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 in the Black and Puerto Rican Convention.
Maria advocated for improvement of conditions for Hispanics in New Jersey, and she was named 1991 Woman of the Year by the NJ Hispanic Task Force. Hilda Hidalgo wrote about her life in an article in the Puerto Rican Woman “Two Women: A Story of Success”.
Maria taught at St. Patrick’s School in Newark before being hired by Rutgers in 1965 and being appointed community representative for the Newark campus in 1969. She was appointed to the School Board in 1970 but did not meet the residency requirements so was not sworn in.
Maria was born in Puerto Rico and attended school in Puerto Rico and New York before coming to Newark. She was widowed in 1954.
Bibliography
Black Organization of Students Records at Rutgers
Weinstein, James, “Rutgers Expands North” Newark News Feb 11, 1971
“Portrait of Maria DeCastro Blake”, RUCore
B-31 Blake, Maria DeCastro, Newark News Morgue, Newark Public Library
“Rutgers Names an Aide to Help Latin Community” Star Ledger Mar 25, 1969
“Maria Blake Puerto Rican Activist” Star Ledger July 29, 2001
“Thomas A Blake” Jersey Journal May 17, 1954
“Embittered View of Justice” Star Ledger Oct 9, 1974
Blake, Peter “Puerto Rican, 2 Blacks Appointed to School Board” Newark News July 19, 1970
Hallam, George, “3 Sworn to school Board” Newark News Jul 21, 1970