Clement T. Branch
Dr. Clement T. Branch was a prominent physician and civil rights leader in Camden’s Black community from 1902 until his death on November 29, 1933.
Born in Farmville, Virginia, on January 21, 1869, Clement Branch was educated in the public schools of Farmville and received his college training at Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, later called Virginia State College. He studied medicine at Shaw University, Cornell University, and Howard University, where he graduated in 1900. In 1903 he married Miss Bessie D. Avery, a schoolteacher of Petersburg, Virginia.
Dr. Branch first practiced medicine in Jersey City, New Jersey, coming to Camden in 1902. He soon was prominent not only as a doctor but in the civic and educational affairs of the city. He was the first Black member of the Camden Board of Education: on January 23, 1920, the Trenton Evening Times reported that Mayor Ellis had appointed him the previous Monday, calling him the board’s “first negro member.” He was also instrumental in effecting the hiring of Black firemen and policemen.
Dr. Branch was selected to be a delegate to the “negro Young People’s Congress” in Washington, D.C., which ran from July 31 to August 6, 1906, as reported in the Trenton Times on July 30, 1906. Other delegates from Camden were attorney Powell K. Martin, the Rev. Dr. J.H. White, and the Rev. Dr. R.F. Hurley.
In 1912 Dr. Branch served as a delegate from New Jersey to the “Bull Moose” party’s national convention, which nominated ex-president Theodore Roosevelt for President. Roosevelt would be defeated by Woodrow Wilson.
By 1930 Dr. and Mrs. Branch had purchased a home at 727 Walnut Street. He also owned real estate in Centerville, between 9th and 10th Streets. A few doors down, at 735 Walnut, was businessman Robert Bumbrey, who would become well known in the 1930s for various activities.
Dr. Branch was responsible for organizing the Hunton Branch Y.M.C.A., which in later years had buildings at 6th and Mechanic Streets and at 6th and Liberty Streets. He was chairman of the Hunton Branch until his death. The biographical sketch printed in the 1941 dedication program of the housing project named for him also credits him with the organization of the N.A.A.C.P. in Camden. Dr. Branch was always interested in efforts to aid children and to advance civil rights. For many years memorial services were held in Camden on his birthday.
On May 4, 1940, ground-breaking ceremonies attended by City Commissioners, State and Camden Housing Authorities, A.P. Miller, general contractor, and Mrs. Bessie A. Branch, widow of Dr. Branch, were held for the government-built public housing project, the “Village” named after Clement T. Branch, built in part on land which Dr. Branch had owned in his lifetime.
By the 1940s 727 Walnut Street had become the home of Dr. Marcus F. Wheatland Jr., a protégé of Dr. Branch.
The Clement T. Branch Village housing project was formally dedicated on September 27, 1941.
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Biographical Sketch of Dr. Clement T. Branch
The biographical sketch of Dr. Clement T. Branch (1869-1933) printed in the program for the September 27, 1941 dedication of Clement T. Branch Village, the Camden housing project named for him.
Mrs. Bean Names Committees Heads For 'Y' Activities
Mrs. Albert M. Bean, president of the Camden Y. W. C. A. board of directors, named the 1938 chairmen of its standing committees; the notice also announced a Fireside Group talk by Joseph Sickler and a health education department meeting.
WOMEN — AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING
M. Irene Frost's column on the Camden Y. W. C. A. race relations committee's Negro History Week program, including WCAM broadcasts by Mrs. Harold W. Bennett and Mrs. Wilda Townsend and the new 1938 officers of the Frances Harper Branch committee of management.
Memorial to Honor Birthday of Branch
Memorial exercises honoring the birthday of Dr. Clement T. Branch, Camden's Negro civic leader who died in 1933, were set for the Union American M. E. Church on Chestnut Street, sponsored by the Citizens' Civil Liberties League of Camden City.
Democrats to Hold Meetings Tonight
The campaign for A. Harry Moore, gubernatorial candidate, and local Democratic candidates, will be carried into six wards of the city and in seven communities of the county tonight.
7 Democrats Rallies in County Tonight
Democratic speakers, urging suffrage in the interest of A. Harry Moore, gubernatorial candidate, and the local Democratic ticket, will invade seven political clubs in the city and county tonight.
Street is Ordered Closed by City to Save Woman's Life
At the request of Dr. Clement T. Branch, the City of Camden roped off Ninth Street between Walnut and Cherry Streets so that traffic noise on the cobblestones would not endanger his critically ill patient, Mrs. Hattie Jones of 954 South Ninth Street.
Former Detective Murry Drops Dead In Street
George Murry, the ex-city detective who resigned after being charged with promoting vice in the Third and Fifth Wards, was found dead on a doorstep near Locust and Line Streets; his death ended the planned Grand Jury presentation of his tenderloin activities.
Negro on Camden Education Board
Dr. Clement T. Branch was appointed to the Camden Board of Education by Mayor Ellis in January 1920, its first negro member; board president E. E. Read and member Harry C. Dole resigned within days.