said, “Go home. Go home.” And at that point, we went home. As night fell, we started to hear gunshots. They were shooting at the police station, which was the railroad tracks just beyond -- what is the name of that street? That’s not Roosevelt. Church Street. I lived on Church Street, so the railroad tracks were not that far from me, and they were actually shooting at the police station, and we could hear the gunshots. So we actually slept on the floor because of the danger. At that point, as the night went on, [05:00] it began to get worse. And I remember my brother coming to my apartment, because he worked right next door to the Courier News, so that was the main building. So he came to my house and he was throwing up in the toilet. I mean, in the bathroom. I could hear him vomiting. And he said, “They just killed an officer.” And I said, “What? Oh my god.” He said, “Yeah. I saw them kill an officer. Brutally beat him to death.” And so at that point, he got something to eat because he said he hadn’t eaten all day. And he left and he went back to the newspaper headquarters there, and things still continued to erupt, and we still continued to stay in the apartment, [06:00] because we couldn’t go out because there were, you know, shots being fired all over the place, and so we were in danger. You know, they actually were shooting at the Courier News building, and we were just like the only house on the street that was next to the Courier News. And so at that point, we just basically stayed in the house. And my brother told me that he had taken pictures of them beating the officer to death, but they had took his camera and -- MG: Who’s they? JH: The rioters. The rioters had taken his camera. They had surrounded him because they saw that he was taking pictures. And they said, “Well, get him. Get him.” And they went to run after him [07:00] and caught him, and they were going to shoot him. And the guy -- one guy of the rioters knew our family and said, “No, man. Do not shoot him. Just take the camera. Just take the camera. All we want is the camera.” So they did take the camera and destroy it, and he was devastated because he had actually saw what went on. And at that point, he was interviewed -- because this was a crime, he was interviewed by prosecutor’s office, FBI, you know, all types of political -- not political. Police, FBI, [08:00] anybody who was involved as far as during that time that that incident happened. But they specifically wanted to interview him, and they felt that he knew more than what he knew, because he was there at the time that the officer was beaten to death. And so they felt that he could point out people or say people’s names, which he didn’t know because he was in college at the time, so he really didn’t know some of the faces or names to attach to the faces. So they kept questioning him and questioning him. They had to put my mother and my sister in a secure place because they had gotten threats. My sister and my mother lived in an apartment together, and they had to remove them from that apartment because people were coming there at night, [09:00] knocking on the door, and asking where her son was. And she said, “Well, I don’t know where he is.” They destroyed her car. And at that point, my brother was contacted by -- I guess he was brought in as a person of interest because of what he saw, and at that point they felt the people who actually did the crime -- (phone ringing) excuse me. The people who did the crime were worried about that he was going to testify to the fact that they saw him kill the officer. So like I said, they had to put my mother and sister in [10:00] protective custody. They were removed from the home that they were living in and put somewhere for safety and that lasted for about -- maybe about two weeks to a month. He had to testify in front of Kerner -- whoever investigates riots of that nature. I can’t think of the name right now. I know I know it, but I just can’t think of it. But anyway, at that point, he had to not be here. He had to move. He had to find some secure place to live, because they were looking for him. And at that point, he was interviewed by NBC News, the Kerner Report, [11:00] because they were doing an investigation as to why the riots had happened in such a small town. And they, you know, were looking for answers. So at that point, he continued to be interviewed over a period of at least a couple of years, off and on. And they actually finally located the individuals who had committed the crime and were going to prosecute them at that point. And so I guess they needed his testimony and he had to testify. And you know, it was like a nightmare. It really was. You know, our family was victimized based on the fact that -- him being involved with the riots and what he saw. Not only by the people [12:00] who actually committed the crime, but also authorities. Our family was victimized based on that. Then it -- you know, the town was never the same afterwards. Never the same. It was a beautiful town. And it was a shame that it got to that point that it totally destroyed the town and some of the people, you know. So it was something of an experience. I’m quite sure I would not have been as involved as much as I was, only because of my brother. And so I just remember so many vivid things [13:00] at that time, because of him being involved in that. Other than that, I probably would have just, you know, closed my door like everybody else and stayed in the house, you know. MG: You mentioned early on that there were some incidents that had happened that you thought had provoked this. Can you talk a little bit about that? JH: Yes. Some people said that some officers had abused a woman and they didn’t like it, and why did they abuse her, and that sparked it off, I believe. And it didn’t take much because of what was going on in Newark, and Newark is not that far from us. And then they said we had a lot of outsiders come into the town and really pushed it more so than it probably would have been, with a lot of outsiders. [14:00] So that was word of mouth that my husband had told me, because he talked