Kramer Manor: The Incredible Story of Homeownership, Resilience and Community That Was Almost Lost

By: Farrah Wilder

© George Falkowski

Kramer Manor is a bucolic neighborhood of approximately 100 homes in Fanwood and Scotch Plains, N.J. Although it appears similar to nearby subdivisions, it offers a unique and inspiring origin story of African American resilience and determination. This month, as Kramer Manor residents celebrate the community’s 100-year anniversary, we take a look at how the community came to be—and how generations of Black homeowners worked against the odds to build a thriving neighborhood.

In 2020, Kramer Manor residents teamed up with a local nonprofit, Social Justice Matters Inc., and the Joint Committee for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation to research and preserve this important history.(link is external) It started with two New York real estate brokers, brothers who set out to serve the Black community, despite the legal discrimination that existed through much of the 20th century.

Separate and Unequal

Millions of Black Americans moved to northern cities during the Great Migration (roughly 1910–1970), seeking jobs and an escape from the Jim Crow South, where laws mandated segregation and restrictions based on race. They were joined by veterans returning from wars and by migrants from all over the world who also sought opportunities in the growing metropolises. Cities struggled to accommodate all of these newcomers. Working-class families crowded into tenements with poor sanitation and rampant disease. 

Pervasive housing discrimination made the situation much worse for African Americans. Cities attempted a variety of segregation tactics, from “sundown town” policies that excluded nonwhites from being in a city after sunset to zoning ordinances. If one tactic was deemed unconstitutional, communities moved onto new ways to exclude. Property developers placed racially restrictive covenants into property deeds that dictated who could reside or own a property based on race, nationality or religion. 

Much of the available housing for new African American arrivals in Northern cities was severely overcrowded and substandard. Lack of investment, amenities, and lending options accelerated blight and deterioration.

But in 1924, real estate brokers Harry and Hyman Kramer began offering a rare opportunity for sustainable Black homeownership. 

The Kramers, who were Jewish immigrants from Russia, had secured approval to sell 51 acres of residential lots in an area covering parts of Fanwood and Scotch Plains. Kramer Manor history researchers found ads for the new development in newspapers that circulated in New York and New Jersey’s Black communities, offering an opportunity to live in an “ideal colored development.”

Community elders recounted how, for decades, pharmacists, teachers and other professionals would traverse the dirt roads of Kramer Manor, traveling through the woods, to Kate Gordon and “Papa John’s” house on Lincoln Avenue. On arrival, they’d find Harry Kramer in a basement office with a map laid on the table showing the available lots, each costing $200 to $250. To reserve a lot, future owners would circle the plot they were interested in and write their name next to it.

Sustainable Homeownership in an Era of Exclusion

Black Americans were largely excluded from the sustainable home financing options that the newly created Federal Housing Administration began offering in 1934. The new financing fueled a national trend of homeownership that bypassed Black communities, contributing to the exponential growth of a predominantly White middle class while leaving Black families behind.

To address this gap for Black families who wanted to make a home in Kramer Manor, Harry and Hyman Kramer personally financed lot purchases. Harry Kramer often waited outside of a local church on Sunday, kindly asking new lot owners if they’d be able to make a payment. He’d jot down payments as little as 25 cents in his notebook. 

The Kramer brothers were an anomaly, fighting discrimination alongside Kramer Manor residents. Outside of Kramer Manor, Black families daring to purchase homes in exclusively White communities faced intimidating harassment or terrorism. Across the country, unscrupulous investors were taking advantage of Black home seekers with pricey predatory loans, land contracts, and installment sales. Harry Kramer, in contrast, applied for loans at two banks for about a dozen Kramer Manor buyers. Although the applicants were financially stable working professionals, he was told that no loans were to be given to “colored developments.” Liens for unpaid taxes in Kramer Manor were assessed against Kramer Realties.

Undeterred, Harry Kramer wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 on behalf of a committee of Kramer Manor property owners:

“Knowing the feelings of Mrs. Roosevelt and yourself in the matter, I wish to state that I represent a large colored development who are loyal and patriotic citizens, but any number of them are bitter in their hearts to think that this great and glorious country should discriminate against them on account of color… Mr. President, is there anything you can do to assist us in getting a loan?”

FHA loans finally became available to Kramer Manor households in 1948.

