Category: Immigrant (born outside the Continental US)
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Mariazinha (Maria) Coutinho
c. 1946- Maria Coutunho was born in Portugal and settled in Newark in the 1960s. In the early 1970s, her and her husband established Coutinho’s Bakery, which spread to multiple storefronts in Newark and Harrison. A 1995 profile stated she supervised every cake before it left Newark and sat down with every client. The bakery…
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Enid Bell Palanchian
1904-1994 Enid Bell was a Scottish-born artist and sculptor. She was sometimes called “Handy Andy” due to her various experiments in art. After marrying Missak Palanchian in New York in 1932, she moved to Newark to 21 Myrtle Ave. In 1933, she won the Sculpture Medal from the Newark Art Club. In 1934, she completed…
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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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Mary Boland
c. 1950- Mary Goretti Boland was director of the AIDs program at the Children’s Hospital of New Jersey in Newark. She co-founded the program with Dr. James Oleske and was honored internationally for her work with children with AIDs. She said, “I am very impressed with the deep strengths shown by families of AIDS victims…I…
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Eva Hodgson
1924-2020 Eva Hodgson was an internationally known Bermudian activist, union leader and author (read more here). However, she had an important Newark connection and was in Newark for a significant time period. In 1969, during the first years of Essex County College Ms. Hodgson was coordinator of Black Studies. Essex County was the first public…
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Rose A Leonardis
1916-2012 Rose A Leonardis was a lifelong Ironbound resident. She graduated from embalming school in 1950 and was the proprietor of the Rose A. Leonardis Funeral Home on Ferry Street after the death of her father in 1953. Rose ran the funeral home until she retired in 1999. Rose was active in many organizations including…
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Asimina Speros Zois
1909-1987 Asimina Zois began sending care packages back to her native village in Greece after WWII, and later sent packages to Vietnam servicemen all over the world. In 1969 the post office gave her a Humanitarian Award for her work. She said, “What we throw away in this country they can use over there. The…
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Dr. Rita Sapiro Finkler
1888-1968 Dr. Finkler established and headed the endocrinology department at Beth Israel Hospital. This was the first endocrinology department in New Jersey. She also practiced medicine in Newark for 55 years and wrote over 70 papers. She was president of the NJ Women’s Medical Association and received the Woman of the Year award from the…