Category: 1930-1959 (Born)
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Mary Sue Sweeney Price
1951- Mary Sue Sweeney Price was the director of the Newark Museum from 1993 to 2013. When she retired she was called, “inspirational, insightful, a keen politician, a cultural warrior” and “the grand dame of our arts community.” Mary Sue started working at the Museum in 1975 as supervisor in the public relations office, appearing…
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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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Rosalind Lubetsky Bressler
1936-2001 Rosalind Bressler was the first woman to be corporation counsel (the chief attorney) for the City of Newark, when she was sworn in, Oct 1984. Previously she’d been assistant corporation counsel from 1975. As assistant corporation counsel she focused on labor and employment issues, and contracts, and also worked with many different departments in…
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Gloria Hopkins Buck
1939- Gloria Hopkins Buck is widely involved in culture and philanthropy throughout Newark. She has served as a Trustee at the Newark Museum and is a founding charter member and Chairperson for the Newark Black Film Festival. She was on the the Literacy In the Arts Task Force, appointed by Gov Kean. She has been…
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Gloria Waldron Butler
1931 – 1998 Gloria Butler was a political activist in the Central Ward. She became involved in local politics in the 1950s from friendships with Irvine Turner and Timothy Still, among others. She was a Democratic committeewoman and district leader, for many years in Hayes Home and “a fixture at the polls, working tirelessly to…
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Earlene Jackson Provit
1945-2007 Junius Williams in his book “An Unfinished Agenda” states that Earlene Provit was a “community legend…I heard a story about Earlene fighting five cops and winning!” Earlene worked part time at a bar called the Pink Palace. Junius says, “I remember the first time I went to the Pink Palace. Earlene was wearing a…
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Edwina Johnson Hale
1933-2019 Alt names: Bailey, Manigault, Mason Edwina Johnson lived with her parents and siblings at 56 Ridgewood Ave in Newark and attended South Side High (now Shabazz). Her father was a taxi driver. In Jun of 1949, when she was 16, Edwina and her brother Marshall, along with their father, stopped in Montgomery, AL, on the…
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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…