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Mildred C Crump
1938-2024 Mildred Crump was Newark’s first African American councilwoman in 1994 and first female council President, from 2006-2010 and 2013-2021. She was also the first African American Braille teacher in NJ. Born in Detroit, as Mildred Coleman, Mildred came to Newark in 1965. In 1973, Mildred was a teacher at Newark’s Helen Keller School, for…
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Barbara J Kukla
1940- Barbara Kukla was a reporter for the Star Ledger for 37 years. She has written many books on historical Newark including, Swing City: Newark Nightlife 1925-1950. Barbara J. Kukla was born in 1940 and grew up in North Arlington, New Jersey. With the Star Ledger, Barbara edited the popular Newark This Week section and…
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Marion Alexander Bolden
1946- Marion Bolden was superintendent of the Newark Public Schools from 1999-2008. In 2009, Marion founded the Newark Public Schools Historical Preservation Committee, to preserve Newark school history. Marion was born in Newark and is a graduate of South Side High School, where she was president of the National Honor Society and Clinton Place Jr.…
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Mollie Dawkins
1908-1984 Mollie Dawkins was co-organizer of the Dawkins Civic Association, worked for the Housing Authority, and coordinated the Sunshine Teleservice for senior citizens. She was also founder of Community Preservation Service, to improve her neighborhood around Leslie and Schley Street, for which she was honored in 1966. Mollie and her husband founded the South Side…
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Cecil I Dorrian
1882-1926 Cecil I. Dorrian (1882-1926) was a war reporter for the Newark News (WWI). She wrote a weekly column and traveled Europe and was the first accredited female reporter to go to the front lines. She was a playwright and wrote a play that was performed nationally. Cecil said, “They must know what it is…
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Bernice Maxwell Cross
c. 1918-2011 Bernice Cross worked at the Star Ledger all her life, from 1939 to 2004. She coordinated several sections of the paper as part of the editorial staff. She also served as a receptionist. For many years she was also a popular soprano singer, who enjoyed singing in choirs. Bernice was one of the…
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Nellie Grier
c. 1900-1984 Mrs. Nellie Grier, who was known as “Mother Grier” in Newark, founded and directed the senior center on Clinton Ave (now named after her) and organized the Newark Senior Citizens Council. In 1975, she organized the Emmanuel Senior Citizens Center. She said, “Too many older people sit home…just get worse…But when they come…
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Melinda Scott
1876-1954 Melinda Scott was an English immigrant and President of a Hat Trimmers Union in Newark & worked for suffrage including being part of a delegation to President Wilson. She was also a key figure in the labor movement and later was a Newark tax commissioner, the first woman on the Newark Tax Board and…
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Grace Baxter Fenderson
1882-1962 Grace Baxter Fenderson (1882-1962) was one of the first African American teachers in the Newark Public Schools and taught for 42 years, helped found the Newark Branch of the NAACP and served on the board of the Sojourner Truth branch of the YWCA. She was president of the Lincoln-Douglass Memorial Association. From 1936, she…
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Etta Fallon
1880-1960 Etta Fallon was the first women policewoman with Margaret Dugan and Justina Eller in 1918 and they were the only woman officers for many years. She promoted to Sergeant in 1943 with Dugan, retiring in 1948 as the only woman on the force, as the other two women had died. She was assigned for…