Newark Women

Alphabetical List of Posts

  • Minnie E Stith

    1893-1970 Minnie E Stith was a founder and pastor of Zion Holy Church in Newark for 35 years, making her likely the first woman to build a church from the group up in Newark. The church had various locations including South Orange Avenue and Mulberry Street. Minnie became pastor in 1934. She purchased 2 buildings…

  • Minnie Schneider Karr

    1855-1938 Her obituary states she was “a veteran feminist…a pioneer suffrage worker and led suffrage picket lines. She was a founder of the National Women’s Party which had as its object the abolishment of all discrimination in the law against women and was active in the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom and the…

  • Miriam Ogden Ball

    1890-1968 Miriam Ball was from an old Newark family and was born in Newark. She was the daughter of Mary Depue Ogden. She was “presented” to Newark Society in 1909. She attended Wellesley College and worked briefly for the Newark Library; then returned to the library in 1934. In 1951, she was assigned to the…

  • Miriam Studley

    1899-1984 Miriam Van Arsdale Studley was the first director of the New Jersey room at the Newark Public Library from 1951-1966. She also ran the NJ collections from 1943, when Julia Sabine went to graduate school. That’s a total of 23 years in charge of the library’s New Jersey materials. Miriam Studley was born Jul…

  • Miss Rhapsody Viola Wells

    1902-1984 Born in Newark, Viola Wells, known as Miss Rhapsody was an internationally acclaimed jazz, blues and religious singer. In Newark, she sang for local jazz clubs in the 1920s and started out with the Salica Johnson Glee Club. She also performed in New York and nationally, playing with Count Basie’s Orchestra and the Harlem…

  • Modina Boyd Watson

    1926-1994 (Davis, Pulley) Modina Boyd was hairdresser, makeup artists, assistant, secretary, stylist and “gal Friday” for Sarah Vaughan who traveled the world with Vaughan from 1950-1960. Modina met Vaughan at Arts High where they became close friends. Later, she was attending Howard but left to work with Vaughan. Vaughan said, “with my secretary, Modina Davis,…

  • 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…

  • Mrs. (Lena) Parker O. Griffith

    c. 1880-1960 Mrs. (Lena) Parker O. Griffith (c. 1880-1960) created the Griffith Music Foundation which brought nationally recognized musicians to Newark and sponsored educational programs and a yearly student music contest.  Lena was active in promoting music from the 1930s and organized the foundation in 1938. She was also an organizer of the Essex County…

  • Mrs. Mary Gordon Barnett Hill (Mother Hill)

    1803-1884 Mother Hill was the first President of the Newark Women’s Christian Temperance Union from 1874 to 1882, and afterwards an Honorary President. “As an organizer she showed great discrimination and tact in securing the right woman in every place, encouraging the timid and holding a mild restraint upon those needing it.” She spoke throughout…

  • Musette Brooks Gregory

    1876-1921 Musette Gregory was a suffragist and activist. She was a leader in the Urban League of Newark and Vice President of the Newark Branch of the NAACP. She was on the  Executive Committee of the New Jersey Suffrage Ratification Committee during the suffrage struggle. Musette was secretary of the NJ State Federation of Colored Womens…

  • Myrna Milan

    1954- Myrna Milan-Rivera Myrna Milan was the first Hispanic Newark municipal judge in 1988 and active with the Puerto Rican Congress and ASPIRA. As a judge, she was well-known for developing alternative sentences for offenders, according to the book Latinas: Hispanic Women in the US. Myrna was born in Hoboken, of Puerto Rican descent, and…

  • Myrtle C. Williams

    1900- 1957 Myrtle C Williams grew up in Newark on Chestnut St. She was the first “colored girl” to finish a 4 year commercial course in 1919 when she graduated East Side High and played a piano solo at the graduation. Myrtle entered Columbia University. In 1921 she was appointed stenographer for the Mayor’s Department.…

