Category: Hispanic/Latino Americans
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Gloria Del Toro
1920-2011 Gloria Del Toro was founding director of Newark Public Schools bilingual program. She was supervisor of the Chapter 1 program for English proficiency which served 5000 students and operated in 23 schools. Eugene Campbell, former superintendent stated that she pioneered bilingual and bicultural education in the district. She initiated campaigns that spurred the availability…
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Grizel Ubarry
1953- Grizel Ubarry served as director of ASPIRA in Newark from 1976 to 1982, starting when she was just 24. She served as director of the Division of Community Development for Essex County from 1983-1985. She then became a consultant, as president of G. Ubarry Inc. As a consultant, she has worked with non-profit organizations,…
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Marleny Franco
1955- Marleny Franco is the founder of the Greater Newark Conservancy. She was executive director of the Conservancy for many years. She was previously director of the Rutgers Urban Gardening Program in Newark. Marleny was born in Colombia. She lived in Newark from the early 1980s to about 2000. She came to Newark, after attending…
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Ingrid Betancourt
1956- Ingrid Betancourt served in various leadership positions at Newark Public Library including interim director, assistant director, director of Operations, Hispanic Services Coordinator, head of Special Collections and head of Ethnic Services and Collections. She retired recently c. 2024. Born in Puerto Rico, Ingrid arrived at the library in 1980. She helped found La Sala,…
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Ramona Santiago
c. 1952- Ramona Santiago was appointed deputy mayor in 1994. Her grandfather came from Spain to Newark in 1914. She operated the Santiago Funeral Home of Lafayette Street. At her appointment as deputy mayor she stated, “I’m raising my two children here and I want to see a better life for them and all children”.…
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Maria Vizcarrondo-De Soto
1951- Maria Vizcarrondo-De Soto had many important executive roles in the community. She served as director of ASPIRA for many years, was the first Hispanic elected Essex county official and then was the first woman and Latina President of United Way of Essex and Hudson, for 10 years. She also was the first director of…
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Myrna Milan
1954- Myrna Milan-Rivera Myrna Milan was the first Hispanic Newark municipal judge in 1988 and active with the Puerto Rican Congress and ASPIRA. As a judge, she was well-known for developing alternative sentences for offenders, according to the book Latinas: Hispanic Women in the US. Myrna was born in Hoboken, of Puerto Rican descent, and…
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Estrella Alonso Martinez
1924-1998 Estrella Martinez, with her husband Antonio, founded a Spanish restaurant, Spanish Tavern, in the Ironbound on McWhorter Street in 1963. This may have been the first Spanish restaurant in the area. Later they founded the Spanish Pavillion in Harrison. Estrella was a member of the Centro-Orensano Club. Estrella was a lifelong Newark resident, the…