Category: Immigrant (born outside the Continental US)
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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…
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Theodora Sautermeister Prieth
1843-1906 Theodora Prieth owned the German Newspaper the Freie Zeitung which she managed for over 20 years after her husband died, until her son took over the paper. The Newark News said, “she had a keen insight into business” and “she developed the papers resources”. Urquhart’s History of the City of Newark said, “she directed…
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Christiana Oehler Trefz
1831-1913 Christina Trefz was President and manager of the Christiana Trefz Brewing Company. She managed the company from 1876, when her husband died, until 1889 when it merged with Krueger, after which her son served as superintendent. She became “one of the wealthiest and best known women of this city”. In 1893, the Newark German…
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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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Dr. Gertrude Ash Golat
c. 1909-1980 Dr. Gertrude Golat was a graduate of University of Vienna Medical School, who came to Newark in 1939. For 25 years worked as a part time physician for the Newark Board of Education and in the 1960s led the drive for better sex education in Newark schools, creating a training program for teachers.…
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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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Esther R Newman
c. 1883 – 1901 Esther Newman was the first woman graduate of the NJ College of Pharmacy along with Emma Egge. She graduated in April and died in August due to appendicitis after an operation. She was listed as a prize winner at the graduation, graduating with high honors and had been appointed Chief Pharmacist…