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Evelyn Silverstein Simpson
1931-2021 Newark space planner, interior designer, teacher and potter. Graduate of Weequahic High School and Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art. Lived on Renner Ave during highschool. She tudied ceramics at the Newark Museum, among other places, and studied at Edison State College, Pratt Institute and Parsons with concentrations in architecture, planning, and design.…
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Dr. Anna (Annie) T Nivison
1835-1920 An 1868 graduate of the New York Medical College for Women, Annie T Nivison opened “The Homestead” a private hospital in Newark in 1872. It was at 565-567 Orange St and later 5 North 11th Street. It had 10 beds. Anna’s sister Mary Nivison served as the matron for several years. Anna wrote articles…
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Eva Hodgson
1924-2020 Eva Hodgson was an internationally known Bermudian activist, union leader and author (read more here). However, she had an important Newark connection and was in Newark for a significant time period. In 1969, during the first years of Essex County College Ms. Hodgson was coordinator of Black Studies. Essex County was the first public…
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Bessie Lanier Smith
1924-1966 Bessie Lanier Smith was prominent in the Clinton Hill anti-poverty activities with United Community Corporation and as a community leader in Clinton Hill. She was first president of the area UCC leader board for Clinton Hill (Area Board 3) also known as People’s Action Group. Before UCC came to Newark, Bessie and her husband…
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Everane (Eva) Crump Harris
1913-2006 Eva Harris was born in Pleasantdale, NJ but lived in Newark by 1930 and in the Ironbound at 101 Hawkins St by 1950, after her first husband died. She lived in the Ironbound for the rest of her life. Eva Harris was a teacher’s aide at Hawkins Street School for many years. She was…
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Susan Amelia Barnett
1814-1897 Susan was a member of the first class of the New York Women’s Medical College, which graduated 1865. She practiced as a physician until four years before her death. She practiced for several years in Newark (city directories through 1870) and then in New York. “It was because of her desire to help the…
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Rose A Leonardis
1916-2012 Rose A Leonardis was a lifelong Ironbound resident. She graduated from embalming school in 1950 and was the proprietor of the Rose A. Leonardis Funeral Home on Ferry Street after the death of her father in 1953. Rose ran the funeral home until she retired in 1999. Rose was active in many organizations including…
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Margaret (Peggy) Officer Lista
1913-2013 Margaret (Peggy) was inducted into the Newark Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 for being a basketball and track standout at Central High in the late 1920s. She also was a cheerleader and dancer. She was president of the Girls Athletic Association. As of 1930, she was the only girl at Central ever to…
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Ruth McClain Rambo
1940-2024 Ruth Rambo, known at the time as Ruth McClain, is a graduate of Fisk University. In the 1960s she took a job with the Urban League and became one of it’s first female directors. She was associate exec director and in 1975 sued the Essex Co. Urban League saying she was denied the Exec.…
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Mildred Roberts Helms
1907-2002 Mildred Helms was a community activist, who encouraged the building of affordable housing in Clinton Hill. In 1972, she helped found the Clinton Hill Area Development Corp which built 151 units of housing in Clinton Hill Community Gardens. Mayor Sharpe James said, “She was a creative, wonderful, hardworking woman….With a ready smile, winning sense…