  • Myrtle L. Bruton Hartsfield

    1934-2001 Myrtle Hartsfield was the first woman to be named to Newark’s Alcohol and Beverage Control Board in 1981. She said, “I am very proud to be the first woman on the Board. We do have a lot of lady tavern owners here and I welcome the challenge.” She served until at least 1984. At…

  • Nadaline Wolfson Dworkin

    Aug 5, 1928 -May 17, 2017 Born in NYC, Nadaline Wolfson married Donald Dworkin in 1947 and they lived in Newark’s Weequahic section by the late 1950s. By 1958 she was on the Board of the Newark Business and Professional Chapter of American Jewish Congress, where she was chairman of the Y Nursery School Committee.…

  • Nancy Zak

    1948- Nancy Zak is a community organizer for environmental justice and housing with Ironbound Community Corporation. Nancy grew up in Lisle, IL and attended Mundelein University, now Loyola. She came to Newark in the early 1970s where she taught at Independence High School, an alternative school in Newark. By the late 1970s, she worked for…

  • Naomi Sylvia Charner Campbell

    1925-2017 Naomi Charner was a graduate of South Side High who lived at 712 Bergen St and 140 Somerset St in Newark. In 1947, she attended Upsala College and was a senior and Vice President of the Phi Omega Chi Sorority. She had also founded an interracial organization known as the Four Freedoms Action Committee.…

  • Nellie Gray Grashof

    c. 1843-1928 Nellie (Ellen) Gray Grashof was a singer, mezzo-soprano, who had a 75 year career. She said, at age 83, “It is music that has kept me alive.” Her death in 1928 ran on the front page of the Newark Evening News. Nellie Gray was born in North Carolina, but came to Newark early…

  • 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…

  • Newark Policewomen Class of 1949

    Photo from Star Ledger shows women in training, May 1949 [Photo shows Virginia Garber and Catherine Daly]. When policewoman were hired in 1949 they were considered by the newspaper, and presumably by all, to be the first hired “in 30 years” since the 1918 hiring of  Margaret Dugan, Justina Eller and Etta Fallon. Some didn’t remember 1918, and…

  • Olive A Mathews Summers

    1876-1911 Olive Summers was born and raised in Newark. She lived at 192 Charlton St and New York Age called a “much beloved public school teacher”. She graduated the Normal School in 1898. Olive was an assistant in the Colored School from at least 1905. In 1909, when the School closed she was transferred to…

  • Olivia Queene Brown

    1882-1954 Beauty culturist since 1912, ran the Poro Beauty School on 9 Wallace Street which she opened in 1936 or 1937. On her death, the Afro American wrote how she had organized the Poro Club, training women, and allowing hundreds of women to enjoy “a comfortable living as Poro beauticians, agents and shopowners”. The Afro…

  • Pamela E. Goldstein

    1946- Pamela Goldstein worked in public relations for the City of Newark from at least 1976-2004, serving as Communications Director under Mayor James from 1986-2004. Pamela grew up in West Orange and attended West Orange High , graduating in 1964. She graduated with a Bachelor’s in Journalism from Boston University School of Public Information. Pamela…

  • 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…

  • Patricia Fenix Kettenring

    1941-2023 Born in CA, Patricia Kettenring created and directed the Business and the Arts Program at the Rutgers Newark Business. Pat taught courses in marketing, non-profit accounting, entrepreneurship, and arts fundraising. Pat wanted to address inequality in Newark through arts so she founded GlassRoots in Newark in 2001. GlassRoots provides glassmaking workshops and business skill…

  • Patricia Hall Curvin

    1936- Patricia “Pat” Curvin was the wife of historian Robert Curvin and has served many roles in the Newark community. Pat Curvin was born Patricia Hall and grew up in New York City. She married Robert Curvin in Manhattan in 1958. She was an English teacher at East Side High School starting in the 1960s.…

  • Pauline Louisa Mars Baxter

    Aug 1857 – Dec 14 1924 Pauline Mars was the wife of James Baxter Principal of the Colored School. Born to a prominent family in New York, Pauline graduated the School of Design of the Cooper Institute. The New York Globe wrote Pauline was the “first colored lady” to “receive a diploma from that institution”.…

