Albert Edward Hinds, the centenarian known for his acuity, encyclopedic memory of 20th-century Princeton, and the physical dexterity of a man decades younger, died Thursday at his John Street home. He was 104.
While his health had been in decline for the past two months, the cause was "advanced age," according to his daughter, Myrna Fuller of Atlanta.
Widely known and respected in the Witherspoon neighborhood, Mr. Hinds became a revered figure in the community at large approximately a decade ago when the Historical Society of Princeton chronicled the history of Princeton's African American community. Following that, when Princeton Future began looking at the neighborhood because of concerns that surrounding areas were becoming overdeveloped, thus endangering the quality of life of the residents, Mr. Hinds became something of a living legend.
"He's been telling the town's history for years, but only those in the immediate community had heard it," said Shirley Satterfield, a board member of the Historical Society who also ran walking tours of the JW neighborhood. As people began to notice Mr. Hinds during his involvement with the tours and the Princeton Future presentation, they realized that the man who spent over 50 years at 227 John Street knew an awful lot.
"He was the oldest black man in Princeton, and I guess that's when his legacy started," Ms. Satterfield said. "But those of us who have been here have known Mr. Hinds and how great he really was.
"He told us about Princeton way back through the 1900s," Ms. Satterfield added. "He's been in the paper, he's been talking about the community, and he's been very vocal about what the Arts Council has been doing also."
In 2004, when the Arts Council of Princeton at the corner of Paul Robeson Place and Witherspoon Street was on the brink of receiving a nod to expand, Mr. Hinds was one of several neighborhood residents wary of an expansion, not because of what the institution stands for, but because of the development patterns he had seen surrounding his neighborhood.
Mr. Hinds, who had worked on the construction of Palmer Square in the early 1930s, and saw the razing of Baker Street, which extended up to Nassau Street, said in a 2004 interview that residents then did not have the foresight to know what Palmer Square's impact on the John-Witherspoon neighborhood would be, but that new development should be weighed carefully.
"I think a lot of people were caught off guard," said Mr. Hinds, "a lot of people didn't know what was happening."
Years later, Mr. Hinds found himself serving a 20-year tenure on the Borough Zoning Board of Adjustment.
A major part of what made Albert Hinds special, Ms. Satterfield said, was the fact that he was an "ordinary guy." He held down several jobs, often at the same time, and through it all maintained a both "proud and humble" demeanor that set him aside from his contemporaries.
Starting as early as grade school, Mr. Hinds would ride a horse and buggy to and from Princeton Junction: the "Owl Train." Later, Mr. Hinds would drive a taxi, serve as a letter carrier for the postal service, and work as an exterminator at the Trenton State Psychiatric Hospital, from which he retired in 1970.
In a 2005 Town Topics interview with Jean Stratton, Mr. Hinds recalled the Owl Train days: "Then, I was hired to drive a hack — remember, these were horse-drawn carriages in those days. I was just a young kid, and I'd drive to Princeton Junction at midnight to pick up passengers on the Owl Train. I had two teams of horses that I groomed and took care of." Mr. Hinds also helped put an end to that entrepreneurial endeavor, when, in 1919, he worked with the construction crew that paved Nassau Street, making it more automobile friendly. "Nassau Street was a dirt road then," he said last year. "You'd see people riding horseback down the street, and they would race horse-drawn sleighs there in winter."
After attending the old Witherspoon Elementary School, Mr. Hinds went on to the Quarry Street School and Princeton High School. During summer breaks in high school, he worked at Swift & Company Meat Packing in Jersey City, in the tobacco fields in Windsor, Conn., and at the Raritan Arsenal in New Brunswick.
After attending Talladega College in Alabama and working at the YMCA for a time under the Federal Works Progress Administration, Mr. Hinds came back to Princeton to run a youth program at the "Black Y," the current location of the Arts Council.
It was then, his daughter Ms. Fuller said, that his awareness of the community began to develop.
"He had a sense of people and he loved Princeton, and he felt it was important to stay mentally active," she said, adding that his active persona was "probably" the not-so-secret reason for his longevity. That attitude was also apparent at the Princeton Senior Resource Center (PSRC) where he ran the weekly bridge club, and was involved in the LINK (Local Intergenerational Network of Kindness) program.
"He was here week in, week out, rain or shine," said Susan Hoskins, PSRC executive director. If Mr. Hinds missed a bridge game, he would, she added, come in later in the week to get the scores.
His love of games transcended the PSRC, Ms. Fuller said. "He would make games up," she recalled. "No one would know what game was coming next. He would bring out any kind of game." She said that even she would wear out from her father's exuberance.
Even in Mr. Hinds's later years, as his peers passed away, he had an uncanny ability, Ms. Fuller said, to continue making new acquaintances and remain involved in the community, including running a senior exercise program at his long-time church, Mt. Pisgah AME on Witherspoon Street. "He thought it was really important for those seniors to be physically fit as well as mentally, so he started a calisthenics program for seniors."
Those efforts to maintain a high standard for mind and body, his daughter said, were a testimony to his lifelong pursuit of independence. The fact that Mr. Hinds drove his car as recently as January of this year, shows, she added, that even in his declining months, there was still a need to be as self-reliant as possible.
In April, Mr. Hinds fractured his hip and was ordered by doctors to keep in bed. In fact, he and his family celebrated his 104th birthday on April 14 at the University Medical Center at Princeton.
"We, in a way, knew that was the beginning of the end, but even then, he was getting out of that bed.
"When he saw that wheelchair coming," Ms. Fuller said, shaking her head knowingly, "that's all she wrote. He wasn't getting in that chair."
Mr. Hinds had been in need of little care until his hip fracture, and even then, his daughter credited the Hospice Program of Princeton HomeCare Services for making it possible for him to maintain some of that signature independence.
"He would always say that if he couldn't drive that he would be immobile, but that wasn't the case here," she said.
Among the many honors Mr. Hinds received on his 100th birthday in 2002 were a State Senate Resolution, a plaque from the Zoning Board, a Legacy of Service award from Princeton University Community House, a citation from former Gov. Christie Whitman, a Princeton High School Athletic Hall of Fame Plaque, and a citation from his JW neighbors that read: "Albert Hinds — A wonderful and dedicated citizen, whose leadership, sound judgment, and caring have made a significant difference in the lives of his neighbors and fellow citizens in the community."
"He was my history partner," said Ms. Satterfield. As it turns out, he was Princeton's history partner.
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A service for Mr. Hinds will be held on Saturday, June 10 at 2 p.m. at Mt. Pisgah AME Church at 170 Witherspoon Street, followed by a 4 p.m. reception at the Carl A. Fields Center at 86 Olden Street. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Talladega College, the Princeton Senior Resource Center, and the Hospice Program of Princeton HomeCare Services.