Category: Entertainers, Theater and Music
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Melba Moore
1945 (1941?)*- Internationally known singer and actress. Attended Arts High School as “Beatrice Melba Smith (Moorman)” and lived at 283 Rose St. She also attended Waverly Avenue Elementary School and Cleveland Jr. High.…
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Maud “Peggy O’ Wing” Wingk Batsch
Sept 1896 – early 1930s? Maud P Wingk lived with her mother Lena, her father a laundry dealer (William) and three sisters Janette/Lulu, Alma and Nora (names differ on census records). She was…
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Geneva, Helena and Gertrude Turman
The three Turman sisters performed with their brother Buddy in nighclubs around Newark and New York. Gertrude Turman performed in Newark nightclubs as a “shake dancer”. Helena also specialized in dance. Geneva Turman…
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Rosa L Sears Scudder
c. 1852 – 28 Jan 1930 Rosa Sears was the mother of Clara Scudder, piano prodigy. She taught in the Colored School with James Baxter from at least 1870 until her marriage to…
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Fanny Tuell (Faye Adams, Scruggs, Jones)
1923-2016? Pioneering R&B singer who had several chart-topping hits in the 1950s, including 1953 hit “Shake a Hand”. Active from the 1940s-1960s. Born in Newark as Fanny Tuell and lived at 588 North…
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Leah Adele Neuhut
1877-1908 Born to a rabbi in Newark, blind from birth and deaf from 1904, she was called, “one of the most remarkable blind women in the country”. Neuhut a reputation as a pianist,…
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Mary and Louise Curcio
c. 1901-1973? , c. 1904-1987 Featured photo is Mary Curcio, Daily News, 1931. Two blind sisters born to Eva Bender and Paul Curcio in Newark. They lived on Morris Avenue. Mary entered school…
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Dorthaan Williams Kirk
1938- One of the first people hired by Newark’s jazz station WBGO and became the face of and a fierce advocate for the station. She served as Director of Community Relations and Special…