1944-2010
Golden Johnson was the first Black woman to serve as a Newark municipal court judge. Her obituary called her “a trailblazer for African American women lawyers in NJ.” She was appointed a judge by Gibson in 1974, at only 30 years old. She said, “I look forward to serving the people of Newark to the best of my ability.”
Golden grew up in Terrell Homes (then FDR Homes) in the Ironbound. She attended East Side High School, Douglass College and Rutgers Law School. At Douglass, she was 2nd place for the Edele Nielson Prize in Speech.
Before she was appointed judge, Golden was serving as attorney, sometimes listed as project director, for the Community Legal Action Workshop, a division of the ACLU.
Golden ran for Congress in 1980 and had a career of public service. From 1995 until her death she served as an assistant Essex County prosecutor.
Golden was cofounder of the John Gordon Masonic Lodge and founder of the Golden Johnson Civic Association. She was president of the Garden Club at the Frelinghuysen Ave Senior Citizen Center and of the Craft Club at the Hill Street Senior Citizens Center.
Bibliography
Digitized materials from Newark Library(2)
“Newark’s first Black woman to serve as municipal court judge dies at 66” NJ.com
“Golden Johnson, 66, groundbreaking Newark judge”, Star Ledger, April 30, 2010 & more Star Ledger Coverage
“Gibson picks 2 for judgeship” Star Ledger Oct 15, 1974
“Council approves judges” Star Ledger Oct 17, 1974
Photo from http://digital.npl.org
“German Study” Star Ledger May 19, 1965
Hayes, Michael J “Rent Order is Refused” Newark News Aug 26, 1972
Novellino, Tex “Black woman takes oath” Star Ledger Nov 2, 1974
Novellino, Tex “2 councilman attack…” Star Ledger Oct 16, 1974