Born into slavery in 1856, T. Thomas Fortune went on to become one of the most influential American journalists and newspaper publishers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

He was a stalwart for social justice. “His pen knew but one theme, the divine right of man,” said Kelly Miller, Dean of Arts & Sciences at Howard University, upon Fortune’s passing in 1928.

Fortune christened his home in Red Bank, New Jersey, “Maple Hall,” where he and his family resided between 1901-1915.  Here he entertained the great African American leader Booker T. Washington and other prominent figures of the time. The Fortune House, along with Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson are the only two National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey significant to African American heritage.

​The T. Thomas Fortune House is one of the most historically significant properties in the United States. It is significant because of T. Thomas Fortune’s role in African American history.

This is what the home looked like in 1976 when it was nominated to the United States Department of Interior and National Parks Service for consideration as a National Historic Landmark, during the country’s bicentennial.

A Community Eyesore
This image to the left is of a dilapidated T. Thomas Fortune House in 2006 that had fallen from grace to disrepair. It became an eyesore on the Westside of the Red Bank Community and was in the crosshairs of being demolished in 2013.  That action was stayed by the efforts of the early committee of the T. Thomas Fortune Foundation.