Category: Activists and Community Leaders
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Willie Belle Hooper
1906-1999 Born in Georgia and attended school, including getting a teaching certificate in Florence, S.C, after which she taught in several rural schools. According to her daughter, Newark would not accept her teaching…
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Anna Lois Russ Jones
1911-1987 Mother of Amiri Baraka. Born in Alabama, lived in Newark from 1926. Attended Tuskegee, Fisk, and Shaw College. Administrator for Community Hospital for many years. Community relations specialist for the Newark Housing…
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Delores Rich
1948-1996 President of the Aspen Riverpark Tenants Association, who did lots of organizing for tenants in the building. Tenants were forced out of the old Prudential Apartments to allow Aspen to renovate it.…
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Marion Roberson Kidd
1928-2012 Born in Newark. Worked 15 years with the North Jersey Community Union later named Newark Community Health Center, as a Social Outreach Manager and clerk in the Social Security program. She was…
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Mrs. Mary Gordon Barnett Hill (Mother Hill)
1803-1884 The first President of the Newark Women’s Christian Temperance Union from 1874 to 1882, and afterwards an Honorary President. “As an organizer she showed great discrimination and tact in securing the right…
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Naomi Sylvia Charner Campbell
1925-2017 Naomi Charner was a graduate of South Side High who lived at 712 Bergen St and 140 Somerset St in Newark. In 1947, she attended Upsala College and was a senior and…
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Sister Carol Johnston
1944-2013 Sister Carol was born and raised in Newark and attended St. Vincent’s Academy. She was Director of the Women and Family Program at St. Columba Neighbor Club, Newark. She was project and…
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Sister Deborah Humphreys
1950-2024 In 1975, Deborah Humphreys founded and served as executive director (1975-1980) of El Club Del Barrio( St. Columba Neighborhood Club) in Newark. It worked to prevent eviction, repair housing, and enforce tenant…