Helen M. Stummer, a documentary photographer.
Courtesy,  Helen M. Stummer, 2001, 1985.
Source, New Jersey Historical Society
    

Click on image to enlarge. “Arnetha as a Child While Living in Newark,”

Click on image to enlarge. “Goddea,Tea Time on Good Friday,"

Documentary photographer Helen Stummer has been documenting Newark’s Central Ward for many years, giving her photographs to her subjects, many of whom became her friends. Stummer raised her family and then completed her education by earning a GED at the age of 34, a Bachelors degree from Kean University and finally a Masters at the age of 50. The first New Jersey solo exhibitions of her work were held at Kean University, the Newark Public Library, and the Mason Gross School of the Arts in 1986.

Her book, "No Easy Walk," (1994) contains these and other images and includes excerpts from her interviews with people she photographed in Newark.