New Jersey Southern Railroad and Betty Shabazz: Difference between pages

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Difference between pages)
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→‎ConRail and beyond: language and links
 
 
Line 1: Line 1:
{{refimprove|date=January 2008}}
== Raritan and Delaware Bay Railroad ==
{{Infobox Person |
name=Betty Shabazz |
image= |
caption= |
dead=dead |
birth_date={{birth date|1936|5|28|mf=y}} |
birth_place=[[Detroit, Michigan]], [[United States|U.S.]] |
death_date={{death date and age|1997|6|23|1936|5|28}}|
death_place=[[Bronx, New York]], [[United States|U.S.]]
}}


'''Dr. Betty Shabazz''' (born '''Betty Jean Saunders''') ([[May 28]], [[1936]] – [[June 23]] [[1997]]), also known as '''Betty X''', was the wife of [[Malcolm X]].
'''The New Jersey Southern Railroad''' (NJS) began life as the Raritan and Delaware Bay Railroad Company (R&DB), in March 1854. The R&DB was chartered to construct a railroad from the [[Raritan Bay]] to [[Cape Island]] (Cape May), near the outlet of the [[Delaware Bay]]. It was to form part of a rail and water route from [[New York City|New York]] to [[Norfolk, Virginia]].<ref>New York Times, 20 June 1860</ref>


==Background==
Construction began in 1858 from [[Port Monmouth, New Jersey|Port Monmouth]] on Raritan Bay. The first segment opened in June 1860 ran south via [[Red Bank, New Jersey|Red Bank]] as far as [[Eatontown, New Jersey|Eatontown]] and then by a branch running east to the wealthy resort town of [[Long Branch, New Jersey|Long Branch]] on the shore. It was the first railroad to reach Long Branch. Summer service in the first year was three train and boat trips per day in each direction.<ref>New York Times, 20 June 1860</ref>
There is an air of uncertainty about Betty Shabazz's background and early life. Shabazz was born in [[Detroit, Michigan]] as Betty Saunders; reportedly the daughter of Shelman Sandlin and Ollie Mae Saunders. Shabazz was an [[illegitimate child]] and had a scattered childhood. Still a child, Betty was taken in by [[foster parent]]s after her troubled childhood and grew up with in their sheltered, loving, middle-class household in Detroit.


==Early years==
Later in 1860 the main line was continued south to [[Lakewood Township, New Jersey|Lakewood]], and onward to Whitings ([[Manchester Township, New Jersey|Manchester Township]]), and [[Atsion, New Jersey|Atsion]] (now in [[Wharton State Forest]]) in 1862.<ref>Warren B Crater, ''New Jersey Central Album'', 1963, p.18</ref> The route passed through the center of the lightly populated [[Pine Barrens (New Jersey)|Pine Barrens]], and was connected to towns on [[Barnegat Bay]] only by stages running on public roads. The only early branch line (besides the one to Long Branch) ran from Lakehurst to the bay town of Toms River.
After high school, Shabazz left the comfortable home of her foster parents in Detroit to study at the [[Tuskegee University|Tuskegee Institute]] (now Tuskegee University), a well-known historically black college in [[Alabama]]. It was at Alabama that she encountered her first racial hostilities. She did not understand the causes for the racial issues, and her parents refused to acknowledge these issues. She mentioned this in an autobiographical essay she wrote in 1992, published in [[Essence (magazine)|Essence Magazine]]: ''"They thought [the problems] were my fault."'


Shabazz moved to [[New York City]] to escape [[Southern United States|Southern]] [[racism]], and enrolled as a nursing student at the [[Brooklyn State Hospital]] School of Nursing. While in New York, Shabazz's friend invited her to hear [[Elijah Muhammad]] and Malcolm X from the [[Nation of Islam]] speak at an Islamic temple (Temple No. 7 in [[Harlem]]). According to the Essence essay, Shabazz's friend offered to introduce her to Malcolm X after his speech. Betty's initial reaction was ''"big deal".'' She continues: ''"But then, I looked over and saw this man on the extreme right aisle sort of galloping to the [[wiktionary:podium|podium]]. He was tall, he was thin, and the way he was galloping it looked as though he was going someplace much more important than the podium... Well, he got to the podium and I sat up straight. I was impressed with him."'' They discussed the racism she encountered in Alabama, and she began to understand its causes, pervasiveness, and effects. Soon, Betty was attending all of Malcolm's lectures. By the time she graduated from nursing school in 1958, she was a member of the Nation of Islam. Muhammad bestowed of his followers the last name "X", representing the [[African]] family name they would never know. She changed her name to "Betty X" a result of her Nation of Islam influence.
Starting in September 1862, the D&RB and the [[Camden and Atlantic Railroad]] offered a service between New York and [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]] once a day, without change of trains between Port Monmouth to [[Camden, New Jersey|Camden]]. To make this possible the D&RB had built a connecting line from Atsion to [[Atco, New Jersey|Atco]] on the C&A.<ref>New York Times, 27 December 1862</ref> As roundabout as it was, this service caused controversy because it broke the state-authorized monopoly of the [[Camden and Amboy Railroad]] for travel between New York and Philadelphia. The Camden and Amboy took the matter to court, and tried to use its influence in the state legislature to dissolve the D&RB, while the D&RB appealed to the United States Congress to protect its operation as a mail route.<ref>New York Times, 1 April 1864</ref> Through service to Camden was discontinued in February 1866, and in December 1867 the D&RB lost its case on appeal and was required to close the section of line south of Atsion, making it impossible for passengers to travel to Camden even by changing trains.<ref>New York Times, 28 February 1866, 14 December 1867</ref> The Camden and Amboy's zealous defense of its rights is all the more remarkable because the monopoly was set to expire on January 1, 1869.


