Allen M. Howard

Allen "Al" M. Howard, a longtime history professor at Rutgers University, Piscataway resident, avid gardener and social activist, died on July 4, 2025 at age 87.

Born on January 7, 1938 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Al took pride in coming from a long line of farmers. He graduated with the Class of 1960 from the University of Wisconsin, where he went on to earn a Ph.D. in history.

Al's first teaching experience, in 1963 at Fourah Bay College in Freetown, Sierra Leone, deeply informed his lifelong commitment both to teaching and to West Africa. Al arrived at Rutgers in 1968 as a founding professor at Livingston College, where he helped develop strong programs in African and global history, and dedicated himself to supporting first-generation college students.

During his 43-year tenure at Rutgers, Al mentored countless undergraduate and graduate students, and also led continuing education programs for high school social studies teachers. Many have stayed in touch over the following decades.

Al was a key organizer of the Rutgers' Center for African Studies, a stalwart member of the faculty union (Rutgers-AAUP) and a champion of the Rutgers Oral History Archive. Al also served as Graduate Chair of the History Department and was actively engaged with the African Studies Association (ASA). He was known as a kind and generous colleague.

After moving to Piscataway in 1988, Al became a passionate organic gardener. He was always eager to share his bountiful tomatoes, beans, squash, berries and other fresh produce with neighbors, and took particular care of his blackberry and strawberry patches. He enjoyed spending time in nature while hiking, kayaking, swimming, and bird watching. Al loved world music, especially music from the African continent, and was known by generations of students as the "dancing professor." During his final years in assisted living, the staff fondly called him "the music man."

Throughout his life, Al fought for justice in many realms, from the local to the global. He was active in the Central American Sanctuary movement of the 1980s and the international struggle against apartheid in South Africa in the 80s and early 90s. Closer to home, he organized for grassroots democracy as a member of the Piscataway Progressive Democratic Organization and for environmental justice as a member of NJ Food and Water Watch.

Al leaves behind his wife, Ann Bastian; children, Margaret Schechter and Sarah Howard; grandchildren, Anna and William Schechter and Robyn and Sonya Thompson; as well as his brother Charles "Ty" Howard, sister-in-law Beverly Howard, and nieces, Laura Patterson, Karen Howard and Rachel Calef. He was predeceased by his first wife, Mary Dalton, and second wife, Peggy Friedman.

Al Howard's life will be celebrated by his family and friends on April 18, 2026 at Stonebridge at Montgomery, in Skillman, New Jersey, the senior community where he lived and received extraordinary care over the past four years. Donations in his honor can be made to NJ Food and Water Watch: https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/.