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Mary C. Woody
c. 1877-1966 Mary C. Woody became the first licensed female funeral director in NJ in Newark in 1913. She opened a funeral home that bears her name in Orange, which is open to this day. Bibliography Cummings, Charles. “The List of Firsts: African Americans Who Pioneered the Way” Star Ledger. Feb. 12 1998 “Our History”…
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Adelaide Wilson
1902- Adelaide Wilson was raised in Newark and worked as a reporter. In 1922 she hiked 10,000 miles to San Francisco & back. She became engaged to a rancher in Denver and worked with movie star Dorothy Dalton, among other adventures. There was a reporter of the same name taking part in the Newark News…
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Miriam Studley
1899-1984 Miriam Van Arsdale Studley was the first director of the New Jersey room at the Newark Public Library from 1951-1966. She also ran the NJ collections from 1943, when Julia Sabine went to graduate school. That’s a total of 23 years in charge of the library’s New Jersey materials. Miriam Studley was born Jul…
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GiGi Foushee
1947-1997 GiGi Foushee was a Newark police officer, county detective, head Newark’s ABC department, deputy mayor & first African-American woman warden of Essex County Jail. “In a few months short of 50 yrs she accomplished more than most men and women do in their lifetimes” – Charles Cummings Photo from Newark Library. Bibliography Knowing Newark…
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Gladys Grauer
1923-2019 Artist, launched the Aard Studio Gallery in Newark in 1972. Also ran for office with the Socialist Workers Party in 1960. Founding member of Black Woman in Visual Perspective, New Jersey Chapter of the National Conference of Artists, and the Newark Arts Council. Photo by Colleen Gutwein, 2014. Bibliography Biography at Affero Art Gallery Extensive…
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Mary McKeon
1913-1997 Mary McKeon was the first woman president of the NJ Associations of Life Underwriters and the Newark-NJ Association of Life Underwriters. She was the first woman to be a division manager in Prudential Life insurance sales working in Newark and then Montclair. Bibliography Star Ledger obit Dec 7, 1997 “Arlington Brunette Sets Insurance Records…
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Zelma Mitchell Collins
1930-2023 Zelma Collins was the first black teacher at South 17th Street School in 1952 and rose to principal! Later, she was principal of Clinton Ave. She was awarded Most Outstanding Alumnus from the Seton Hall School of Education in 1980. As a child she lived on Barclay Street & Wright Street, after her parents…
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Rebecca Andrade Doggett
1941- Founder of Tri City People’s Corp. First Director of the Essex County Office of Citizen’s Services, the founding Executive Director of the Head Start Program and the Newark Preschool Council, and the first black female executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Photo from Al Henderson Collection, Newark Library. Bibliography…
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Larrie West Stalks
1925-2015 Larrie Stalks was Essex County Register from 1974-1994. Stalks became Executive Secretary of the Newark Planning Board in 1962. In 1967, Addonizio appointed her as Director of the Newark Department of Health and Welfare, the first African American Department head for the city. Graduated South Side in 1942. Sister of Calvin West. Photo from…
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Mildred Crump
1938- Mildred Crump was Newark’s first African American councilwoman and first female council President. She was also the first African American Braille teacher in NJ. Bibliography Extensive Star Ledger coverage Digitized material at Newark Library “Mildred C. Crump – Rutgers African American Alumni Alliance”. Retrieved 2022-02-18. Barbara J. Kukla Papers, Newark Library Newark Elections Collection, Newark…