The first African-American woman elected to public office in Neptune, NJ, Almerth M. Battle, died Friday at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She was 78.
Alma, as she was known to her many friends and acquaintances, was a former deputy mayor and police commissioner in Neptune Township, where she had lived and served her community for nearly 50 years. Mrs. Battle was born in Ripley, Miss., and moved to New Jersey with her husband, the late Thomas Battle, in 1957, settling in Asbury Park. They moved their family to Neptune in 1963. With a degree in Elementary Education from the esteemed Rust College, she began working as a substitute teacher in both the Asbury Park and Neptune Township school systems. The family joined St. Stephen’s AME Zion Church in Asbury Park, where Mrs. Battle sang in the choir and was an active member of several committees for many years.
In 1973, Mrs. Battle was elected to the Neptune Township Council, the first African American and the first woman ever elected to public office in Neptune. She was sworn into office in January 1974 and quickly made history again, when she was named Police Commissioner, the first African American woman ever to hold that position in the state of New Jersey. She did so for thirteen years. She also served as Deputy Mayor for several years, and served on the township’s Planning Board, the Board of Health, the Economic Development Council, the Sewerage Authority and the Senior Citizens Advisory Committee. She earned countless awards and recognitions in over 40 years of service to her community, and was honored to be recognized with the township’s Community Policing Award in 2008, more than 20 years after she had ceased active service in the Police Department. She attributed her success to having the ability and confidence to speak out against the unjust treatment of minorities and under served individuals in Monmouth County and beyond. Her role as a school teacher went beyond teaching. She worked to instill awareness in parents that there was love and concern for their children in her classroom and how that must extend into the home and the community at large. She believed it was that attitude that helped her to gain the respect and admiration that transcended racial lines and propelled her to victory when she became a candidate for township committee. She was re-elected three times before she took a brief hiatus from politics. Her career in law enforcement dovetailed with a career as an investigator with the Monmouth County Office of Consumer Affairs, where she retired in 1997 after a cherished ten years of service to residents of the county. She described her job as one of the most fulfilling she ever held. Mrs. Battle was a past president of the Neptune Township Democratic Committee, and an active member of the Democratic Party in Neptune.
Taken directly from her obituary.