  • Pauline Sims Puryear

    1900-1971 Miss Pauline Puryear was a social worker in Newark for many years. She’s famous nationally for being the 4th international president of Alpha Kappa Alpha and Dean of Women at Florida State A&M College. The 1930 census lists her as working for the NJ Urban League which was based in Newark. In 1939, there…

  • Pearl Beatty

    1936-2019 Pearl Beatty was an Essex County freeholder (now county commissioner), who the New Jersey Globe called a “legendary veteran of Newark politics”. She said, “the only important tool an individual has is to vote.” President Giblin of the Essex Freeholders said she “lives, eats and breathes Essex County.” She was the sister of Alma…

  • 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…

  • Queen Elizabeth Bryant James

    1924-1998 Known as “Queenie”, Queen James helped get Democrats elected, including Ken Gibson, Earl Harris, and Tom Giblin. Queenie worked for the Gibson administration for 16 years, and served as a Democratic County Committe leader, in the South Ward for 25 years. She was also: Vice Chairwoman of the South Ward Democratic Organization, Vice Chairwoman…

  • Ramona Santiago

    c. 1952- Ramona Santiago was appointed deputy mayor in 1994. Her grandfather came from Spain to Newark in 1914. She operated the Santiago Funeral Home of Lafayette Street. At her appointment as deputy mayor she stated, “I’m raising my two children here and I want to see a better life for them and all children”.…

  • Rebecca “Becky” Andrade Doggett

    1941- Rebecca Doggett has had a long varied career in community organizing, social services, government, education and corporate. She was a founder of Tri City Citizens Union for Progress in 1966 and in the 1970s. In 1965, she was first President and later Executive Director of the Newark Preschool Council. In 1979, she was appointed…

  • Rebecca Newby

    1919/1920-2005 Born in Alabama, raised in Newark, Newby attended Robert Treat and West Side High, where she was a member of the Glee Club and voted most likely to succeed vocally. She lived at 115 Wickliff in 1940. Newby designed and made dresses and was known as a fashion model. She studied fashion at Pratt…

  • Renee Starks Steed

    1914-1996 Renee Starks Steed was a fashion designer. She directed Renee’s School of French Designing and Modeling (591 High St) and ran New York Hat Shoppe 392 Springfield Ave. Renee founded Renee Stark Enterprises and Renee’s Rental Services. She also owned Renee’s Acreage Recreational Area in Tuckahoe, NJ. Renee founded the New Jersey Community Council…

  • Rosa L Sears Scudder

    c. 1852 – 28 Jan 1930 Rosa Sears was the mother of Clara Scudder, piano prodigy. Rosa taught in the Colored School with James Baxter from at least 1870 until her marriage to David Scudder in 1873 and is still listed under her maiden name as a teacher in the 1874 city directory. Rosa’s sister…

  • Rosalind Lubetsky Bressler

    1936-2001 Rosalind Bressler was the first woman to be corporation counsel (the chief attorney) for the City of Newark, when she was sworn in, Oct 1984. Previously she’d been assistant corporation counsel from 1975. As assistant corporation counsel she focused on labor and employment issues, and contracts, and also worked with many different departments in…

  • Rosamond Stewart Marrow

    1903-1972 Bob Queen called Rosamond (Rosamund) Stewart Marrow, “one of NJ’s most outstanding personalities over the past half century.” Rosamond founded Simplex Beauty School, which was at 126-128 West Kinney Street. She was also a founder of the Cosmetologists Guild. She was president of the Board of the Community Hospital (African American hospital, previously Kenney)…

  • Rose A Leonardis

    1916-2012 Rose A Leonardis was a lifelong Ironbound resident. She graduated from embalming school in 1950 and was the proprietor of the Rose A. Leonardis Funeral Home on Ferry Street after the death of her father in 1953. Rose ran the funeral home until she retired in 1999. Rose was active in many organizations including…

