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Leila Gardner
1914-1993 Leila Gardner was executive director of the Newark Traveler’s Aid Society. She was the first African-American in the nation to head a Travelers Aid unit. She later worked for Family Services as a social worker for many years. The unit helped vulnerable travelers like children, immigrants and senior citizens at Newark Penn Station and…
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Pryno B Hillman
c. 1916-1963 Pryno B. Hillman was founder and president of the Mary McLeod Bethune Social Club, affiliated with the NJ State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs. Pyrno was an organizer and director of creative and performing arts at Central Avenue Community Center. She was a charter member and first president of the Newark branch of…
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Sarah Kussy
1870-1956 Sarah Kussy was a prolific Jewish leader. The Jewish News wrote that her death, “is being mourned as a loss to this community of one of its most widely known and beloved leaders. Her contributions to Jewish life were felt on the national, state and local scenes and had continued since before the turn…
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Pansy L Borders
1906-1978 Pansy L. Borders (1906-1978) was the first director of Child Guidance for the Newark Board of Ed and served 43 yrs. Pansy worked in nearly every Newark school and wanted to infuse social work into the curriculum. She was one of the early Black teachers in the system, she was one of seven when…
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Amelia (Berndt) Moorfield
1876-1950 Amelia (Berndt) Moorfield (1876-1950), was a suffragette from Newark, with the Women’s Political Union. She was financial secretary of the WPU, recruited by Mina Van Winkle. In this role, she raised money for the suffrage cause, helping to achieve the passage of the 19th Amendment. Amelia’s parents were German immigrants. Born in Kentucky, she…
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Maria DeCastro Blake
1911-2001 Maria DeCastro Blake was a dean of admissions at Rutgers and recruited hundreds of Hispanic students. She was one of the founders of ASPIRA, a founding member of the Puerto Rican Congress of New Jersey, founder and president of the Association for Professional Education of Puerto Ricans, a founding member of FOCUS and involved…
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Marie Anderson Bagby
1925-2003 Marie Bagby (1925-2003) was a teacher starting in 1944, and eventually principal at Barringer, West Side and University High Schools, before retiring in 1991. Marie also served on the board of St. Michael’s Medical Center, the affirmative action committee of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, the executive board of the Newark Principal’s Association,…
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Delores DeCarlo Alexander
1931-2008 Lesbian feminist writer and reporter Delores Alexander was born in Newark and worked for the Newark Evening News. Later she worked at Newsday, was the first executive director of NOW, and opened a feminist restaurant in New York. Delores was born Delores DeCarlo in Newark in 1931. She lived on Sylvan Ave (1940 and…
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Golden E. Johnson
1944-2010 Golden Johnson was the first Black woman to serve as a Newark municipal court judge. Her obituary called her “a trailblazer for African American women lawyers in NJ.” She was appointed a judge by Gibson in 1974, at only 30 years old. She said, “I look forward to serving the people of Newark to…
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Elvira Rodrigues
1918-1985 Elvira Rodrigues (left) co-owned Dan’s Friendly Services in Newark with her husband (oil). She was of the East Side High School advisory board and Newark Library board of trustees, as well as the Ironbound Senior Citizens Club and St. Jame’s Hospital Auxiliary .She was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1968. Elvira…