Video Honors Stephen Wiley's Life of Service to Schools

Try to imagine a Morristown without such landmarks as , or the iconic ? What about a ?

Now, try to imagine a world without a Stephen Wiley. For those who might not know who Wiley is, you likely have not lived in the area too long, but you have likely reaped the rewards of his many efforts. 

As a tribute, the Morris School District, in conjunction with the Broadcasting Department at , will present a 20-minute documentary on Wiley at a private event Thursday at the Morris Museum. The video–featuring interviews from friends and associates of the Early Street native–is part of an event honoring both Wiley, as well as the 40th anniversary of the Morristown/Morris Township schools merger–which he was instrumental–and the 20th anniversary of the Morris Educational Foundation, which he also was a founding trustee.

, at Morristown High School.

Juniors Sean Mowry and Shannon Kicuchi have been working on the project with Broadcast Department Supervisor Michael Butler, and about 20 other students, since December. In short, Sean said, "It's a project celebrating his life and accomplishments."

A large focus of the documentary will be when overcrowding in Morristown High School forced Morris Township students to attend elsewhere, ultimately leading them to Madison High School for a time. Talk began in the Township of building its own high school, but in 1968, a court case lead by Wiley, as the town's attorney (and a 1947 graduate of Morristown High School), sought to not only prohibit the Township from withdrawing its students from Morristown High School, but also force a merger of the two districts, K-12 (to that point, only ninth through 12th graders from Morris Township attended Morristown schools). The petition also asked the Commissioner of Education to develop rules prohibiting severance of a sending district and a receiving district where race was involved, a topical and increasingly heated topic amidst the civil rights era and in a time where Morristown was continuing to become more ethnically diverse.

The case ultimately went to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The court passed a ruling in favor of what would be the first in the nation, to order an involuntary merger of two separate school districts.

Wiley also was part of a number of fundraising projects, raising millions for The Community Theatre, the and the Green, which continues to receive funding today through his efforts.

Sean called the video project a unique experience, having only lived in Morris Township for 11 years.

"This is really interesting, thinking how different everything would be if he wasn't here," he said. 

Mary Donohoe, public information coordinator and one of the lead coordinators for the upcoming events, said Wiley was "a central figure" to both the merger and the formation of the MEF. And while Wiley, now in his late-80s and retired to Vermont, will not be able to attend the evening, she said it only made sense to have event and video created in his honor.

"His contributions helped make this community a desirable place to live and learn," she said. "He's done an awful lot for this community."