To the Editor:
Like so many social justice-centered organizations in the greater Mercer County area, the Princeton-Blairstown Center (PBC) was fortunate to benefit from the leadership, support, and advocacy of the Rev. David McAlpin, who passed away on August 5, 2022. We join the community in recognizing the tremendous impact he had on our community over the past seven decades.

As the associate pastor of Witherspoon Presbyterian Church, he became keenly aware of discriminatory housing practices affecting African Americans and he helped to establish two acclaimed integrated housing developments: Glen Acres and Maplecrest.

He and his family moved to Detroit in 1970 where he served as a pastor working on civil rights issues and establishing affordable housing organizations. When he returned to Princeton in the early 1980s, he helped found the Trenton chapter of Habitat for Humanity in 1986 and served as president of the board.

He also served as board chair of PBC as well as on the boards of the Princeton Area Community Foundation, The New Jersey Association on Correction, The Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association, The Historical Society of Princeton, and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He received numerous community awards including the 2017 Frank Broderick Award from PBC for his deep commitment to social justice, compassion, and selflessness.

The enormous impact of Rev. McAlpin’s leadership and support of social justice causes will be felt for many decades to come. The board, staff, and the young people of the Center are eternally grateful to this gentle servant leader and philanthropist. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

Pam Gregory
President and CEO
Princeton-Blairstown Center