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Helen A Miller
1898-1982 We don’t know too much about Helen A. Miller. She was the sister of Mildred Miller Free and her father James Miller was the “first of his race” to work for the City Water Department. She graduated South Side School in 1917 and was planning to attend the Normal School. In Feb 1919, “Helen…
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Mina Ginger Van Winkle
1875-1933 Famous suffragist who organized the Equality League of Self-Supporting Women in Newark in 1908. In 1912, the League was re-named the Women’s Political Union of New Jersey (WPUNJ), with Mina as president, and remained based in Newark, headquartered on Halsey Street. Born in New York City, but by age 5, lived at 130 Barclay…
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Minnie Schneider Karr
1855-1938 Her obituary states she was “a veteran feminist…a pioneer suffrage worker and led suffrage picket lines. She was a founder of the National Women’s Party which had as its object the abolishment of all discrimination in the law against women and was active in the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom and the…
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Lucy Karr Millburn
1895-1998 Lucy Karr Millburn was a suffragist who marched on Washington, DC in 1913. She was a New Jersey delegate of the National Woman’s Party to the Mass Meeting for Equal Rights in Industry at the US Department of Labor’s Industrial Conference and a Member of the New Jersey division of the National Woman’s Party.…
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Margaret Brydon Laird
1871-1968 A leader in the women’s suffrage movement and NJ’s first Assemblywoman, elected with Jennie C. Van Ness. Born in Newark and lived there most of her life. She attended Newark schools and graduated the Newark City Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1895 and lived in Newark until the late 1940s. She lived at…
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Gladys Hillman-Jones
1938-1998 Worked 32 years as a teacher and administrator for the Newark Public Schools, becoming deputy superintendent. In her eulogy, Rev. James Scott said, “if Gladys left no other legacy it was that she told us in so many countless ways that we can make a difference”, and stated that she had a firm belief…
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Dr. Linda Caldwell Epps
c. 1951- Dr. Linda Caldwell Epps grew up in Elizabeth and has a long connection to Newark. She graduated from Douglass College in 1973. Dr. Epps served as President and CEO of the NJ Historical Society, in Newark. She’s also served as a consultant to various colleges, funded by the Ford Foundation, and held various…
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Rebecca Newby
1919 or 1920-2005 Born in Alabama, raised in Newark, Newby attended Robert Treat and West Side High, where she was a member of the Glee Club and voted most likely to succeed vocally. Newby designed and made dresses and was known as a fashion model. She studied fashion at Pratt and New York Manhattan Trade…
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Josephine Belle Janifer
1925-2018 Born in Montclair, Josephine Janifer was a counselor for the Newark Job Corp and in 1965 Exec Director of the Newark Preschool Council. In 1979, she became the first Director of the Newark Private Industry Council, an employment and training group for disadvantaged residents. She retired in 1992. Josephine served widely in the community…
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Geneva, Helena and Gertrude Turman
The three Turman sisters performed with their brother Buddy in nighclubs around Newark and New York. Gertrude Turman performed in Newark nightclubs as a “shake dancer”. Helena also specialized in dance. Geneva Turman was a popular soloist Helena Turman 1914-1970 Besides family performances, danced in shows produced by Johnny Gardner and toured with Harlem on…