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Ewing mourns the passing of School Board stalwart By BiLL SANserViNO
Bruce White, former long-time member of the Ewing Township Board of Education, and one of the longest-serving school board members in the state of New Jersey, has passed away. White, 79, died peacefully on Jan. 19 after a long battle with heart disease. He retired from the School Board in 2019 due to health issues after serving for more than 30 years. “Bruce, thank you for your service and commitment to the Ewing
Public Schools. You will be missed greatly,” said a statement released by the school district, which also lauded White for “dedicating his time and wisdom to benefit the children, staff and community of Ewing Township.” After he retired from the Board, White continued to support the children of Ewing, the schools and parent organizations by working with the Ewing Kiwanis to help fund school book fairs throughout the district so “no child was left behind” and was not able to receive or purchase a book.
“Up until three weeks ago, he shared information about a poster contest for our 5th grade students,” said the District. “Always thinking about the children and giving them an opportunity to participate, if they would like to.” White was a member of the Ewing Kiwanis Club for decades, holding many leadership positions, including chair of Safety Town and president of the Ewing Kiwanis Scholarship Foundation. Over the years, White belonged to other community organizations See WHITE, Page 5
Explore history at area libraries By DAN AUBrey
Gavin Bossio (left)and his brother, Owen, both compete on the Notre Dame swim team. To read more about the two, turn to page 16. (Photo by Joe Bossio.)
Libraries are safe places that connect to the world of ideas and human memory and are always on the front lines of combatting censorship. Yet they are often the physical representations of past values and designs — if one just takes the time to check them out. So, let’s take a quick tour of some of the region’s vintage libraries. First stop, the Trenton Free Public Library on Academy Street in
Trenton. It’s the oldest organized library in New Jersey and the embodiment of a particular American movement. Founded in 1750 as the subscription-styled Trenton Library Company, it allegedly started with 50 books purchased by Benjamin Franklin. Yet the person who turned that first page in Trenton’s history was Dr. Thomas Cadwalader, who served as the town’s first chief Burgess and contributed 500 pounds. The collection was housed
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in rented spaces or subscribers’ homes until the British arrived in 1776 and destroyed the building that housed the collection. The library was back and running by 1781 and by 1797 had 240 items in its collection. By 1804 the library collection was at 700 volumes and still growing without a permanent home. That need was addressed in 1900, when the organization became the free public library, and Ferdinand W. Roebling served as See LIBRARIES, Page 11
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