[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 138 (Thursday, November 13, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H7942]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE LIFE OF DR. CLEMENT ALEXANDER PRICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Lance) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LANCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Dr. Clement 
Alexander Price, a shining figure in New Jersey society and culture, a 
respected professor and historian, and a beloved family member and 
friend, who died last week and leaves behind an extraordinarily 
distinguished record of public service.
  Dr. Price was a true ambassador for his beloved Newark, our State's 
largest city. He was a widely respected public intellectual whose 
eloquence and wisdom helped heal a city at a crossroads, educate the 
next generation of civic leaders, and shape the decisions that have 
advanced New Jersey.
  A native of the then-segregated Washington, D.C., Dr. Price rose to 
receive degrees from the University of Bridgeport and from Rutgers, the 
State University of New Jersey, and spent his life in helping to 
transform America to a brighter, fairer, integrated society.
  As a Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor at Rutgers 
Newark, Dr. Price's gifts as a teacher were valued by hundreds of 
students who sought him out as a mentor and by faculty and 
administration who respected his expertise and energy.
  Dr. Price was an accomplished author and the State's foremost 
authority on African American history.
  He wrote ``Freedom Not Far Distant, A Documentary History of Afro-
Americans in New Jersey,'' and other works that explored the history of 
race and culture in Newark and in New Jersey. He most recently 
coauthored ``Slave Culture: A Documentary Collection of the Slave 
Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project.''
  Dr. Price was also a major presence on the civic stage. President 
Obama appointed him as chair of his transition team for the National 
Endowment for the Humanities and as vice chair of the Advisory Council 
on Historic Preservation. He was Newark's official historian. He 
chaired the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. He was a trustee of 
the Fund for New Jersey, the Newark Public Library, the Geraldine R. 
Dodge Foundation, the Newark Education Trust, and the Save Ellis Island 
Foundation.
  He was chief historical consultant for the Jewish Museum's 
Exhibition, ``Bridges and Boundaries: African Americans and American 
Jews.'' He cofounded the Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series, the 
oldest, largest, and most prestigious Black History Month event in the 
State. He was a member of the Scholarly Advisory Committee to the 
National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian 
Institution, which is currently being built here on The Mall in 
Washington.
  Dr. Price is survived by his wife, Mary Sue Sweeney Price, who is 
widely respected for her outstanding leadership for almost a generation 
as director and CEO of the Newark Museum, our State's greatest museum.
  My wife, Heidi, and I are grateful to have known Clement Price. We 
and the people of our State mourn his untimely passing. We extend our 
deepest sympathy to Mary Sue and to his legions of friends and admirers 
in Newark, in New Jersey, and across the United States.
  When he last visited me on Capitol Hill several months ago, he was, 
as usual, filled with optimism and good cheer. On behalf of the 
Congress of the United States, I celebrate the distinguished life of 
Dr. Clement Alexander Price in service to the Nation.

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