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Corrina Pitters Kay-Williams
1924-1994 Corrina Kay-Williams was born to Jamaican parents in East Orange. She served as an Essex County freeholder from 1982 to 1984, serving as Vice President. She was also an East Orange councilwomen. Corrina was an educator in Newark. She served as a guidance counselor at West Kinney Junior High, retiring as Vice Principal of…
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Rosa L Sears Scudder
c. 1852 – 28 Jan 1930 Rosa Sears was the mother of Clara Scudder, piano prodigy. Rosa taught in the Colored School with James Baxter from at least 1870 until her marriage to David Scudder in 1873 and is still listed under her maiden name as a teacher in the 1874 city directory. Rosa’s sister…
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Julia A. Mason Voorhees
c. 1867-May 4, 1915 Julia Mason was the only student from the Colored School to test into the High School in 1880 with an 82.7%, higher than many other students. She was the first Black student to graduate from the High school, directly from the Colored School, since 1877. When she graduated in 1884, the…
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Clara Woodward Greene
c. 1846 – Jan 31, 1904 Born about 1846 in New England, Clara W. Greene was vice principal of Newark High School (now Barringer), or Principal/Head of the Female Department, for 25 years, which was only integrated into the Male Department around 1899. According to her obituary, she revolutionized the curriculum of the High School,…
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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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Rose S. Ray Moryck
c. 1858 -1942 Rose S. Ray Moryck was the mother of Brenda Moryck. Rose was one of the first colored teachers and principals in NJ, according to her obituary in the New York Age. She hasn’t been found in the Board of Education Reports for Newark, so where Rose taught is a mystery. In Newark,…
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Fanny Tuell (Faye Adams, Scruggs, Jones)
1923-2016? Fanny Tuell was a pioneering R&B singer who had several chart-topping hits in the 1950s, including 1953 hit “Shake a Hand”. She was active from the 1940s-1960s. In 1953, the New York Age calls her, “one of the most sensational new recording stars to come along in many a year.” In 1962, she was…
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Debra Holmes
1953- Holmes was one of the first women in NJ to graduate as a Journeyman, Machinist, Tool & Die Maker / Mechanical Engineer. She worked at Westinghouse and then Anhueser-Busch in Newark, where she was the only female Machinist and Mechanical Tech Planner in the history of the company. Holmes worked at Anhueser-Busch for 32…
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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…
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Janet Gilchrist Paterson
*Image is Washington Street School Class for the Blind, undated c. 1871-1964 Janet Paterson helped found the first class for the Blind in Newark with Lydia Young Hayes and was the first teacher of the Blind, at Washington Street School in 1910. The NJ Commission for the Blind calls it the first “integrated class” in…