  • Rose Baldasare Maker

    1913-1997 Rose Maker was the 1939 Women’s Singles NJ Tennis Champion and the Newark Open Champion 4 years in succession, sometimes playing against her sister Marie. She lived at 258 Van Buren St and Elm Street. She was a graduate of East Side High, born to Italian immigrants. She also played for the Ironbound women’s…

  • Rose Danzis Parsonnet

    c. 1900-2003 Rose Danzis was the daughter of Max Danzis, a founder of Beth Israel Hospital and Jennie Danzis, Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. She was married to Eugene Parsonnet, a cardiologist, and her son was Victor Parsonnet, renowned heart surgeon. Rose was involved with music throughout her life, “The house was filled with a Steinway grand,…

  • Rose Kussy

    1887-1955 Rose Kussy was president of the West Side Trust Company after the death of her husband. She was a director of the Jewish News. She was a member and secretary of the Newark Central Planning Board. Rose was appointed to the Planning Board in 1943, was Secretary of the Planning Board as early as…

  • Rose S. Ray Moryck

    c. 1858 -1942 Rose S. Ray Moryck was the mother of Brenda Moryck. Rose was one of the first colored teachers and principals in NJ, according to her obituary in the New York Age. She hasn’t been found in the Board of Education Reports for Newark, so where Rose taught is a mystery. In Newark,…

  • Rose Slavitt

    1895-1969 Rose Slavitt was the first woman to manage a department at Prudential Insurance Co in 1952. She was manager of Debit Policy Division 2 and worked for Prudential for many years, starting a messenger. She said, “This is a terrific challenge to me…The confidence my superiors have shown by giving me this promotion is…

  • Ruth B. Demerast Breder Porter

    1902-1971 In 1927, listed by Sunday Call as “the only woman director of a scientific station in the United States”. She was the director of the Wyanokie Zoological Station in Haskell. As of 1930, she was still listed as “of Newark” but was working at the New York Aquarium. She traveled internationally with her scientific…

  • Ruth C. Battles Dickerson

    1867-1939 Ruth Battles was an early Black graduate of Newark High School, in 1891. In 1894 and 1895 she is listed as running a Select School in Newark at 187 Commerce. Ruth married Rev. Charles Dickerson in 1895 but in 1901 sued him for desertion. He had to pay her $4 a week (later revised…

  • Ruth Caldwell Lynn

    1902-1964 Ruth Lynn was the only woman member of Newark’s Charter Study Commissioner in 1953, after being heavily involved in the Newark Citizen’s Committee on Municipal Government as vice chairman and acting chairman, advocating for a change in Newark’s government. She said, “I personally believe that Newark does not have the best form of municipal…

  • Ruth Crumpton Dargan

    1921-2010 Ruth Dargan became a Newark policewoman in 1949, in the second class of women. She was the first Newark woman detective, with her partner. Ruth was chosen for the Homicide Squad and sent to Quantico for advanced criminal investigation. She was the only woman chosen to initiate the Sex Crimes Unit during her tenure.…

  • Ruth Greenberg Shiminsky

    1918-1971 Ruth Shiminsky ran for NJ Governor on the Socialist Workers Party in 1961 (living 202 Clinton Pl Newark), 1965 (2 Aldine St, Newark). In 1965, she was the only woman candidate for governor. She opposed the Vietnam War, supported Civilian Review Boards, and supported a higher minimum wage and a shorter work week. She…

  • Ruth McClain Rambo

    1940-2024 Ruth Rambo, known at the time as Ruth McClain, is a graduate of Fisk University. In the 1960s she took a job with the Urban League and became one of it’s first female directors. She was associate exec director and in 1975 sued the Essex Co. Urban League saying she was denied the Exec.…

  • Sally (Sara) E. Cooke Young

    1905-1967 Born and raised in Newark, Sally Young was an early Black journalist. Sally was a 1924 graduate of Central High who lived at 169 Norfolk St when she graduated Central. Her father Ambrose was listed on the census as a book author. She was the Daily News secretary at Central High. In 1941, she…

