1936-2019
Pearl Beatty was an Essex County freeholder (now county commissioner), who the New Jersey Globe called a “legendary veteran of Newark politics”. She said, “the only important tool an individual has is to vote.” President Giblin of the Essex Freeholders said she “lives, eats and breathes Essex County.” She was the sister of Alma Beatty.
Pearl came to Newark with her family at the age of 9 months and attended Morton Street School and Arts High, later receiving a degree from Central High Evening School and later a Bachelor’s from Ball University. Her first job was in a was in a factory – the Hermatic Seal Company.
Later she became the executive secretary and office manager for COPE, the political arm of the AFL-CIO. In 1960, she worked on the NJ campaign of John F. Kennedy, which started her political career. She also was voted President of a social club the Sweethearts.
In 1962, she became executive secretary of the Urban League. She attended the 1963 March on Washington and was active in the pickets of Newark’s Woolworths to hire Black employees. She also worked with the Urban League through the 1960s on issues including voter registration and integration. She was involved in the Black Political Convention in 1968. In her oral history Pearl remembered working for HELP, the Housing and Employment Learning Program, after the Urban League. This program, which helped youth find jobs was active in the mid-1960s.
Pearl was instrumental in the 1970 election of Mayor Gibson and was chairman of his Inauguration Committee, after which she was appointed Executive Secretary of the Insurance Fund Commission by Gibson. She was also a member of the TEAM Board – Total Employment and Manpower. In 1971, she was appointed a member of the Newark Housing Authority by Gibson, who said, “She has long been associated with the cause of justice and equality.” The Star Ledger said she was the first woman ever appointed to the post. She served as Chairwomen of the NHA.
Pearl first ran for Freeholder in 1963 with the New Frontier Democrats and spoke about issues including community college. She was elected Freeholder for District 2 in 1978, the first woman ever elected in that district, and the first President during a reorganization of the Board. The Democrats ran on issues including stopping crime and aiding the elderly.
Pearl served through 1987. During this time she was the first Black president of the New Jersey Association of Counties and was elected chairperson of the Board of Public Welfare. By 1991, she was appointed Executive Chairperson of the NJ State Martin Luther King Commission. She was also secretary of the Ken Gibson Association.
Pearl was also active in the NAACP.
Bibliography
Digitized materials including oral history, Newark Public Library (1 , 2)
Curcio, Diane. “Newark’s Miss Beatty is a Pearl Beyond Price” Star Ledger Dec 27, 1987
Birthday program, Box 14, Barbara J. Kukla Papers, Newark Library
Pearl Beatty, former Essex freeholder, dies at 83, New Jersey Globe
B-18, Beatty, Pearl, Newark News Morgue, Newark Public Library
Hammond, Lillian “Over the Teacup” Washington Afro American Mar 12, 1960
Shafer, Richard “Variety is…” Star Ledger Mar 8, 1963
“Miss Beatty Urges…” Star Ledger Oct 11, 1963
“Rally to stress…” Star Ledger Oct 25, 1964
Woodruff, Connie, “Black Political Convention…” New York Amsterdam News Jul 13, 1968
“Special Festivities” Star Ledger Jun 29, 1970
Novellino, Tex “Gibson Names Women…” Star Ledger Aug 15, 1971
“Taking the Oath” Star Ledger Sept 14, 1971
Hall, Lawrence “Gibson Picks…” Star Ledger Feb 24, 1972
“Project HELP…” Star Ledger Mar 13, 1965
“Dems stress…” Star Ledger Oct 29, 1978
“Welfare watchdog…” Star Ledger Nov 5, 1984
Knox, Adrienne, “Working to Make King…” Star Ledger Jan 14, 1991
Stewart, Angela, “United for King” Star Ledger Jan 8, 1993
“Not one but two…” Star Ledger Sept 29, 2015
“2391 Registered by the Urban League” Newark News Oct 4, 1964
“Faces are Familiar” Newark News Jun 11, 1970
Eldridge, Douglas, “Gibson to…” Newark News Jun 24, 1970