1 10 3 People An individual. Metadata for a person provides detailed biographical information to describe the life of a historical figure. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Hinton, Elizabeth Description An account of the resource Elizabeth Sears Hinton (c. 1878–1986) Elizabeth Sears Hinton was a lifelong Englewood resident whose life bridged the era of slavery and the modern civil-rights century. She died in 1986 at the age of 104, having spent nearly three decades as one of the city’s elder witnesses to Black history in the North. Elizabeth was born in the late 1870s, the daughter of Nancy Lee Sears, who had been born into slavery on a plantation in Virginia and emancipated during the Civil War. Through her mother, Elizabeth was only one generation removed from enslavement—an experience that profoundly shaped her family’s migration north, values, and sense of community. Nancy Sears eventually settled in Englewood, where Elizabeth spent most of her life and where multiple generations of the family put down roots. Elizabeth married Charles Hinton, who died in 1962. Together they raised a family that remained deeply connected to Englewood and Bergen County. She was the mother of Theodore Hinton of Englewood and Carmen Hinton Pawley of Montclair, and a grandmother and great-grandmother many times over. Her son Theodore would go on to become a pioneering figure in local public service, later recognized as Englewood’s first city prosecutor. A central part of Elizabeth Hinton’s life was her long involvement with Shiloh AME Zion Church in Englewood. She was a charter member of the congregation and served as past president of the church’s nurses club, reflecting both her commitment to mutual aid and the central role Black churches played as institutions of care, leadership, and stability in the community. Through decades of change, Shiloh remained her spiritual home. Elizabeth Sears Hinton lived long enough to see the arc of Black history bend dramatically—from Reconstruction and Jim Crow through the Great Migration, World War II, and the civil-rights movement. Her life embodied continuity rather than celebrity: the steady work of family, faith, and community that allowed later generations to build, serve, and lead. She was laid to rest in Brookside Cemetery in Englewood, alongside family members whose lives together tell a much larger story of survival, migration, and belonging. Partly written by OpenAI. (2026, January, 28). ChatGPT (GPT-5.2.) [Large Language Model] https://chat.openai.com/chat Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource People People An individual. Metadata for a person provides detailed biographical information to describe the life of a historical figure. Birth Date 1877-08-05 Birthplace Little River Township, Wake County, North Carolina, USA Death Date 1962-08-15 Occupation Activist, African American Real Estate Agent Politician Source of File Attached "Hinton Elected In Englewood Primary." The New York Age, 24 Sept. 1914, p.5. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Hinton, Charles Burture (1877-1962) Subject The topic of the resource Activism, African American Politics, Englewood Englewood New Jersey, Fourth Ward Description An account of the resource (c. 1876–1962) Charles B. Hinton was a pioneering civic leader, political organizer, and longtime public employee whose career made him a central figure in Englewood, New Jersey’s Black political history during the early twentieth century. In 1914, he became the first Black resident of Englewood to be elected to public office, winning election as a Republican county committeeman—a breakthrough that predated most Black electoral gains in northern New Jersey by decades. Born in Wake County, North Carolina, Hinton migrated north as part of the Great Migration and settled in Englewood, where he built a life rooted in work, politics, and community leadership. He spent nearly forty years employed at the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, most visibly as an elevator operator. While the title understated the role, the position placed Hinton at the center of county government and allowed him to cultivate extensive relationships with judges, attorneys, party officials, and civic leaders. According to contemporary and retrospective reporting, Englewood’s Black population was first formally recorded in 1910. Just four years later, in 1914, Hinton achieved a political milestone when he was elected Republican county committeeman, becoming the first Black citizen of Englewood elected to any public office. His election came at a time when Black voters in Englewood overwhelmingly supported Republican candidates and often played a decisive role in closely contested races. The significance of Hinton’s victory was such that it was still being cited more than two decades later as a foundational moment in the city’s political development. Hinton’s position as county committeeman was not symbolic. He remained an active and influential figure within the Republican Party for many years, repeatedly winning re-election and defending his seat against challengers. Later newspaper coverage, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s, documents sustained efforts by white political opponents to unseat him—efforts that openly acknowledged both his long tenure and the loyalty of Black voters who continued to support him. These challenges underscore the durability of the political base he helped build following his initial 1914 election. Beyond electoral office, Hinton emerged as one of Bergen County’s most visible Black Republican leaders. He played a leading role in organizing Black voters and served as corresponding secretary and organizer for the Bergen County Colored Voters Association, coordinating meetings, conventions, and political education efforts throughout the county. Press accounts describe Black voters as a disciplined and increasingly influential bloc, and Hinton was consistently identified as one of the figures at the center of that transformation. During the Great Depression, Hinton’s civic role expanded beyond party politics. In 1931, Englewood Mayor Cornelius P. Kitchel appointed him to the city’s Committee to Aid the Unemployed, a broad, cross-racial relief