  • Sally Carroll

    1922-2019 Sally Carroll was one of the first Black policewomen in Newark along with Rhoda Daniels and Eleanor M. Stokes in 1949 . She was the first Black woman detective with the Essex County Sherriff’s Office. She was active with the Batons. After entering the police in 1949, she took the Civil Service promotional exams…

  • Sandra “Sandy” King

    1948- Sandy King was the host of Emmy Award Winning Due Process which has won two dozen regional Emmys. She is an award-winning producer and anchor of news, documentaries, and public affairs programs. Sandy King was born in Newark and graduated with the Weeqauhic Class of 1965 and from Rutgers Newark. She began writing articles…

  • Sandra L West

    1947-2019 Sandra West was a 1964 Weequahic graduate. She was the editor of the Black Organization for Students newsletter at Rutgers and first African American female editor of Rutgers Observer. Sandra worked as a journalist for Information published by the City of Newark, as well as in multiple other journalism positions and freelance for publications…

  • Sara A. Fawcett

    1846-1899 Sara Fawcett was the first supervisor of drawing in Newark. She had a “strong personality which was a combination of the clean-cut principles of her Puritan ancestors and a breadth of mind, clear vision and great tolerance”. Fawcett School was named in her honor. Students there in 1927 wrote, “She laid a firm and…

  • Sara Jane Ash

    1886-1973 Sarah Jane Ash was one of only two woman engineers at NJ Bell Telephone Company as of 1937. She started in 1902, as a phone operator. She said, “I like my work. Every phase of it is very engrossing.” Born in Paterson, Sarah Jane worked at Bell in Paterson and other places until 1929…

  • Sarah (Sara) Catherine Howard Johnson

    1907-1993 Sarah Johnson was one of the first African American nurses in the Visiting Nurses Association of Newark, where she worked from 1930-1950. She was a nurse at Hawkins Street School from 1965-1977. Sarah received degrees from Tuskegee Institute (1929) and Seton Hall. She was a member of the Graduate Nurses Association. She was a…

  • Sarah Bedell Ball

    1879-1962 Sarah Ball was head of Newark’s business library from 1907 to about 1919. She was inducted into Special Library hall of fame in 1959 with Alma Mitchell. She helped found the Special Libraries Association. Later Sarah became a bookseller in New York (Ball & Wilde) and died in Hartford, CT. Sarah was born in…

  • Sarah Elizabeth Collins Houston

    1895-1986 Sarah Elizabeth Collins Houston (usually went by Elizabeth, possibly because her mother was also Sarah Elizabeth) was the grandmother of Whitney Houston. She was born in California in 1896 but lived in Newark on Beach St by the time she was 14. Her father was minister at St. James AME Church. Elizabeth graduated from…

  • 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…

  • Sarah Schloss

    1838-1924 Sarah Schloss was president of the Frauen Verein Naechstenliebe or Friendly Sisters which was a leading Hebrew charitable organization in Newark for 38 years. She was named an honorary life member and honorary president of the organization and the oldest member as of 1910, having been a member for 48 years. Sarah lived in…

  • Sarah Vaughan

    1924-1990 Sarah Vaughan described as having “one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century.” Vaughan grew up in Newark and attended Arts High, many of her first performances were in Newark. In 1930, she lived at 9 Brunswick Street, and 1940 at 72 Brunswick St. In 1950, the family is listed at 2…

  • Sarah Ward

    Feb 1833 – Feb 16, 1907 Sarah Ward is the namesake of the Sarah Ward Day Nursery, which has been in operation since 1892. The story states that she began caring for several children and soon had dozens in her care. The property at 27 Jay Street, where it still stands today, was donated soon…

  • Sheila D Banks

    1956-1992 Sheila Banks was 2nd in the Class of 1974 at Weequahic High School. She was the first Black women to graduate from Steven’s Institute of Technology in 1978 (the school began admitting women in 1971). She received an engineering degree, with a concentration in chemical engineering. In 1974 she completed a Cornell University program…

  • Shirley Northern Green

    c. 1935-1983 Shirley Green was appointed director of the Division of Public Welfare in 1978 by Ken Gibson. She previously served as Rent Control Administrator from 1974 to 1978, and in the Business Administrator’s office before that. Shirley was forced to leave school at age 15 due to illness. In 1966, after a husband and…

