Although small in population and omitted from most New Jersey maps, the village of Seabrook represents a unique and important part of the heritage of Upper Deerfield Township, of New Jersey, and, indeed, of the United States. Seabrook’s history is very different- and special. The settlement history of Seabrook produced a place of remarkable cultural diversity. Whether brought together by the ravages of war, the quest for economic betterment, or the spirit of adventure, Seabrook represents a historically unique meeting of culturally diverse people in rural America- relocated Japanese Americans and Japanese Peruvians from the U.S. incarceration camps, wartime refugees from Europe, migrant laborers from Appalachia, the Deep South, and the Caribbean. Seabrook was the authentic “global, bootstrap village” where people of many cultures and adversities lived and worked together, learned of and from one other, and greatly benefited.
The mission of the Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center, Inc. will be to preserve and make known the unique history of Seabrook, New Jersey, in Upper Deerfield Township, Cumberland County as a place where people of different races and cultural heritage were given an opportunity for a new start in life and subsequently their significant contributions to the township, state, and nation. By preserving and disseminating information of this microcosm of America, it can foster greater understanding and appreciation for this country as a “land of opportunity” for all people. – Adopted 2010.10.10.