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Bertell Collins Wright
1908-1993 President of the Essex County Tuberculosis League, based in Newark at 42 Park Place, sometimes called “Director of Negro Health Work” or “Executive Secretary”. Worked there from 1938-1958. Lived at 69 Somerset St in Newark from at least 1935 (likely from her marriage in 1934) – 1943. Also president of the American Council on…
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Frances “Fannie” Traphegen Rippel
1860-1943 President of the Home for Aged and Respectable Women from 1929-1934, and a longterm board member and volunteer. Lived in Newark from at least 1900-1930. She was president of the Heidelberg Guild of the First Reformed Church. Upon his death her husband established the Fannie Rippel Foundation in her honor which is still active.…
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Lydia Young Hayes
1871-1943 First director of the New Jersey Commission for the Blind which had offices in Newark at 14 James St (now Audible). Became director in 1910. Was blind herself from a childhood farm accident, and advocated for not segregating the blind. She retired from the director’s role in 1937. At the time of her retirement…
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Margaret Douglas Haines
1884-1966 Lifelong resident of Newark. Member of the General Assembly 1949-1953. Taught at Garfield and Avon Ave Schools. Canteen worker and ambulance driver in WWI. Signal corps driver and USO Organizer in Newark in WWII. Graduate of Barringer c. 1903. As an Assembly member, crusaded against sale of switchblade knives, famously pulling out a switchblade…
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Mariana Higbie Barker
1880- April 24, 1967 Born in Newark, graduate of Smith College 1901. President of the Board of Babies Hospital. She was a founder of the Babies Hospital Guild. Involved for 65 years. Received a Citizenship Award from the Academy of Medicine in 1957. Also a board member of United Hospitals and the Home for Respectable…
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Myrtle C. Williams
1900- 15 Jun 1965 (?) Grew up in Newark on Chestnut St. First “colored girl” to finish a 4 year commercial course in 1919 when she graduated East Side High. Played a piano solo at the graduation. Entered Columbia University. Orchestra conductor and businesswoman. She performed at various events. In 1921 appointed stenographer for the…
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Stella Windsor Wright
1887-1932 From North Carolina. Social worker who helped establish the Friendly Neighborhood House with Gladys Churchman and Louise Shugard. Stella Wright Homes was named after her. She also helped to establish a Girls Club at the Belmont Ave and Montgomery Street Schools in 1926. Bibliography Cummings, Charles F. “From writers to singers these women enriched…
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Dr. Eva Topkins Brodkin
1899-1994 First female dermatologist in New Jersey. Practiced in Newark from 1927 to 1977. Also chief of dermatology at St. Barnabas Newark in the 1960s. President of the NJ Dermatological Society. President of the New Jersey Woman’s Medical Association. Star Ledger Apr 12, 1964 Bibliography Cummings, Charles F. Newark’s trailblazing heroines shaped the city’s future…
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Clara Dasher
1930-1995 President of the Essex County College Board of Trustees, longtime active member of the Newark Teacher’s Union. Teacher from 1959-1973. President of the NJ A Philip Randolph Institute. Served on the Governor’s Commission on Public Responsibility for Educational Success and the state Martin Luther King Commemorative Commission. Also on the board of trustees of…
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Clara Zahn
1870-1953 Born in Newark, attended Newark Public Schools and Newark Normal School. First woman principal of a grammar school. There were woman as primary school principals from 1855, the earliest year for which we have a report, but grammar schools were for older children. Grammar schools had a “male” and “female” department and there were…