BOTR, I lived in Upper Montclair NJ and went to the halls nearby nearly 30 years ago for a few weeks or months(wilst trying to be reinstated/please mom)
I remember the Nutley(?) hall was integrated pretty well (Ok, I remember a black family who seemed very integral in the mostly white/hispanic congregation), but that was when I lived in Bloomfield (near Nutley and Upper Montclair). Then I MOVED to Upper Montclair (nice neighborhood!) and was told which hall to go to. I had conflicts sometimes because of my job so I would go to the hall I was not assigned to as often as not. There was a double hall (I think) and the congregation I was to meet in was the white one, but the one I often went to was the one from the other neighborhood (not UM, I presume) and it was mostly black. NO ONE spoke to me in either hall except one very nice white lady married to an UBM who was lonely, I think, even though she was pioneerinng. I worked as a nanny and was just the help in the white neighborhood cong. and I am not sure what the problem was in the other congregation. Maybe they thought I was slummng or just went there to be the orange in the apple grove or something. I did NOT like either of those congregations, but the one that was actually integrated (Nutley) was really nice. It was in the other congregation(s) that I decided that the WT servititude was not for me. I think visiting Bethel figured into that largely. Also, knowing a few arrogant little bethelite boys (sorry if that was any of you) showed me a few things about the spirit of brotherhood in the WT. It was my first experience in a congregation as an "adult" and it was a bit of a shock. I left for doctrinal reasons originally and found that I couldn't reconcile them even though I REALLY REALLY wanted to.
My congregation growinng up was technically integrated, our one black family showed up every week, dad was a nice guy, kids were all good. He was never elder, but our elder body seemed kind of cemented in place since the 60's. I don't remember anyone advancing to elder in the 70's or 80's. They seemed separate somehow and I think that was in our head. The sister was SO kind to everyone. She was totally in everything, but the rest of her family seemed to just fade into the woodwork somehow, til the daughter went into labor during the memorial and her water broke. Maybe that shifted things;) Maybe the fact is was about 1980 helped !
