Ang Santos

We're wrapping up our celebration of Newark's 350th Anniversary with a story from Sakina Pitts.

In 1990, Pitts was an 8th grader at Chancellor Elementary School in Newark.

And for most 8th graders, graduating elementary school is the beginning of their journey in figuring out what they want to be when they grow up.

This was definitely the case for Pitts, whose path paved its way back to her elementary school as its principal.

Bill May has been photographing the worlds most famous jazz musicians for decades. He also taught music to children in Newark for forty years and retired as the district's Director of Artistic and performing arts.

He found inspiration early in his life from his father, Boyd Vernon May, a man of faith who was a working man by day, and musician by night.

Boyd Vernon May died in 1993.

In 1933, when Hitler came to power in Germany, there was a place on Springfield Avenue in Newark, called Schwaben-Halle, where Nazis used to gather.

But Newark had its own anti-Nazi groups along the same time.

One man, a boxer named Nat Arno was a strongman for one of the anti-Nazi groups. His friends and family - sister Rose Yannick, wife Ann Arno, and fellow boxers Dave Halper and Bernie Callatane - describe how Nat struck a powerful blow for Jewish families in Newark.

Khali Raymond​ is 17 years old, and he's has written six books. His experience in writing and self-publishing earned the recognition of Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka​, who hosted his first official book signing at City Hall.

Only a senior at East Side High School, Kahli already envisions a day where he'll be honored with a key to the city for his accomplishments. He sat down to talk about what life was like before he finished writing his first novel "The Ballad of Sidney Hill."

In honor of Newark, New Jersey​'s 350th Anniversary, we’re bringing you Newark Stories — voices from unheard Newarkers, from the Ironbound to Weequahic to University Heights.

Here we celebrate one of the oldest Irish pubs still operating not only in Newark, but in New Jersey. McGovern’s Tavern began serving the people of the central ward in 1936.

Rayvon Lisbon was born in 1989. When he was just six years old, he was separated from his mother and grew up moving from one foster home to the next. As a teenager in South Ward, he doubted his chances of getting out of high school, and barely let himself dream of attending college.

But in 2015, Rayvon graduated from Rutgers – Newark with a degree in Sociology.

In honor of this city's 350th Anniversary, we’re bringing you Newark’s stories — voices from unheard Newarkers, from the Ironbound to Weequahic to University Heights.

Today we’re heading to the North Ward, with a story from Mae Smith from 1982. That was the year that Newark first hired female police officers — just nine of them — to patrol the city. They faced skepticism and discrimination, but Mae stuck with it for 25 years. She recently sat down to talk about what those early years were like.

In honor of this city's 350th Anniversary, we’re bringing you Newark’s stories — voices from unheard Newarkers… from the Ironbound to Weequahic to University Heights. Our first is from a landmark restaurant, downtown.