===Marriage===
The Camden and Amboy further weakened the D&RB by supporting a competing service to Long Branch. The Long Branch and Sea Shore Railroad was opened in 1865 from Spermaceti Cove on [[Sandy Hook]] down the narrow [[sand spit]] to a station in Long Branch near the D&RB station. This route was shorter and faster both by sea and land than the D&RB route, which had been built incidental to the main line to southern New Jersey. The Camden and Amboy supplied the locomotives and cars for the new road.<ref>Joel Rosenbaum and Tom Gallo, ''Iron Horses Across the Garden State'', Railpace, 1985, p.9.</ref> The LB&SS would later be part of the New Jersey Southern.
In her autobiographical essay for Essence Magazine in 1992, Shabazz said, ''"I never '[[date]]d' Malcolm as we think of it because at the time single men and women in the Muslims did not 'fraternize' as they called it. Men and women always went out in groups."'' In 1958, after she had completed nursing school, Malcolm X, who was traveling the country at the time, called her from Detroit and proposed marriage. Before the week was out, Betty aged 22 and Malcolm aged 33 were married.


After their split from The Nation of Islam in 1964, Malcolm and Betty X adopted the last name, Shabazz. Together, they had six daughters &mdash; [[Attallah Shabazz|Attallah]] (b. 1958), [[Qubilah Shabazz|Qubilah]] (b. 1960), [[Ilyasah Shabazz|Ilyasah]] (b. 1963), [[Gamilah Shabazz|Gamilah]] (b. 1964) and twins [[Malaak Shabazz|Malaak]] and [[Malikah Shabazz|Malikah]] (b. 1965, seven months after Malcolm X's death).
The D&RB company, having exhausted its limited resources on court fees, went into bankruptcy, and was reorganized under new management as the New Jersey Southern Railroad near the end of 1869. That same summer, a cooperative arrangement with the Camden and Amboy permitted operation of a train service from Philadelphia to Long Branch, via [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]], [[Monmouth Junction, New Jersey|Monmouth Junction]], and [[Farmingdale, New Jersey|Farmingdale]], using the D&RB main line and branch north of Farmingdale.<ref>New York Times, 15 June 1869 and 18 June 1869</ref>


===Husband's Assassination===
== New Jersey Southern Railroad ==
In February of 1965 their family survived the [[firebomb]]ing of their home. On [[February 21]], [[1965]], Shabazz and her four young children witnessed the assassination of Malcolm X in the [[Audubon Ballroom]] in Harlem. It was reported that Shabazz was in the audience and covered her girls with her own body on the ballroom floor as the assassins' bullets flew.


[[Alex Haley]] wrote in ''[[The Autobiography of Malcolm X]]'', "''Sister Betty came through the people, herself a nurse, and people recognizing her moved back; she fell on her knees, looking down on his bare, bullet-pocked chest, sobbing, 'They killed him!' " ''
The new company was created by railroad financier Jay Gould. He had first taken over the Long Branch and Sea Side Railroad, when it was of no further interest to the Camden and Amboy. From this base he then acquired the former D&RB and financed further extensions by nominally separate companies. The main line was extended south of Atsion, crossing the Camden and Atlantic at [[Winslow Junction, New Jersey|Winslow Junction]], to [[Vineland, New Jersey|Vineland]], the center of a rich agricultural area, in 1870, and continued onward to Delaware Bay at [[Bay Side, New Jersey|Bay Side]] in 1871. The plan now was to reach [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]] with a boat across Delaware Bay, a railroad across the [[Delmarva Peninsula]] via [[Smyrna, Delaware]], and then by boat again across Chesapeake Bay. An announcement to that effect was made in 1873 over the signature of [[Jay Gould]], President.<ref>New York Times, 28 May 1873</ref>


One of the three assassins was captured at the scene, and all three were members of the Nation of Islam. Later, each was convicted and sent to prison.
Two branch lines were built by associated companies from Whitings. One, later acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad, ran west to meet a railroad from Camden at [[Pemberton, New Jersey|Pemberton]]. The other, the Tuckerton Railroad, ran southeast to reach the bay towns from [[Waretown, New Jersey|Waretown]] to [[Tuckerton, New Jersey|Tuckerton]]. The new sections greatly increased freight traffic and improved the company's finances.<ref>New York Times, 23 August 1871</ref>


===Life after Malcolm X's assassination===
The Sandy Hook route had been further improved in 1870 by an extension of the railroad to Horse Shoe Cove. This dock was more sheltered than Port Monmouth, and its better access to shore points made it the preferred route. Boat service to Port Monmouth was discontinued about 1871. Trains now ran through from Sandy Hook to Long Branch to Eatontown Junction and from there down the NJS main line to southern New Jersey. Some service continued to run on the old NJS route from Port Monmouth via Red Bank to Eatontown.<ref>Scribner's Monthly, August 1876, p.595 ; Crater, p.18</ref>
====Hajj====
She performed the [[Hajj]] in [[Mecca]] and considered herself a [[Sunni Muslim]]. Shabazz held her conviction about the role of the Nation of Islam in Malcolm X's assassination until 1995 when she had a public reconciliation with [[Louis Farrakhan]], the head of the Nation of Islam.


