1923-1997

Marie B. Johnson, of Newark, was one of the first African American women in NJ to be admitted to the NJ bar in 1949 with Martha Belle Williams. She graduated Rutgers Newark (New Jersey Law School) and West Side High School. She practiced with her father, then on her own. She was appointed to the US Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency (1955) and was the first woman appointed to the Newark Alcohol Beverage Control Board (1961).

Photo from Newark Public Library.

June 1940 West Side Yearbook

Bibliography

A History of Remarkable Women Rutgers

M-22, Marshall, M. Bernadine Johnson, Newark News Morgue, Newark Public Library

Star Ledger extensive coverage including “M Bernadine Marshall trailblazer in legal arena” September 20, 1997 and “Black Pioneers Made History in the Law” (Charles Cummings” Feb 17, 2005

West Side Yearbook June 1940

Scarlet and Black: Vol 3