State Sen. Troy Singleton is honoring Black History Month by hosting his monthly community event at The Dr. James Still Historic Office Visitor Center.
February marks a century of national Black history commemorations.
For that, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) in Washington, D.C., will hold programming during the month that celebrates the observance’s 2026 theme, a century of Black History commemorations.
Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, George Cleveland Hall, William D. Hartgrove, Jesse E. Moorland, Alexander L. Jackson and James E. Stamps institutionalized the teaching, study, dissemination and commemoration of Black history when they founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) on Sept. 9, 1915.
“For our 100th theme, the founders of Black History Month urge us to explore the impact and meaning of Black history and life commemorations in transforming the status of Black peoples in the modern world,” the ASALH posted on its website.
The association is hosting a number of events to celebrate with a number of speakers, a book prize event and a luncheon.
Closer to home, state Sen. Troy Singleton is honoring the month by hosting his monthly community event – Serve with Sen. Singleton – at the Dr. James Still Historic Office Site and Visitor Center in Medford. He and a group of volunteers will be tasked with painting and moving cabinets and shelving units from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Anyone interested in volunteering can sign-up on Singleton’s website at www.troysingleton.com/jamesstill
The volunteer effort will be his 82nd Serve with Senator Singleton event since he was elected in 2018. To date, more than 3,200 hours have been donated by volunteers to local community service projects.
“With February being African American History Month, the Dr. James Still Historic Site is a perfect place to volunteer our services, as Dr. Still was a successful African American physician whose legacy is important to protect and preserve,” Singleton noted. “Dr. Still’s historic office and visitor center provide education to this community and beyond with presentations and trails that surround the location.
“I look forward to working with our volunteers to improve this space.”
The mission of the Dr James Still Historic Site and Education Center is to preserve the legacy of the “Black Doctor of the Pines” and the town Still called home. The doctor practiced medicine specifically focused on medical botany, and became the third largest landowner in Burlington County in the 19th century.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has expanded its community involvement to include health and wellness programming and presentations on Dr. Still, among other events. Last year saw the completion of a nearly $1.75-million, multi-year stabilization and restoration project that lets visitors experience Still’s office much as it appeared in 1855.
Work began in 2019 to stabilize the structure and restore the historic office to reflect its original design. The DEP held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the restoration and also unveiled a New Jersey Black Heritage Trail marker at the office site on Sept. 29.
“Dr. James Still’s life story of perseverance, and his unwavering determination to help others, serves as an inspiration for us all,” then New Jersey DEP Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette commented.
The Still area is the state park service’s first African American historic site. The DEP purchased the Still site in 2006 with Green Acres funds. Since then, additional adjacent parcels of land have been acquired by the DEP State Park Service, bringing the site’s total size to 22 acres.
