Category: Authors, Journalists and Writers
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Joan Whitlow
c. 1949- Joan Whitlow, now retired, has been called the first full-time Black woman reporter at the Star Ledger. She was also the first Black woman to be medical editor in the country. Joan wrote on health, education and the Newark city government. Joan worked for the Ledger from at least 1973-2011 and she had…
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Dr. Evelyn Boyden Darrell
1923-2016 Evelyn Boyden Darrell was a Newark Black journalist, writing a national column for the Afro, and later the first Black woman psychologist at Bellevue Hospital in NYC. Evelyn Boyden was born in Newark in 1923 and graduated with the West Side High class of 1940. She lived on South 13th Street and Bruce Street…
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Betty Harris Neals
1934- Betty Neals is a nationally-recognized poet, who has performed in Newark, New Jersey and nationally, who also had a 37-year teaching career in East Orange. In 1975, she was featured in New York City’s Black History Week and the New York Amsterdam News called her a “Newark born writer” who “is also a beautiful…
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Jenny H. Morris
1870-1949 Jenny H Morris was secretary of the NJ Women’s Suffrage Association and Newark News reporter from 1914 until her retirement in 1946. From her biography on the Alexander Street Suffrage database: Ms. Morris covered education, welfare movements, and women’s organizations. She wrote under the byline “J.H. Morris” because “at the time Ms. Morris came…
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Georgianna Franklin Brennan
1936- Georgianna Brennan was an early Star Ledger writer. Born in Newark, she was the daughter of Parks and Property Director Pearce Franklin. In June 1953, when she would have been about 17, a photo of Georgianna judging Miss Newark Marine Corps listed her as “Miss Georgianna Franklin of the Star Ledger”. In August, Georgianna…
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Rebecca Newby
1919/1920-2005 Born in Alabama, raised in Newark, Newby attended Robert Treat and West Side High, where she was a member of the Glee Club and voted most likely to succeed vocally. She lived at 115 Wickliff in 1940. Newby designed and made dresses and was known as a fashion model. She studied fashion at Pratt…
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Eliza A. Chase
c. 1829-2 Jan 1880 Eliza Chase was the first principal of the Female Department of Newark High School in 1855. The 1938 Barringer yearbook wrote, “an inspiration to all her students when high school and college education for women was in its infancy”. She had poetry and short stories published, including in the Daily Advertiser.…
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Leah Adele Neuhut
1877-1908 Leah Neuhut, born to a rabbi in Newark, was blind from birth and deaf from 1904. She was called, “one of the most remarkable blind women in the country”. Neuhut had a reputation as a pianist, author, and speaker. She advocated on behalf of the blind to the state government. She also advocated for…