Assistant Director of Special Collections
at Newark Public Library Receives Key to the City
October 26, 2005

Charles F. Cummings, Assistant Director of Special Collections at the Newark Public Library, received the key to the city from Newark Mayor Sharpe James on Wednesday, October 26. Mayor James stated, "If we do not remember the past, we will forget the mistakes of the past."

"I have enjoyed working with thousands of people who have a great respect for the city," Cummings said. He also stated that he came to the library 42 years ago because it had a great reputation as a research library.

As part of his work in Special Collections, Cummings has indexed the Star-Ledger from 1972 to 1998, and has preserved Newark News materials on microfilm. He also writes a weekly Star-Ledger article called, "Knowing Newark," which discusses the city's history.

On October 23, 2005, Cummings was also awarded the 2005 Public Humanities Award from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, for "exemplary work in the public humanities" which has "made a significant and lasting difference in the lives of New Jerseyans." He shared this award with author and historian John T. Cunningham.