In the essay for Essence Magazine in 1992, Shabazz confessed, ''I really don't know where I'd be today if I had not gone to Mecca to make Hajj shortly after Malcolm was assassinated. . And that is what helped put me back on track. I remembered one of the things Malcolm always said to me is, 'Don't be bitter. Remember [[Lot (Biblical)|Lot]]'s wife when they kill me, and they surely will. You have to use all of your energy to do what it is you have to do.' ''
Gould lost control of the company in the [[Panic of 1873]] and it went into receivership.<ref>New York Times, 14 May 1879</ref>


====Education====
Rail service to the [[Monmouth County, New Jersey|Monmouth County]] coast was revolutionized by the opening of the [[New York and Long Branch Railroad]] in 1875 from [[Perth Amboy, New Jersey|Perth Amboy]] to Long Branch, the so-called "all rail route" from [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]] operated by the [[Central Railroad of New Jersey]]. The NY&LB crossed the NJS mainline at Red Bank and the NJS Long Branch branch on the west side of town at Branchport. This was now the third railroad to Long Branch.<ref>Crater, p.19</ref> The time by rail from New York (including a ten-minute ferry ride to Jersey City) was about 1 hour 40 minutes. The "bay route" to Sandy Hook took about 2 hours but writers of the period considered it preferable, at least in good weather. The New York and Long Branch was extended by separate companies to [[Sea Girt, New Jersey|Sea Girt]] in 1876 and to [[Point Pleasant, New Jersey|Point Pleasant]] in 1880.<ref>Crater, p.18-19</ref>
When Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965, the couple had four daughters. Shabazz was pregnant with twins at the time of his assassination. She was a registered nurse, having earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Brooklyn State Hospital School of Nursing in 1958. She continued her education by enrolling in [[Jersey City State College]]. Shabazz was determined to provide for her family and serve as a role model for her children. She received a Bachelor of Arts in public health education from Jersey City State College. She returned to pursue her Master of Arts in public health education from Jersey City State College in 1970. In 1975, she received her Ph.D. in education administration at the [[University of Massachusetts at Amherst]]. She was a member of [[Delta Sigma Theta]] Sorority, Inc.


<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[Image:Ilyasah shabazz growingupx.jpg|140px|thumb|right|Ilyasah Shabazz's autobiography, ''Growing Up X'', published in 2002.]] -->
The idea of connecting New York and Philadelphia was revived for about two years from 1878 to 1880. The new route ran by rail from Sandy Hook via Long Branch and Eatontown and Whitings, and then west via Pemberton to Camden. Travellers could leave New York by boat at 11:00 morning and arrive at Philadelphia by ferry at 4:20 afternoon.<ref>Rosenbaum and Gallo, p.11</ref> The Pennsylvania Railroad acquired the Pemberton route in 1879, and used it and new construction to create a new route from Camden to Long Branch in 1881, running via Toms River and [[Seaside Heights, New Jersey|Seaside Heights]] to the end of the New York and Long Branch Railroad at [[Bay Head, New Jersey|Bay Head]], just south of Point Pleasant.


====Raising family====
The New Jersey Southern was acquired by the Central Railroad of New Jersey in September 1879, but a CNJ timetable of July 1878 shows that the NJS was already operated by the CNJ at that date. The CNJ moved to consolidate operations of the rail and bay routes. A new link was built in 1878 from the NJS Long Branch station, now called East Long Branch, to the NY&LB at West End, on the south end of the town. The main services were now: Jersey City to Point Pleasant over the New York and Long Branch; Sandy Hook to East Long Branch and (via the new link) to Point Pleasant; and Jersey City to southern New Jersey, turning off the New York and Long Branch at Red Bank into the NJS main line. The old NJS main line from Port Monmouth to Red Bank was downgraded to a branch with minimal train service. The NJS line from East Long Branch to Eatontown saw slightly better service that allowed passengers to use the bay route and connect at Eatontown for southern New Jersey .<ref>Elaine Anderson, ''The Central Railroad of New Jersey's First 100 Years'', Center for Canal History and Technology, 1984, p.66,70</ref>
Betty Shabazz raised her six daughters, Attallah, Qubilah, Ilyasah, Gamilah, and twins Malikah and Malaak, in the Islamic faith.