  • Sister Carol Patricia Johnston

    1944-2013 Sister Carol was born and raised in Newark and attended St. Vincent’s Academy, becoming a Sister of Charity in 1962. She was Director of the Women and Family Program at St. Columba Neighbor Club, Newark. She was project and planning Director for Ironbound Community Corporation. A boulder honoring Sister Carol in Riverfront Park says,…

  • Sister Deborah Humphreys

    1950-2024 In 1975, Deborah Humphreys founded and served as executive director (1975-1980) of El Club Del Barrio( St. Columba Neighborhood Club) in Newark. It worked to prevent eviction, repair housing, and enforce tenant rights, as well as other social services. After founding El Club Del Barrio, Deborah worked as a Legislative Aide for Senator Lipman…

  • Sister Mary Walter Dwyer

    1929 – 2022 Sister Mary Dwyer was principal of Saint Columba School in Newark, in one of the poorest sections of Newark and with Deborah Humphreys, she was a driving force in the Saint Columba Neighborhood Club / El Club Del Barrio. Deborah Humphreys wrote, “It was never enough for Sr. Mary to just be…

  • Sophie L Cooper

    1912-1971 Sophie L Cooper was Newark’s first elected councilwoman, in the South Ward from 1957-1962. She was appointed unanimously by the Council after the death of her husband in Jan 1957, and then was elected in a special election in Nov 1957, and again in May 1958. After being elected she stated she wanted to…

  • Stella Windsor Wright

    1887-1932 Stella Wright was a social worker from North Carolina who helped establish the Friendly Neighborhood House with Gladys Churchman and Louise Shugard, and was director of activities at the House, and help attract donors like Louis Bamberger. She also helped to establish a Girls Club, as well as recreation centers at the Belmont Ave…

  • Susan Amelia Barnett

    1814-1897 Susan was a member of the first class of the New York Women’s Medical College, which graduated 1865. She practiced as a physician until four years before her death. She practiced for several years in Newark (city directories through 1870) and then in New York. “It was because of her desire to help the…

  • Sylvia Guarino

    26 Dec 1945- Sylvia Guarino was the first woman deputy mayor in Newark, appointed by Mayor James in 1986. The full time position paid $28300 and the purpose was to “serve as a conduit between the government and its citizens” and “assist the day-to-day operation”. She envisioned improving quality of life, working with the community and…

  • Thelma Williams Gillis

    1916-2003 Thelma Gillis was the first woman and first non-law school grad assistant chief of the municipal court clerks of the City of Newark. Featured in the Afro American in 1972 she said, “the courts are just overloaded these days!” and “I have taken 25 civil services exams in the last 10 years and intend…

  • Theodora Sautermeister Prieth

    1843-1906 Theodora Prieth owned the German Newspaper the Freie Zeitung which she managed for over 20 years after her husband died, until her son took over the paper. The Newark News said, “she had a keen insight into business” and “she developed the papers resources”. Urquhart’s History of the City of Newark said, “she directed…

  • Theresa David

    1923-2004 Theresa S. David was the first Black teacher to be hired permanently at a High School. Previously, Black teachers were only hired on temporary status or as subs. She shows up on the results of the Civil Service test for “secondary Spanish” in the Newark News in 1947, but other sources give her start…

  • Theresa Knight Moore

    *See below note on surnames 15 Mar 1907 – Feb 16, 1983 Theresa Knight Moore was the first African American employed at Newark Public Library in a professional position. Theresa became a “library assistant” at Springfield Branch in 1937, which was likely a librarian position. The appointment was made with the help of the Urban…

  • Theresa Kraker Guthrie

    c. 1889-1959 Theresa Guthrie lived in Newark from at least 1910. She was the founder of the Chronically Ill Service of Essex County. She was also a board member of the Essex County Tuberculosis League and county representative on the board of the NJ Tuberculosis Association. Theresa served at base hospitals in France during WWI.…

