Mary and Louise Curcio

Jun 13, 2023

in 1890-1909 (Born), Born or raised in Newark (high school or before), Education, Museums and Libraries, Entertainers, Theater and Music, People With Disabilities, Social Work, Civic and Philanthropy

c. 1901-1973? , c. 1904-1987

The featured photo (above) is Mary Curcio, Daily News, 1931.

Mary and Louise Curcio were two blind sisters born to Eva Bender and Paul Curcio in Newark. They lived on Morris Avenue.

Mary entered school for the first time at Washington St. Public School when the first class for the Blind began in 1910. According to the New Jersey Historical Society, when Mary graduated in 1917 from Washington Street School, she was the first blind person to graduate from a public school in New Jersey.

Both Mary and Louise also graduated South Side High in the early 1920s and Douglass College in 1925 and 1926. Again, Mary was the first blind person to graduate from an accredited college in NJ.

In a 1923 profile of the sisters Louisa said, “There’s always something to do and if I can find it I’m happy…There are very few things I’ve looked forward to that I haven’t got.” Mary said, “I like to take the hardest thing I can.”

Both Mary and Louise were listed in Who’s Who of American Women as the first blind women in the US to graduate public school.

Mary worked at the Commission for the Blind as executive secretary for 43 years. Louise became a noted piano teacher, heading the piano department at Newark Community School for the Arts for 30 years. She wrote more than 30 books on piano instruction.