According to daughter Ilyasah Shabazz's autobiography, ''[[Growing Up X]]'' (2002), after Malcolm X's demise, Betty Shabazz got help from wealthy close friends and celebrities to acquire a large, beautiful home in [[Mount Vernon, New York]] for her family. Malcolm and Betty had split from The Nation of Islam in 1964 and in turn, the Nation had recently evicted Malcolm and family from the small house it had provided during Malcolm X's ministry, just before the assassination. In her book, Ilyasah writes that Betty Shabazz worked very hard to ensure that her daughters were well provided for. They led sheltered, comfortable, upper class lives, complete with the luxury of housekeepers, chauffeured cars, exclusive social clubs, and expensive, predominantly white private schools, private tutors and summer camps.
== Southern Division, Central Railroad of New Jersey ==


==Middle years==
The last railroad related to the NJS is the Atlantic Highlands route. [[Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey|Atlantic Highlands]] was settled in 1881 as a Methodist camp meeting site, and by 1882 some of the Sandy Hook boats also stopped at the Atlantic Highlands pier. The railroad from [[Matawan, New Jersey|Matawan]] on the New York and Long Branch was opened to [[Keyport, New Jersey|Keyport]] by the Freehold and New York Railroad in 1880 and extended by the locally-financed New York and Atlantic Highlands Railroad to Atlantic Highlands in August 1889. The route crossed the old NJS line to Port Monmouth at [[Belford, New Jersey|Belford]], and a track connection was made there. The record is no longer clear, but it appears that in addition to the primary service from Jersey City to Atlantic Highlands by rail, some trains also operated in connection with boats from New York, running from Atlantic Highlands down the old NJS to Red Bank and beyond. A notice from 1892 reports special trains to [[Monmouth Park Racetrack]] running this way. The Atlantic Highlands route was further extended along the shoreline to the [[Shrewsbury River]] in 1890. The Central Railroad of New Jersey acquired the entire route in 1889.<ref>New York Times, 14 November 1889, 30 April 1892</ref>
====Social work====
In 1976, Shabazz worked at New York's [[Medgar Evers College]] as an assistant professor. She taught health sciences and then became head of public relations at Medgar Evers College. She traveled widely, speaking on topics such as [[civil rights]] and racial tolerance. She became a great advocate for the goal of self-determination for African Americans. She also served on many boards, including the African-American Foundation, the Women's Service League and the Day Care Council of [[Westchester County, New York]].


==Later years==
The connection between Atlantic Highlands and the New Jersey Southern routes was made in 1892 with the construction of a railroad bridge over the Shrewsbury River and the closing of the Sandy Hook boat docks. The impetus was weapons testing at Fort Hancock, on Sandy Hook. From May 1892, the boats now ran to Atlantic Highlands, only, and the shore trains ran from there, over the bridge, and down the old route to East Long Branch.<ref>Andrew McCollough, ''Highland Beach, New Jersey: A Jersey Shore Destination 1881-1962'', National Park Service, 2005; Tom Gallo, ''Henry Hudson Trail'', Arcadia Publishing, 1999</ref> For more than forty years this routing from Atlantic Highlands continued to be known as the Sandy Hook Route. As explained only the portion along the shore was part of the NJS, and even that was not part of the original Raritan and Delaware Bay Railroad.
In 1994, Shabazz spoke out for the first time against the Nation of Islam and linked its current leader, Louis Farrakhan, to Malcolm X's assassination. Farrakhan denied the allegations. He blamed the turbulent and racially hostile atmosphere of the 1960s as the root causes for Malcolm's death.


In January 1995, Betty and Malcolm X's daughter Qubilah Shabazz were charged in [[Minneapolis]] with trying to hire an assassin to murder Farrakhan in retaliation for the murder of her father. The assassin turned out to be a government informant. Farrakhan surprised everyone by defending Qubilah. He claimed that she had been manipulated by government agents who wanted to breed ill feelings within the Nation of Islam and throughout the African American community. In May 1995, Shabazz eventually reconciled with Farrakhan, shaking his hand on the stage of Harlem's [[Apollo Theater]] at a fundraiser for her daughter's defense. The fundraiser had been arranged by Farrakhan to help pay for Qubilah's legal fees. Betty Shabazz spoke at Farrakhan's [[Million Man March]] in October 1995.
The bay route gradually declined in importance. At some date before the first World War, it became a summer-only service, May to September. During the rest of the year, some trains on the rail route to Atlantic Highlands continued into the Sandy Hook route to East Long Branch. One of the three boats was retired about 1918 as unneeded, and a second boat was taken off in 1937 for age. The one remaining boat, "Sandy Hook", built in 1889, was taken off after the 1941 season. Only the all-rail route remained. "Sandy Hook" went into war service in 1943 and was sold in 1946 for a hefty $75,000. Any hopes for a resumption of service after the war were dashed when a hurricane in September 1944 destroyed both the Atlantic Highlands pier and parts of the railroad along the shore to the Shrewsbury River.<ref>New York Times, 25 April 1942, 24 March 1946</ref> The railroad was rebuilt, but did not last much longer. Passenger service over the Shrewsbury River bridge and south to East Long Branch was eliminated in 1945.<ref>Tom Gallo, ''Henry Hudson Trail'', Arcadia Publishing, 1999</ref> This ended passenger operations over the original Long Branch and Sea Shore Railroad and the original Long Branch branch of the Delaware and Raritan Bay Railroad, built in 1865 and 1860 respectively. Service was cut back to Atlantic Highlands in 1958 and eliminated (Matawan to Atlantic Highlands) in 1966. In the 1990s, most of the route from Matawan to Atlantic Highlands was made into the [[Henry Hudson Trail]].


