Witherspoon Street

Pynchon provided a support quote (blurb) that appeared on the dust jacket of Einstein on Race and Racism, by Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor, published in 2005 (first edition harcover; the trade paperback edition does not contain Pynchon's quote) by Rutgers University Press. The quote reads:

"A fascinating and timely upgrade to our current perceptions of Einstein, redeemed from the careful silences of official narrative. Allowing the voices of the people who lived it to tell the story, Jerome and Taylor have brilliantly given us back a part of our history, refocusing attention on the heart and soul of what Einstein's life was always about."

Part 1 of Einstein on Race and Racism is entitled "Einstein and Robeson on Witherspoon Street".

"...Einstein only had to walk a few blocks down Witherspoon Street to be reminded of how fleeting freedom could be." [p. 33]

The authors have collected many anecdotes about Einstein in this African-American community, and fond reminiscences of the scientist by local residents.