Community Was Key

Without access to reasonably priced bank loans that were readily available to White homebuyers, Kramer Manor residents had to forge their own more arduous path to homeownership. Working hard to save the full purchase price for land and construction, some families temporarily doubled up with relatives building their homes with the help of neighbors on weekends and during summers.

By 1930, the Hadley, Abernathy, and Lee families had built and moved into their homes. Dirt roads echoed with the sounds of children racing up and down; lush forests became playgrounds. Parents were comforted knowing that when their kids were playing outside, friends in the neighborhood were keeping a watchful eye. Vibrant celebrations, house parties, and cookouts became regular occurrences, further strengthening bonds. Two church congregations began hosting services in garages and private homes, eventually in the 1950s purchasing land and working with neighbors across denominational lines to build church buildings. Jill Jackson-Jones, a technology services product manager, grew up and still lives in Kramer Manor. “It was such a village,” remembers Jackson-Jones, a key organizer of this month's anniversary celebration. “Everyone watched each other's kids. Everyone knew my dad because he played basketball with the kids in the neighborhood.”

There’s evidence that residents in the Scotch Plains and Fanwood communities opposed the development of Kramer Manor. In the early days, there were suspicious fires, including one at the local Kramer Realty office where oil cans and oil-soaked rags were found. 

As nearby subdivisions successfully lobbied for and secured public utilities, Kramer Manor residents requested but did not receive basic infrastructure. In the absence of sewer services and plumbing, residents used outhouses. They hauled water back to their homes from communal wells. After dark, homes were illuminated by kerosene lamps. Wood and coal stoves provided warmth and served as the primary means of cooking. For years, the roads remained unpaved.

A 1949 article in The Courier-News describes a request for support by Reverend Arthur Warren of Kramer Manor’s Church of Living God to a Scotch Plains community group about the need for more municipal services in the neighborhood. Full public utilities would not come to Kramer Manor until many years later.

Fighting Urban Renewal

Financing and basic services weren’t the only things Kramer Manor residents had to fight for. Less than 40 years after the Kramer brothers began selling lots in the community, its very existence was threatened.

At an August 1961 Scotch Plains Township Committee meeting, LeRoy Smith, a relocation officer from the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency, acknowledged the residents' efforts “in building their own streets and filling their own land for surface drainage." Kramer Manor Civic Organization President Damon Brown also spoke at the meeting, noting that the neighborhood was unique because of the "substantial equity" residents had built up in their homes. Just a few months earlier, the Township Committee had designated Kramer Manor as "blighted," a description that often preceded a community’s destruction for purposes of redevelopment.

© Farrah Wilder

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights reports that between 1949 and 1973, nearly 1 million people, two-thirds of whom were African American, were displaced by eminent domain. It was so common for Black communities to be targeted by redevelopment projects or highway construction that some civil rights advocates quipped that “urban renewal” was another term for “Negro removal.”

Speaking at a Jewish Community Center of Central New Jersey event in 2022, Anna Jones-Townsend-Hendricks described how she learned in 1961, from a newspaper article, that the Scotch Plains Township Committee was planning an urban renewal project for Kramer Manor. Although residents had long asked for improvements, this committee didn’t include any Kramer Manor residents, and the plans under consideration involved moving residents and converting the neighborhood of 55 families to an industrial zone. 

Jones-Townsend-Hendricks alerted neighbors and hosted a meeting at her Jefferson Avenue home. The neighbors formed the Kramer Manor Civic Association, which joined Shady Rest residents and the NAACP, as well as the Scotch Plains Civic and Protective Association. The combined group successfully lobbied for involvement on key advisory committees, serving as a critical force in stopping the urban renewal plans.

Long-awaited sewer installations and paving projects finally came in the mid to late 1960s. Residents were undoubtedly relieved to finally have amenities that had been enjoyed by surrounding areas for years. However, the hefty tax bills associated with the projects caused disappointment. Kramer Manor resident Mrs. R.L. wrote to The Courier-News in 1968: “Most of the people feel that because they have paid taxes for 40 years or more they are finally getting what is their just due. … [They] do not feel they should be asked to pay any more money.”

