UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 10, Page 5
November 5, 1992
Newark's black community subject of research project

     The black community of Newark is the focus of a research project
being conducted by a team of graduate students, under the direction of
Carole Marks, associate professor in the Black American Studies
Program.
     The project was suggested to University President David P.
Roselle by a group from the town's black community. Denise Hayman,
Delaware '77 , who grew up in Newark and is currently serving as an
employee counselor for the University of Maryland, was instrumental in
sparking interest in the research.
     With support from the  Office of the President, the Black
American Studies Program is carrying out the research, and Ronald
Whittington, assistant to the president, is serving as liaison.
     Evelyn Chaffin, a fourth-year graduate student in sociology who
did her undergraduate work at the University of Cincinnati, has been
awarded a research assistantship for the project.
     "It was felt that the population of the black community in Newark
was dispersing and disappearing as the population aged, and that it
was a valuable resource for research that should be tapped. We hope
that people will cooperate with the project, which will have
sociological and historical impact," Marks said.
     The graduate students have drawn up a questionnaire to survey the
current population, asking such questions as the number of people
living in a household, occupations, source of income, how long they
have lived in Newark and how they feel about the community
environment, including such things as shopping, churches,
transportation and police protection. Another part of the survey asks
about their relationship with the University and how they view the
University.
     The group will visit churches and community groups to ask local
citizens to cooperate with the survey. Some research has been carried
out on the historical aspects of the black experience in Newark, and
more emphasis will be placed on that after the students have completed
surveying the present population, Marks said.
     In addition to Chaffin, other graduate students involved in the
project, their fields of study and undergraduate schools are Dorian
Brown, political science, Spelman College; Hope Longwell-Grice,
educational development, Delaware '91; Stacy Palmer, sociology, St.
Mary's College of Maryland; and Tiffany Sanders, sociology, Jersey
City State College.
                                        -Sue Swyers Moncure