WALT WHITMAN HOUSE IN CAMDEN DESIGNATED NEW JERSEY LITERARY LANDMARK
For Immediate Release: November 6, 2009
Contacts: KEN SHUTTLEWORTH

The tiny row house on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Camden where famed poet Walt Whitman lived out his final years has been designated a New Jersey Literary Landmark by the New Brunswick-based New Jersey Center for the Book.

“This honor highlights the fact that Camden is in the midst of a cultural renaissance as well as a transformation characterized by approximately $1 billion in new construction throughout the city,” said Camden County Freeholder Riletta L. Cream, who organized today’s event to commemorate the designation.

A freeholder since 1994, Ms. Cream joined the board after a long career as a legendary educator in Camden, culminating in her service as principal of Camden High School in the 1970s and 1980s. Among other duties, she is the seven-member governing body’s liaison to Camden County College, the county-operated Technical Schools and the Camden County Library System.

“We are delighted to receive this honor for it validates Camden’s stature in the international literary community. Walt Whitman did some of his best work while living in our city,” said the long-time champion of expanding learning opportunities not only in Camden but throughout all 37 municipalities in the county.

“The Literary Landmark designation is a boon to community pride and tourism,” added Renee B. Swartz, chairwoman of the New Jersey Center for the Book. Ms Swartz was the featured speaker at the ceremonial celebration of the designation in the Student Center on the Camden campus of Rutgers University.

Ms. Swartz said that the Center has as its mission the celebration of books, reading, libraries, and the diverse literary history of New Jersey. The Newark Public Library was the first building named a Literary Landmark in 2002. Since then two other sites – the Paterson Public Library and the Joyce Kilmer tree on Rutgers’ main campus – have been designated Literary Landmarks.

In addition to Ms. Swartz and Freeholder Cream, the program featured Rutgers history professor Howard Gillette, who wrote The Rise and Fall of Camden; Monsignor Michael Doyle, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Camden, a Whitman fan and distinguished poet in his own right; Chancellor Wendell Pritchett of Rutgers-Camden, and President Raymond Yannuzzi of Camden County College.

There were recitations, a performance from one of Whitman’s favorite operas and mini-exhibits and photos about Whitman, his home and his connection to Camden in the latter part of the 19th Century.

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