Qubilah was not imprisoned for her plot to assassinate Farrakhan. However, she was required to undergo psychological counseling and treatment for drug and alcohol abuse for a two-year period. During this period, Qubilah's 12-year-old son, Malcolm, was sent to live with Shabazz at her apartment in [[Yonkers, New York]].
The portion of the old NJS from Port Monmouth to Red Bank was abandoned at a now obscure date in the early 20th century. A map and timetable from January 1910 no longer shows it as part of the railroad.<ref>''Official Guide of the Railways'', January 1910</ref> The property may have been held together for some time longer. Although this section has been closed for over a century, it can still be traced easily in satellite images.


==Death==
The most well-known service on the NJS mainline to southern New Jersey was the fast trains between Jersey City and Atlantic City. They ran down the New York and Long Branch to Red Bank, the NJS main to Winslow Junction, and the Atlantic City Railroad (owned by the [[Reading Company]]) to Atlantic City. The CNJ had long had good relations with the Reading because of the jointly operated Bound Brook Route between Jersey City and Philadelphia. Service to Atlantic City dated to the 1870s. By the 1920s the Pennsylvania Railroad had captured much of the business from New York with a longer route via Trenton and Burlington, partly because of its trains directly from New York at [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)|Penn Station]]. The CNJ management decided to counter this with a luxury train called the "Blue Comet" that started operating two round trips a day starting in February 1929. Trains covered the 136 miles in 168 minutes, including running at 70 miles per hour on the NJS from Red Bank to Winslow Junction. The service was rerouted to the former Camden and Atlantic line in 1933 when the Pennsylvania Railroad and Reading system combined their southern New Jersey services as the [[Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines]], and the "Blue Comet" was cut back in 1934 to one round trip a day except in the summer, because of economic conditions. Continuing decline in ridership led to cancellation in September 1941.<ref>William J Coxey, "The Blue Comet", in ''West Jersey Rails'' [volume 1], 1983</ref>
On [[June 1]], [[1997]], Betty Shabazz's grandson, [[Malcolm Shabazz|Malcolm]], set fire to her apartment. Malcolm Shabazz had been living with Shabazz for a few months at the time of the incident and it was reported that he was unhappy he had been sent to live with his grandmother in Yonkers and that he had wanted to re-join his mother Qubilah in [[Texas]]. Shabazz suffered burns over 80 percent of her body and remained in intensive care for three weeks at the [[Jacobi Medical Center]] in [[The Bronx|Bronx]], New York.<ref>"[http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/02/shabazz.on/index.html Betty Shabazz critically burned; relative charged]," ''[[CNN]]''</ref><ref>"[http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/01/shabazz.pm/index.html Grandson charged after Betty Shabazz critically burned]," ''[[CNN]]''</ref> She underwent five [[skin graft|skin-replacement operations]] as doctors struggled to replace damaged skin and save her life.<ref>"[http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/04/shabazz/index.html Betty Shabazz has skin graft surgery]," ''[[CNN]]''</ref><ref>"[http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/06/briefs.pm/shabazz/index.html Shabazz undergoes third surgery for burns]," ''[[CNN]]''</ref><ref>"[http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/19/briefs.pm/shabazz/index.html Betty Shabazz in Extremely Critical Condition]", ''[[CNN]]'', June 19, 1997</ref> At the time, doctors had forewarned that patients with her severity of injuries usually had less than a 10 percent chance of survival. Rita Connelly of the Jacobi Medical Center stated that doctors removed 72% of her burned tissue by [[June 9]]. Supporters of Shabazz held a [[blood drive]] to help her.<ref>"[http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/09/briefs/shabazz.blood.drive/index.html Blood drive set for Shabazz]," ''[[CNN]]''</ref>


Shabazz died of [[third degree burn]]s on [[June 23]], [[1997]], at the age of 61.<ref>"[http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/24/shabbazz.tribute/tribute.html Friends, leaders pay tribute to Shabazz]," ''[[CNN]]''</ref>
A timetable of May 1945 shows passenger service cut back to two round trips a day from Jersey City to Red Bank, down the NJS to Lakehurst, and the Toms River branch to [[Barnegat, New Jersey|Barnegat]]. The remainder south was for freight only.<ref>''Official Guide of the Railways'', May 1945</ref> The last regular passenger service on the former NJS ended in 1957. The very last passenger train was probably a special run to Toms River in 1972.<ref>Ocean County Railroad History, http://octrainguy.com/history-MainLine.html, retrieved October 10, 2008</ref>


Police arrested Malcolm Shabazz within hours of the fire being started and accused of setting the blaze.<ref>"[http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/23/shabazz.final/ Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X's Widow, Dies at 61]," ''[[CNN]]'', June 23, 1997</ref> He was later sentenced to eighteen months in juvenile detention for [[manslaughter]].
== ConRail and beyond ==