© Farrah Wilder

Significance of Kramer Manor

Growing up in Kramer Manor offered young people a solid foundation that encouraged them to pursue their professional interests. Hudson County Superior Court Judge Radames Velazquez; Robert Lee, Scotch Plains' first Black police officer; and the first Black officers in the Fanwood Police Department—Kyle McKinley Jackson and Timothy Green Jr.—were all from Kramer Manor. A number of professional athletes grew up in the neighborhood, including Derrick Caracter, who played with the Los Angeles Lakers. Dr. Peter Britton, holder of seven medical patents, was a long-time Kramer Manor resident.

Today, Kramer Manor is a diverse and thriving community. According to realtor.com, the median sold price in Union County, N.J., is about $547,500. The ZIP code that includes Kramer Manor Park has a median sold price of $625,000, a 14% difference. Census data show that 83% of the homes in this area are owner-occupied, and more residents in that ZIP code have bachelor's and graduate degrees than in the surrounding county or state.

On July 20, the community celebrated Kramer Manor's 100th anniversary. The celebration, which drew hundreds of people including the mayors of Fanwood and Scotch Plains, was a testament to the enduring spirit of community and neighborly support that has always been the cornerstone of Kramer Manor.

Derek Garrett, a design consultant, was one of the celebration’s organizers. “We want to honor all the parents that chose Kramer Manor as their area of residence,” said Garrett before the event. “They had the courage and determination to make a better life. We are because they were.”

Another organizer, Kevin Eldridge, a music producer, says he feels fortunate to have grown up and to live in a community with so many Black professionals as neighbors and parents. “Community is something that runs deep in our neighborhood. It’s made me successful and a lot of other people from this neighborhood successful because we all stick together.”

“We take pride in Kramer Manor,” agrees organizer Jill Jackson-Jones. “My family moved here in the early ’70s and I’m never letting this go. I hope my son will keep our home when I pass on.”

© Kimberly Butler

NAR Members Continue Opening Doors

Certainly, long-term homeownership is one key to the success of many Kramer Manor residents. Homeownership remains a key contributor to wealth building in America. NAR's 2024 Snapshot of Race and Home Buying in America report says, "[w]hen homeownership rates are lower among minority groups, their net worth also tends to be substantially lower." Lack of access to wealth creation through homeownership not only impacts people’s financial security and investment opportunities but also limits their ability to weather economic hardship, and it leaves future generations at a disadvantage.

While historical exclusion and the resulting lack of generational wealth contribute to wealth and homeownership disparities, rapidly increasing housing prices make these gaps harder to close, even though discrimination is now illegal. The report also notes that less than 10% of Black renters can afford a median-priced home. (The National Association of REALTORS® is part of the Black Homeownership Collaborative, which is working to close the homeownership rate gap through its 3x30 initiative.)

The Kramer brothers appear to have been members of the National Association of Real Estate Boards, as NAR was then known. As such, they were early examples of how NAR members find creative ways to open doors for those who need a little extra help in their homeownership journey.

That creativity continues today through both the dedicated work of individual agents and outreach by local and state REALTOR® associations. Many REALTOR® associations have diversity or fair housing committees that offer education and advocacy to help address the unique challenges faced by home buyers from historically marginalized backgrounds. Crystal Colón, chief innovation officer for the North Central Jersey Association of REALTORS®, says the association’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee is “a space where our members can share their concerns and talk about the positive work they are doing in a variety of communities.” (At realtorparty.realtor,(link is external) you can learn about community outreach grants available to assist local associations with housing opportunity, fair housing, placemaking and other initiatives.)

REALTOR® Emeritus Bill Flagg, a Fanwood resident who was involved in the centenary celebration of Kramer Manor, served as the 2022 president of NCJAR. In that role, he spearheaded a number of community outreach initiatives, including an annual housing fair and expo. “My idea was to educate, uplift and empower the underserved community,” says Flagg, CRB, CRS.

At the last fair, speakers offered advice on how buyers could purchase homes in increasingly competitive and expensive markets, Colón says, “[including how] purchasing a multifamily home can help first-time buyers offset the expenses of homeownership.”

If you’re an agent or broker who wants to do more to expand homeownership, Colón suggests learning about the variety of down payment assistance programs to ensure that they can fully support first-time buyers. Like the work of the Kramer brothers and the determined residents who purchased lots from them, your effort may produce positive repercussions for generations to come.