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Dr. Meta Anderson Post
c. 1889-1942 Dr. Meta Anderson was the director of Special Education for the Newark Public Schools from 1922 until 1942 when she was killed in an accident. She entered the school system in 1910 as “head teacher of mentally defective classes” and became supervisor in 1914. Meta took a leave of absence from the schools…
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Estrella Alonso Martinez
1924-1998 Estrella Martinez, with her husband Antonio, founded a Spanish restaurant, Spanish Tavern, in the Ironbound on McWhorter Street in 1963. This may have been the first Spanish restaurant in the area. Later they founded the Spanish Pavillion in Harrison. Estrella was a member of the Centro-Orensano Club. Estrella was a lifelong Newark resident, the…
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Marie E Gonzalez
c. 1915-2006 Marie E Gonzalez was called the “Puerto Rican Mayoress of Newark”. She was a specialist on Puerto Rican Affairs with the Newark Human Rights Commission from 1963-1981. She was Chairman of the City’s Advisory Council on Bilingual Programs and a founder of FOCUS. She is credited on “The Puerto Ricans in Newark, NJ:…
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Elizabeth Clementine Dodge Kinney
1810-1889 Elizabeth Kinney was called “one of the cleverest women that ever lived in Newark”. She wrote for The Knickerbocker Magazine, Godey’s Lady’s Book, and Graham’s Magazine. She contributed to the Advertiser where she “took charge of the literary department” , writing “all the book notices & critiques which appeared in it, besides many original articles on various subjects”.…
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Harriet Stratemeyer Adams
1892-1982 Wrote over 200 books over her literary career, including the plot outlines for many Nancy Drew books. Took over control of the Stratemeyer publishing business after her father’s death. Harriet was born in Newark to publisher Edward Stratemayer. She lived at 99 and 171 N 7th St through at least 1915. She graduated Barringer…
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Lilian McNamara Garis
1873-1954 Lilan McNamara wrote for the Newark News in charge of “Women’s Work”, their first female reporter (“the first woman to be given regular salaried employment”). She married Howard Garis and wrote hundreds of books for the Stratemayer syndicate, some under pen names. Born in Ohio to Irish immigrants Winifred and Edward, she moved to…
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Loraine White
c. 1947 In 1980, Loraine White became a football coach at Weequahic High. She was New Jersey’s first female coach and was said to be the first Black woman to become a high school football coach in the United States. She has been inducted into the Newark Athletic Hall of Fame. Loraine (often misspelled Lorraine)…
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Elizabeth “Liz” Del Tufo
1933- Elizabeth Del Tufo was head of the Newark Preservation and Landmarks Committee, retiring in 2025, after helping preserve many buildings and historic sites. She is a Newark historian, who for many years was known for her tours of Newark. In 1980, she was first director of Cultural Affairs for Essex County, and a founder…
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Sally (Sara) E. Cooke Young
1905-1967 Born and raised in Newark, Sally Young was an early Black journalist. Sally was a 1924 graduate of Central High who lived at 169 Norfolk St when she graduated Central. Her father Ambrose was listed on the census as a book author. She was the Daily News secretary at Central High. In 1941, she…
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Jeannette Gilder
1849-1916 In Newark, Jeannette Gilder worked in the editorial department of the Newark Morning Register, helping her brother launch the paper. Later, she wrote for papers around the country, mainly the Chicago Tribune and published several books. The Newark News said she, “laid the foundation of her literary fame as a newspaper reporter in Newark.”…