At the time of her death, Betty Shabazz headed the Office of Institutional Advancement and Public Relations at [[Medgar Evers College]] in Brooklyn (part of the [[City University of New York]]). More than 2,000 mourners attended a memorial service for Shabazz at New York City's Riverside Church. Many prominent leaders including [[Coretta Scott King]] (widow of [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]]), [[Myrlie Evers-Williams]] (widow of [[Medgar Evers]]), poet [[Maya Angelou]], actor-activist [[Ossie Davis]], four New York City mayors&mdash;[[Rudolph Giuliani]], [[David Dinkins]], [[Edward Koch]] and [[Abraham Beame]]; U.S. Representative [[Maxine Waters]] and New York Governor [[George Pataki]] were present for her memorial service. U.S. Secretary of Labor [[Alexis Herman]] delivered a tribute from [[President of the United States|President]] [[Bill Clinton]]. In a statement released after Shabazz's death, black civil rights leader [[Jesse Jackson]] said, "''She never stopped giving and she never became cynical. She leaves today the legacy of one who epitomized hope and healing.''"
The Central Railroad of New Jersey was among the railroads merged into [[Consolidated Rail Corporation|ConRail]] in April 1976. ConRail began closing segments of the former NJS, and in 1978 severed the main line by abandoning the stretch through the Pine Barrens from Lakehurst to Winslow Junction. The Toms River branch (diverging at Lakehurst) was closed by 1988. Freight service remains on the NJS main line from Red Bank to Lakehurst. Portions south of Winslow Junction are also in service, connected to the national network via Camden.<ref>Effects of ConRail, http://octrainguy.com/ConrailHistory.html, retrieved October 10, 2008</ref>


Shabazz's funeral service was held at the Islamic Cultural Center in New York City. Her [[Wake (ceremony)|wake]] was at the Unity Funeral Home in Harlem (the same location where Malcolm X's wake was held 32 years before). Betty Shabazz was buried next to her husband, Malcolm X, at the [[Ferncliff Cemetery]] in [[Hartsdale, New York]].<ref>"Thousands Mourn Death of Dr. Betty Shabazz in New York City", ''[[Jet Magazine]]'', July 14, 1997</ref>
[[New Jersey Transit]] proposed passenger service over parts of the NJS in 1996 as a project called MOM (Monmouth Ocean Middlesex). The first draft environmental impact statement was released in 2003. The three study routings run south to the current end of operable track at Lakehurst. One branches off the former New York and Long Branch, now called the [[North Jersey Coast Line]], at Red Bank, just as NJS trains did. The [[Board of Chosen Freeholders|Boards of Chosen Freeholders]] (county governments) for [[Monmouth County, New Jersey|Monmouth]] and [[Ocean County, New Jersey|Ocean Counties]] both announced a preference in 2006 for the [[Monmouth Junction, New Jersey|Monmouth Junction]] routing, which branches off the [[Northeast Corridor Line]] south of [[New Brunswick, New Jersey|New Brunswick]] and runs over what is now a freight line via [[Jamesburg, New Jersey|Jamesburg]] and [[Freehold, New Jersey|Freehold]], entering the former NJS at [[Farmingdale, New Jersey|Farmingdale]].<ref>New Jersey Transit, http://www.njtransit.com/an_cp_mom_project_page.shtml, and Ocean County Department of Planning, http://www.planning.co.ocean.nj.us/mom.htm, both retrieved October 10, 2008</ref> The [[Middlesex County, New Jersey|Middlesex County]] Board of Chosen Freeholders opposed the Monmouth Junction routing, and received support from Governor [[Jon Corzine]] early in 2008. Residents of Jamesburg, where the railroad runs in a grassy island in the middle of the main street, were particularly opposed. In September 2008, objections were raised for the first time to the routing based on its path across [[Monmouth Battlefield State Park]]. Another draft environmental impact statement is to be released in 2009.<ref>New York Times, 5 September 2008</ref>


There is a major [[mosque]] in Harlem named after Shabazz.
==See also==
*[[List of defunct New Jersey railroads]]
*[[List of Central Railroad of New Jersey precursors]]


==Notes==
==References==
<references />
<references/>


== Sources ==
==Further reading==
* Russell J. Rickford, ''Betty Shabazz: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Faith Before and After Malcolm X'' (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2003).
*''Railroad of New Jersey, Fragments of the Past in the Garden State''. By Lorett Treese.


==External links==
[[Category:Defunct New Jersey railroads]]
* [http://chnnyc.org/locations/shabazz/ Dr. Betty Shabazz Health Center]
[[Category:Transportation in Middlesex County, New Jersey]]
* [http://undercoverblackman.blogspot.com/2007/05/malcolms-widow.html A portion of a 1990 interview] by [[David Mills (writer)|David Mills]] for ''[[The Washington Post]]''
[[Category:Transportation in Monmouth County, New Jersey]]

[[Category:Predecessors of the Central Railroad of New Jersey]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shabazz, Betty}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:African Americans]]
[[Category:American nurses]]
[[Category:Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum]]
[[Category:Converts to Islam]]
[[Category:American Muslims]]
[[Category:Nation of Islam]]
[[Category:New Jersey City University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Detroit, Michigan]]
[[Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni]]
[[Category:Malcolm X]]
[[Category:Accidental human deaths in New York]]

[[de:Betty Shabazz]]
[[et:Betty Shabazz]]

Revision as of 04:24, 11 October 2008

Betty Shabazz
Born(1936-05-28)May 28, 1936
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedJune 23, 1997(1997-06-23) (aged 61)
Bronx, New York, U.S.

