New Jersey Secretary Of State - DeForest B. Soaries Jr - Brief Article

Ebony, Sept, 2001

DeForest B. Soaries Jr., New Jersey secretary of state, is the highest-ranking African-American in New Jersey. Soaries' responsibilities include maintaining corporate records, certifying election results and preserving cultural institutions such as the New Jersey State Museum and the Trenton War Memorial.

An ordained Baptist minister and senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, N.J., Rev. Soaries earned a bachelor's of arts degree at Fordham University and a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Donna, have twin sons, Malcolm and Martin.