Gertrude S Capers

REFLECTIONS OF LIFE

Gertrude Stanton Capers was born on March 17, 1920 in Shores Virginia (later known as Palmyra), the daughter of James Stanton and Helena (Lena) Hamlin Stanton. As a young child her father died when she was two years old and soon after Gertrude and her two sisters, Marcella and Mary, went to live with her grandparents James and Lucy Hamlin in Farmville, Virginia until she moved north to New Jersey to be with her mother who had remarried and had a son Alexander Bradshaw(her brother). On Tuesday, October 8,2019 at 6:33 pm it was pronounced under Hospice care that Gertrude entered into eternal rest while lying in her bedroom in Ringwood, New Jersey.

A Life and Career of Courage, Love and God

Gertrude was a young woman of faith and had an extremely strong work ethic. As a young girl growing up in the South, in the 1920’s, the fourth generation of a slave, listening to her great-grandmother tell stories of her birth and how she was treated after slavery, Gertrude knew she could never live in the South. Moving to the North to be with her mother was a welcomed opportunity. She met her husband Augustus, (affectionately known as Gus) after she moved to Paterson, New Jersey. They married soon after he graduated from Lincoln University and while attending Howard University Dental School. While Gus was in dental school Gertrude, became committed to confronting the injustices she observed suffered by blacks in the community. She felt “this was her opportunity to make a difference”. She observed her aunt Ethel Foster’s neighbors, who lived with archaic and oppressive sanitary conditions; she was appalled that these conditions existed! That’s when she first organized a committee to visit the mayor, who was Republican Mayor Furry during the years 1942/1943. This was the first of many of her civil rights battles to seek justice for her entire Paterson community. Gertrude worked diligently alongside her husband of over sixty years in service of the community of Paterson to alleviate inequalities in the community. Gus and Gertrude founded the first black democratic club in the city of Paterson serving the community by advancing equality in housing and employment opportunities within the City Administration, the Board of Education and the Police Department of Paterson. Augustus, with the support of Gertrude, was elected as the first black State Assemblyman from Passaic County.

Gertrude’s faith in God was the guiding light that sustained her throughout her civil rights battles for others and personally. Even when she moved with her husband and children to live in an all-white neighborhood, facing the firebombing of her home, she never lost faith. This continued when she designed and built her home in Ringwood. Although growing up through racial strife and challenges she never accepted social limitations or barriers imposed upon her.

Gertrude was a woman of incomparable wisdom, insight, intuition, knowledge and understanding with a deep and abiding religious faith. She was able to quote the Bible chapter and verse to aptly understand her journey of life, teaching and sharing this wisdom with her loved ones and friends. Her keen insight transcended the ordinary and she reached a state of enlightenment not experienced by many. She was a refined woman, a spirited conversation partner with a strong will. Both Gertrude and Gus were honored by the Paterson Public Library. Her poignant memoir, “A Scent from the Blue Ridge” (under pen name Trudi Capers) serves as a tribute to her husband’s accomplishments and a reflection of the history and the genesis of the civil rights movement in the City of Paterson, while tracing her family’s roots from slave and Native American Indian ancestry. Gertrude was indeed a special woman, a talented author and an avid reader. Gertrude held the special genius of a women who was electric in movement, intuitive in function and spiritual in tendency!

She leaves to cherish her memory: her three children -artist Selena James of Arizona; 

Hon. Michelle Hollar-Gregory, Superior Court Judge, retired, of New Jersey; and retired financial consultant Augustus, Jr. of New Jersey; as well as three grandchildren Dr. Robert James, Jr., M.D.; Ryan Hollar-Gregory, MBA and his wife Hemilyn; Kyle Hollar-Gregory, Esq.; son in laws Robert A. James, Sr. and Milton Hollar-Gregory, Esq.; and three great grandchildren Sean, Myles and Leila Hollar-Gregory and many other family members and friends.

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