Dr. Betty Shabazz (born Betty Jean Saunders) (May 28, 1936 – June 23 1997), also known as Betty X, was the wife of Malcolm X.

Background

There is an air of uncertainty about Betty Shabazz's background and early life. Shabazz was born in Detroit, Michigan as Betty Saunders; reportedly the daughter of Shelman Sandlin and Ollie Mae Saunders. Shabazz was an illegitimate child and had a scattered childhood. Still a child, Betty was taken in by foster parents after her troubled childhood and grew up with in their sheltered, loving, middle-class household in Detroit.

Early years

After high school, Shabazz left the comfortable home of her foster parents in Detroit to study at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), a well-known historically black college in Alabama. It was at Alabama that she encountered her first racial hostilities. She did not understand the causes for the racial issues, and her parents refused to acknowledge these issues. She mentioned this in an autobiographical essay she wrote in 1992, published in Essence Magazine: "They thought [the problems] were my fault."'

Shabazz moved to New York City to escape Southern racism, and enrolled as a nursing student at the Brooklyn State Hospital School of Nursing. While in New York, Shabazz's friend invited her to hear Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X from the Nation of Islam speak at an Islamic temple (Temple No. 7 in Harlem). According to the Essence essay, Shabazz's friend offered to introduce her to Malcolm X after his speech. Betty's initial reaction was "big deal". She continues: "But then, I looked over and saw this man on the extreme right aisle sort of galloping to the podium. He was tall, he was thin, and the way he was galloping it looked as though he was going someplace much more important than the podium... Well, he got to the podium and I sat up straight. I was impressed with him." They discussed the racism she encountered in Alabama, and she began to understand its causes, pervasiveness, and effects. Soon, Betty was attending all of Malcolm's lectures. By the time she graduated from nursing school in 1958, she was a member of the Nation of Islam. Muhammad bestowed of his followers the last name "X", representing the African family name they would never know. She changed her name to "Betty X" a result of her Nation of Islam influence.

Marriage

In her autobiographical essay for Essence Magazine in 1992, Shabazz said, "I never 'dated' Malcolm as we think of it because at the time single men and women in the Muslims did not 'fraternize' as they called it. Men and women always went out in groups." In 1958, after she had completed nursing school, Malcolm X, who was traveling the country at the time, called her from Detroit and proposed marriage. Before the week was out, Betty aged 22 and Malcolm aged 33 were married.

After their split from The Nation of Islam in 1964, Malcolm and Betty X adopted the last name, Shabazz. Together, they had six daughters — Attallah (b. 1958), Qubilah (b. 1960), Ilyasah (b. 1963), Gamilah (b. 1964) and twins Malaak and Malikah (b. 1965, seven months after Malcolm X's death).

Husband's Assassination

In February of 1965 their family survived the firebombing of their home. On February 21, 1965, Shabazz and her four young children witnessed the assassination of Malcolm X in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. It was reported that Shabazz was in the audience and covered her girls with her own body on the ballroom floor as the assassins' bullets flew.

Alex Haley wrote in The Autobiography of Malcolm X, "Sister Betty came through the people, herself a nurse, and people recognizing her moved back; she fell on her knees, looking down on his bare, bullet-pocked chest, sobbing, 'They killed him!' "

One of the three assassins was captured at the scene, and all three were members of the Nation of Islam. Later, each was convicted and sent to prison.

Life after Malcolm X's assassination

Hajj

She performed the Hajj in Mecca and considered herself a Sunni Muslim. Shabazz held her conviction about the role of the Nation of Islam in Malcolm X's assassination until 1995 when she had a public reconciliation with Louis Farrakhan, the head of the Nation of Islam.

In the essay for Essence Magazine in 1992, Shabazz confessed, I really don't know where I'd be today if I had not gone to Mecca to make Hajj shortly after Malcolm was assassinated. . And that is what helped put me back on track. I remembered one of the things Malcolm always said to me is, 'Don't be bitter. Remember Lot's wife when they kill me, and they surely will. You have to use all of your energy to do what it is you have to do.'

Education

When Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965, the couple had four daughters. Shabazz was pregnant with twins at the time of his assassination. She was a registered nurse, having earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Brooklyn State Hospital School of Nursing in 1958. She continued her education by enrolling in Jersey City State College. Shabazz was determined to provide for her family and serve as a role model for her children. She received a Bachelor of Arts in public health education from Jersey City State College. She returned to pursue her Master of Arts in public health education from Jersey City State College in 1970. In 1975, she received her Ph.D. in education administration at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.


Raising family

Betty Shabazz raised her six daughters, Attallah, Qubilah, Ilyasah, Gamilah, and twins Malikah and Malaak, in the Islamic faith.

