Trailblazer Archives - New Jersey Globe

The O’Toole Chronicles: Senator Wynona Lipman

January 16, 2023 12:21 amJanuary 15, 2023 11:44 pm

Recently, I was talking to Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo and the name Senator Wynona Lipman came up. It occurred to me that many of the younger generation in politics might not know who Senator Lipman was. So, I will...

New Jersey was against Dr. King state holiday before it was for it

January 16, 2023 12:20 amJanuary 17, 2023 8:54 am

The road to establishing a legal holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in New Jersey was a slow one. During the final days of the 1974-75 legislative session, the Democratic-controlled State Senate rejected the idea of a...

The story of a maid who became an assemblywoman

January 16, 2023 12:19 amJanuary 17, 2023 8:54 am

A former maid and the granddaughter of slaves, Remay Pearce (1920-2007) served as an assemblywoman from Essex County for about seven weeks in 1979 and 1980. In those days, when a seat in the legislature became vacant, it would remain empty...

Trailblazer: Stanley Van Ness

January 16, 2023 12:18 amJanuary 15, 2023 8:32 pm

Stanley C. Van Ness (1933-2007) became the first Black chief counsel to the Governor of New Jersey when he was named to the post by Gov. Richard J. Hughes in 1967, at age 34. He was sworn in just at...

New Jersey GOP could have had a Black senator 34 years ago, but they went in a different direction

January 16, 2023 12:17 amJanuary 16, 2023 12:13 am

Republicans thought they could beat freshman U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg in 1988. New Jersey had gone Republican in five consecutive presidential elections and Tom Kean was re-elected governor in 1985 with 70% of the vote. The early favorite to run...

Trailblazer: Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver

January 16, 2023 12:16 amJanuary 16, 2023 9:23 am

Sheila Oliver is the first Black to serve as Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey, the first Black woman to win a statewide election in New Jersey, and was the first Black woman to serve as Speaker of the New Jersey...

Trailblazers: 11 Black politicians from New Jersey you should know about

January 16, 2023 12:15 amJanuary 15, 2023 11:44 pm

Dr. George E. Cannon (1869-1925) was a physician and New Jersey Black Republican leader from Jersey City who seconded the nomination of President Calvin Coolidge at the 1924 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. He was the first Republican to win...