As the Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of History at Rutgers University-Newark, Price brought his study of the past to bear on contemporary social issues in his adopted hometown of Newark, New Jersey, and across the nation.
Rabbi Bennett Miller shared the podium and recounted Price's final words in response to a question about the future of civil rights in the U.S.: "I still have hope."
His older brother, James Leo Price Jr., a distinguished school principal (retired), returned to South Carolina to raise his family.
[1] Price felt fortunate to be brought up in Northeast Washington's Brentwood community surrounded by family and friends and the close-knit fellowship of Israel Metropolitan C.M.E.
As a doctoral candidate at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Price began researching Newark's and New Jersey's African-American history, and taught for the 1968–69 academic year at the newly opened Essex County College.
As one result of the university's response to the students' demands, Price was hired and began teaching history at Rutgers University-Newark in the fall semester of 1969.
He remained an active member of the history faculty until his death, including serving as director of the graduate program and chair of African and African-American Studies.
"The Once and Future Newark with Clement Alexander Price", produced by Rutgers University-Newark and broadcast on New Jersey Network in 2006, has been reissued in 2015 in a special expanded commemorative version.
[9] The Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series is presented by the Institute, one of the longest running and considered among the most prestigious Black History Month observances in the country.
In 2015, the lecture series celebrated its 35th anniversary with the theme "Curating Black America", honoring the forthcoming opening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
Among the distinguished lecturers in this series have been Sterling Stuckey, Max Roach, James Farmer, Esther Rolle, Ali Mazrui, Eric Foner, Basil Davidson and David Blight.
Price was also a member of the Scholarly Advisory Committee to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture; a member of the advisory council for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History; a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation; a trustee of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; and former chairman of the Save Ellis Island Foundation and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
[2] Some highlights of his significant public service contributions include: Price was the recipient of numerous awards for academic and community service, including: appointment as City of Newark Historian, 2014; The New Jersey Nets Basketball Black History Month award at the Prudential Arena in Newark, New Jersey, February, 2011; the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.