According to daughter Ilyasah Shabazz's autobiography, Growing Up X (2002), after Malcolm X's demise, Betty Shabazz got help from wealthy close friends and celebrities to acquire a large, beautiful home in Mount Vernon, New York for her family. Malcolm and Betty had split from The Nation of Islam in 1964 and in turn, the Nation had recently evicted Malcolm and family from the small house it had provided during Malcolm X's ministry, just before the assassination. In her book, Ilyasah writes that Betty Shabazz worked very hard to ensure that her daughters were well provided for. They led sheltered, comfortable, upper class lives, complete with the luxury of housekeepers, chauffeured cars, exclusive social clubs, and expensive, predominantly white private schools, private tutors and summer camps.

Middle years

Social work

In 1976, Shabazz worked at New York's Medgar Evers College as an assistant professor. She taught health sciences and then became head of public relations at Medgar Evers College. She traveled widely, speaking on topics such as civil rights and racial tolerance. She became a great advocate for the goal of self-determination for African Americans. She also served on many boards, including the African-American Foundation, the Women's Service League and the Day Care Council of Westchester County, New York.

Later years

In 1994, Shabazz spoke out for the first time against the Nation of Islam and linked its current leader, Louis Farrakhan, to Malcolm X's assassination. Farrakhan denied the allegations. He blamed the turbulent and racially hostile atmosphere of the 1960s as the root causes for Malcolm's death.

In January 1995, Betty and Malcolm X's daughter Qubilah Shabazz were charged in Minneapolis with trying to hire an assassin to murder Farrakhan in retaliation for the murder of her father. The assassin turned out to be a government informant. Farrakhan surprised everyone by defending Qubilah. He claimed that she had been manipulated by government agents who wanted to breed ill feelings within the Nation of Islam and throughout the African American community. In May 1995, Shabazz eventually reconciled with Farrakhan, shaking his hand on the stage of Harlem's Apollo Theater at a fundraiser for her daughter's defense. The fundraiser had been arranged by Farrakhan to help pay for Qubilah's legal fees. Betty Shabazz spoke at Farrakhan's Million Man March in October 1995.

Qubilah was not imprisoned for her plot to assassinate Farrakhan. However, she was required to undergo psychological counseling and treatment for drug and alcohol abuse for a two-year period. During this period, Qubilah's 12-year-old son, Malcolm, was sent to live with Shabazz at her apartment in Yonkers, New York.

Death

On June 1, 1997, Betty Shabazz's grandson, Malcolm, set fire to her apartment. Malcolm Shabazz had been living with Shabazz for a few months at the time of the incident and it was reported that he was unhappy he had been sent to live with his grandmother in Yonkers and that he had wanted to re-join his mother Qubilah in Texas. Shabazz suffered burns over 80 percent of her body and remained in intensive care for three weeks at the Jacobi Medical Center in Bronx, New York.[1][2] She underwent five skin-replacement operations as doctors struggled to replace damaged skin and save her life.[3][4][5] At the time, doctors had forewarned that patients with her severity of injuries usually had less than a 10 percent chance of survival. Rita Connelly of the Jacobi Medical Center stated that doctors removed 72% of her burned tissue by June 9. Supporters of Shabazz held a blood drive to help her.[6]

Shabazz died of third degree burns on June 23, 1997, at the age of 61.[7]

Police arrested Malcolm Shabazz within hours of the fire being started and accused of setting the blaze.[8] He was later sentenced to eighteen months in juvenile detention for manslaughter.

At the time of her death, Betty Shabazz headed the Office of Institutional Advancement and Public Relations at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn (part of the City University of New York). More than 2,000 mourners attended a memorial service for Shabazz at New York City's Riverside Church. Many prominent leaders including Coretta Scott King (widow of Martin Luther King, Jr.), Myrlie Evers-Williams (widow of Medgar Evers), poet Maya Angelou, actor-activist Ossie Davis, four New York City mayors—Rudolph Giuliani, David Dinkins, Edward Koch and Abraham Beame; U.S. Representative Maxine Waters and New York Governor George Pataki were present for her memorial service. U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman delivered a tribute from President Bill Clinton. In a statement released after Shabazz's death, black civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said, "She never stopped giving and she never became cynical. She leaves today the legacy of one who epitomized hope and healing."

Shabazz's funeral service was held at the Islamic Cultural Center in New York City. Her wake was at the Unity Funeral Home in Harlem (the same location where Malcolm X's wake was held 32 years before). Betty Shabazz was buried next to her husband, Malcolm X, at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.[9]

There is a major mosque in Harlem named after Shabazz.

References

  1. ^ "Betty Shabazz critically burned; relative charged," CNN
  2. ^ "Grandson charged after Betty Shabazz critically burned," CNN
  3. ^ "Betty Shabazz has skin graft surgery," CNN
  4. ^ "Shabazz undergoes third surgery for burns," CNN
  5. ^ "Betty Shabazz in Extremely Critical Condition", CNN, June 19, 1997
  6. ^ "Blood drive set for Shabazz," CNN
  7. ^ "Friends, leaders pay tribute to Shabazz," CNN
  8. ^ "Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X's Widow, Dies at 61," CNN, June 23, 1997
  9. ^ "Thousands Mourn Death of Dr. Betty Shabazz in New York City", Jet Magazine, July 14, 1997

Further reading

  • Russell J. Rickford, Betty Shabazz: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Faith Before and After Malcolm X (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2003).

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Jersey_Southern_Railroad&oldid=244510652"