Here’s 11 sites of New Jersey’s Black History that are getting historical markers this year

Samuel C. Still III has been a caretaker of his family’s history in New Jersey since he was in the single digits.

Around the time he was eight or nine years old, Still started spending his summers reading the autobiography of his relative Dr. James Still . Born in 1812, James Still was the son of enslaved parents who had only three months of formal education. Despite these odds, he taught himself how to distill herbs and become “the Black Doctor of the Pines.” By the time James Still passed away in 1882, he was the third wealthiest landowner in Burlington, N.J. This was all important information for the young Samuel Still to know as the second great-grandnephew of James Still. Now the entire state of New Jersey will have an opportunity to become more familiar with his family’s legacy.