Charles Cummings (June 27, 1937 – December 21, 2005)
Charles Franklin Cummings was born in 1937 in Puerto Rico where his parents worked for the United States Geological Survey and was raised in Virginia. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in American History from the University of Alabama, a Master’s degree in the same field from Vanderbilt University and a Master’s degree in library science from Rutgers University. He came to Newark in 1963 to work at The Newark Public Library. Over the years, he took on various duties — archivist, curator, Director of Special Collections and later became the official historian for a city he grew to love enormously – Newark, NJ. His books and newspaper articles helped raised the image of a city beset by the politics of the day — to a level of prominence. When he died in 2005 at the age of 63, the city lost more than a librarian or historian, it lost one who increased the city’s profile and prominence. The light of his great deeds, accomplishments and contributions to Newark will shine on the city forever.