body composed of business leaders, judges, clergy, educators, and social-service officials. The committee’s mission was to ensure that no resident of Englewood would go hungry or without shelter during the winter months, regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation. Hinton’s inclusion reflected his standing as a trusted representative of the city’s Black residents and as a bridge between marginalized communities and municipal power. Hinton was also a founder of the Englewood Urban League, helping establish one of the city’s most important institutions dedicated to employment access, housing advocacy, and social welfare. His work connected local conditions in Englewood to broader national efforts aimed at addressing racial discrimination in employment and public life. Like many Black public figures of his era, Hinton faced scrutiny. In the 1930s, he was called before a Bergen County grand jury on charges of inefficiency related to courthouse operations. He defended himself confidently, was cleared almost immediately, and the episode—widely reported in the press—ultimately reinforced his reputation for competence and composure under pressure. Hinton’s life was part of a remarkable family continuum that traced the arc of African American history across three generations. His wife, Elizabeth Sears Hinton, lived to the age of 104 and was a charter member and past president of the Nurses Club at Shiloh AME Zion Church in Englewood, a cornerstone of Black religious and civic life in the city. She was the daughter of Nancy Lee Sears, who had been born enslaved on the plantation of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Virginia and later migrated north, spending her final decades in Englewood. Nancy Sears died at age 102, her life spanning slavery, emancipation, and the industrial North. Charles and Elizabeth Hinton’s son, Theodore H. Hinton, extended this legacy into the legal profession, becoming Englewood’s first Black city prosecutor, a Rutgers Law School graduate, and a mentor to generations of African American lawyers. Across three generations, the Hinton family moved from enslavement to elected office and professional leadership—an extraordinary transformation rooted in persistence, political organization, and community trust. Charles B. Hinton died in 1962 at the age of 86. He was remembered as a veteran county employee, founder of the Englewood Urban League, Depression-era civic leader, and—most enduringly—as the first Black resident of Englewood elected to public office in 1914. His life demonstrates how Black political power in the North often emerged not through spectacle, but through strategic participation, institutional endurance, and collective voter discipline. Charles B. Hinton was not a marginal figure in Englewood’s past; he was a foundational one, helping to redefine who could belong—and lead—in the city’s civic life. "Negro Leaders Attacks City's Negro Attitude." The Record, July 15, 1938. "Hinton Elected In Englewood Primary." The New York Age, 24 Sept. 1914, p.5. "Charles B. Hinton Funeral On Monday." The Record, 17 Aug. 1962, p.37. "Chas B Hinton in the New Jersey, U.S., State Census, 1915." Ancestry. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Colman, David Ludder, Rachelle African American Politics https://archive.englewoodmakeshistory.org/files/original/fcd496599a564f894795a46f8075f595.jpg d7dab7176f9fc76e8feb01b55cf921be Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource People People An individual. Metadata for a person provides detailed biographical information to describe the life of a historical figure. Birth Date 1836-02-28 Birthplace Columbia, Virginia, USA Death Date 1938-11-16 Source of File Attached "Former Slave Dead In Englewood At 102." New York Times, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times, 17 Nov. 1938, p.25. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sears, Nancy Lee (1836-1938) Description An account of the resource Nancy Lee Sears was a formerly enslaved woman whose life spanned from the antebellum South into the twentieth century, bearing witness to slavery, emancipation, and the long, uneven struggle for freedom in the United States. She died in 1938 at the age of 102 while living in Englewood, New Jersey. She was born into slavery in Columbia, Virginia, on a plantation owned by Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Nancy spent the first twenty-one years of her life enslaved and married another enslaved person, Woodson Sears, when she was nineteen. Although the Emancipation Proclamation legally ended slavery during the Civil War, freedom initially brought little immediate change to her daily life, reflecting the broader realities faced by many formerly enslaved people in the South. After several years moving within Virginia, Nancy migrated north around the age of forty as part of a wider post-Reconstruction movement of Black families seeking greater security and opportunity. She eventually settled in Englewood, where she lived for the final twenty-eight years of her life and became part of the city’s growing African American community. Nancy Lee Sears raised a large family whose roots extended across New Jersey, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Among her daughters was Elizabeth Sears Hinton, who married Charles Hinton and later lived to the age of 104. Elizabeth became a charter member of Shiloh AME Zion Church in Englewood and was the mother of Theodore H. Hinton, who would go on to become Englewood’s first city prosecutor. Through these generations, Nancy’s lineage directly connected the lived experience of slavery to twentieth-century Black civic, religious, and professional life in northern New Jersey. Funeral services for Nancy Lee Sears were held at the First Baptist Church of Englewood, and she was buried in Brookside Cemetery. Her life stands as a powerful reminder that the history of slavery is not distant—it lived on in Englewood through people who carried its memory forward in their own bodies and families. "Former Slave Dead In Englewood At 102." New York Times, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times, 17 Nov. 1938, p.25. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Colman, David African American Slavery