NJ – Newark: Essex County Legends WayKenneth Gibson
Image by wallyg
This memorial plaque was dedicated in honor of Kenneth A. Gibson along Essex County Legends Way, in Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. Park by Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVenincenzo, Jr. in 2019.
Kenneth A. Gibson (1932-2019) served as the 36th Mayor Newark, from 1970 to 1986, and was the first African American elected mayor of any major city in the Northeastern United States. Born in Alabama, Gibson grew up in Newark, where he attended Central High School before studying civil engineering at Newark College of Engineering (now New Jersey Institute of Technology). He later worked as an engineer for the New Jersey Highway Department, Chief Engineer for the Newark Housing Authority, and chief structural engineer for the city of Newark. As mayor of Newark, he assumed leadership of a city that was still in turmoil following the 1967 riots, inheriting a community that was divided racially, socially and economically.