to certain guys out there, and that’s what he had told me. That’s what happened as to why the riots were sparked off, because of that incident. But I really don’t know for sure, but I just remember when it actually took place. MG: Did you have any sense of unrest in the community? JH: Prior to that? MG: Mm-hm. JH: No. Not at all. I don’t remember having any situations that I ran across or was involved with that would have caused that. Like I said, you know, a lot of people said that once Newark had started rioting, it spilt over into Plainfield. And the amount of [15:00] incidents that occurred off of that riot -- because there were other police officers that were killed after that -- for such a small town, and I don’t believe -- I don’t believe any other town had police officers killed. And Officer Gleason was the one that was totally brutally beat to death. So I mean, I don’t think Newark had that. Newark had shootings and so forth, but I don’t think police officers were killed. And so that really put a stigma on this town, that police officers were actually literally killed. MG: How do you think it changed the city? JH: Oh my god. The morale was not there. People started to move out. People were not as close-knit as they used to be. [16:00] It just completely changed within a matter of -- in a short period of time, people just weren’t the same anymore. And like I said, a lot of the people moved away from this town because of the riots that occurred here. MG: So you were 21 that summer? JH: Well, yes. No. 20. 1967 riots, I was born in ’47, so I was 20. MG: And so among your group of friends, was there concern about what was happening? Did you see a change in them and how they felt about Plainfield? JH: [17:00] Yes. In some ways, yes. They felt that they didn’t have the safety or the comradery of their friends and so forth, people they had went to school with. People were -- you know, I guess they were afraid. I don’t know whether they were afraid or just -- people changed. People changed, like, overnight. They weren’t as -- like I said, weren’t as friendly. Weren’t as close. You know, you had to not really go out of your circle. And if you did and you were seen with certain [18:00] individuals, you were, like, looked at, you know, for that reason. And I think that was a problem. MG: So an element of distrust formed? JH: Yes. Yes. Yes. I’ve had -- my mother even had friends that weren’t friends with her anymore because of that. I had friends that weren’t friends anymore to me, because my brother covered the Plainfield riots, and he had to testify as to what he saw. And that put a detriment on the individuals that were involved, and that caused people not to actually speak to us. Literally not speak to us after years of being friends and so forth. So I mean, we had both sides, [19:00] you know, being tormented at us. Both sides. And I don’t think any other family had that situation. Our family was unique because of my brother. And it really took away from this town, and this town has never been the same. And it’s been 50 years, and that’s a long time. So I don’t know whether it’ll ever get back to the same. I don’t know whether I’ll be around to see it, but it’s not the same. MG: How did this experience change you? JH: It changed me as far as being so -- [20:00] I guess taking things for granted, that things were going to stay the same all the time, and it didn’t. The town that I was born and raised in, went to school -- all the schools here. I just find it so difficult to accept that it has changed so much. And I find it being sad at times, because I can remember as a kid, you know, enjoying just the plain, ordinary things. Going to the ice cream stand and the hamburger stand and the playgrounds, and you couldn’t do that anymore. So I’m very sad about that. Very sad. MG: But you stayed? JH: Hm? MG: You stayed? JH: I stayed. Yes. [21:00] I stayed. All my family was here. We thought about moving away, but we didn’t. And I continue to live here. I raised my two kids here. And I just -- you know, a lot of people say, “Oh, you’re from Plainfield?” Yes, I am. I’m born and raised here, and I’m proud of it, you know. But a lot of people ask why you stayed, but I love the town. It’s just that -- it’s just -- it just hit rock bottom, and it’s -- it behooves me that, like I said, for a town to be this small and just be completely destroyed, you know, [22:00] morale of the town. The politics that goes on in the town. It’s destroyed the town. And it’s sad. And now I’m at the age -- I’m 70 now. I’m not going to move anywhere else. You know, I’m not moving anywhere else. I will always remain here, and my kids have remained here also, so -- MG: That’s a good legacy. JH: Yes. Yes. I just get sad when I see my downtown area looking the way it does. And there’s not a store down there that ever existed 50 years ago. Not one. Not one. And you know, maybe Pete’s Fish Market might still be there. Pete’s Fish Market is still there. [23:00] But the actual, really -- MG: What about Bill’s? Was Bill’s there? JH: No. No, it was not. The Frontier Diner was on that corner, and that was there. But as far as any businesses that are there now, were never there 50 years ago. And it was always a thing in Plainfield that the businesses were handed down through the families and that’s why they continued to thrive, and that’s how this town continued to thrive. Also, people from Westfield came to Plainfield to shop because of the stores that we had here. And I mean big department stores. And now, it’s vice versa. So I guess, you know, things just don’t stay the same, you know. So that, I’m very sad about. [24:00] Very sad about. But hopefully this town will come back to itself. Like I said, I don’t know whether I’ll be around to see it, but hopefully that I will be -- I contributed something as far as how I felt about the town and what I experienced here being a resident. MG: Thank you so much. JH: You’re welcome. END OF AUDIO FILE

NJ/DE Digital Collective

English

sound

http://cdm17109.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17109coll15/id/67

Civil disobedience; Civil rights