  • Theresa Swartz Grotta

    1836-1922 Theresa Grotta was a Bohemian Jewish immigrant who worked tirelessly on behalf of needy families in Newark. She was president of Hebrew Ladies Immediate Relief Society and other relief societies. Theresa was a member of the National Council for Jewish Women, first president of the Newark Council for Jewish Women. In 1893 she represented…

  • Tina Eugene Holtzclaw Bohannon

    1905-1999 Tina Bohannon was an early Black teacher in Newark, hired before 1945, firstly as a “permanent sub” at Cleveland Junior High, because Black teachers could not be officially hired above primary level. Afterward, she taught at 7th Avenue School and Robert Treat Elementary School, and finally became Guidance Chairman at Arts High for 13…

  • Trish Morris-Yamba

    1944*-2019 Trish Morris-Yamba was recognized as a visionary in the field of early childhood education, founding the CHEN school and working as director of the Newark Day Center for 32 years. Trish Morris-Yamba was born in New York and attended Rutgers Livingston College. By 1973, she was founding director of the CHEN school for preschool…

  • Una Janifer

    1891-1963 Una Janifer, the mother-in-law of Josephine Janifer was extremely active in Newark civic life. In Feb 1963, she received the Brotherhood Award from the Newark Human Rights Committee. Una was born Una Staunton in Auburn NY and graduated Syracuse University, where she met her husband Dr. Clarence Janifer, in 1911. She taught briefly including…

  • Vera Brantley McMillon

    1909-1987 Vera McMillon worked for the Public Welfare Department for 37 years retiring as a Supervisor, co-founded Tri City People’s Organization for Progress and a branch of the National Council for Negro Women. She also co-wrote a radio program on NJ Afr. Am. history and worked with the NJ Historical Society to promote African American…

  • Vickie Donaldson

    c. 1949 – Vickie Donaldson was a leader of the Black Organization of students during the takeover of Conklin Hall in 1969, and joined the Board of Education at age 23. Later, she became the first woman to be General Counsel of the Newark Board of Education and served as Director of Homeless Services for…

  • Violet Johnson

    1870-1939 Violet Johnson was a civic leader and suffragist in Summit. She was active in the New Jersey Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs and the New Jersey Women Suffrage Association. Violet Johnson’s life has been expertly chronicled in Betty Livingston Adam’s book Black Women’s Christian Activism and her biographical sketch linked below. Bibliography Adams, Betty…

  • Willie Belle Hooper

    1906-1999 Willie Belle Cooper was born in Georgia (maiden name: Saunders) and attended school, including getting a teaching certificate in Florence, S.C, after which she taught in several rural schools. According to her daughter, Newark would not accept her teaching certificate. In her oral history she says she tried to get “in school” and couldn’t…

  • Wilma Jackson Grey

    1945- Wilma Grey was the first African American woman to be the director of Newark Public Library, from 2005-2015. She was an employee of the Newark Public Library for 46 years. Wilma grew up in Newark, near the library’s Roseville branch where she enjoyed reading Nancy Drew. She graduated Arts High School in 1962, as…

  • Wilnora Holman

    1911-1994 Wilnora Holman was a community leader in Newark and an activist in education, housing and senior services. Mrs. Holman was a Housing Authority commissioner from 1989-1995. She was also Tenant Association President at James C. White Manor, chairwoman of the Central Ward Advisory Council, and president of the George Branch Civic Association. Mrs. Holman…

  • Wynona Moore Lipman

    1923* -1999 Wynona Lipman is well known as the first Black woman in the New Jersey Senate. You can read her full detailed biography from the Center for American Women and Politics here. Some of Wynona’s early accomplishments are lesser known. She got a Fulbright scholarship at a young age, was a professor at Morehouse…

  • Zelma Mitchell Collins

    1930-2023 Zelma Collins was the first Black teacher at South 17th Street School in 1952 and rose to principal in 1973, the first Black principal. From 1986, she was principal of Clinton Ave., before retiring in 1996. She taught briefly at Oliver Street School before South 17th. She said, “I left a legacy…I gave it…