Theresa “Tessie” McNamara
1892 – 1971
In 1915 Tessie McNamara was the first woman hired by the Canadian Car Foundry Co. Ltd., a munitions plant in Kingsland, which is now Lyndhurst, New Jersey. She was hired as a stenographer and telephone switchboard operator, but the company grew so fast, additional stenographers were hired and she remained at the switchboard.
On January 11, 1917 at 3:45 P.M. a fire broke out in Building #30. As the fire spread through the 84 acre complex, Tessie remained at her switchboard to notify the fire and police departments, her home office in New York and each of the forty buildings. As she made her calls 3" shells were exploding like fireworks and black smoke could be seen from New York City.
"My first thought was to save the lives of the 1700 men in the buildings. While making my calls, the first shell struck the building and passed about five feet from where I was sitting. About a dozen buildings were now on fire, and I had completed all calls. I started to leave the building without a coat, but I couldn't walk. My courage left me and the arriving firemen picked me up, wrapped a big coat around me and rushed for the gate."
Although the plant was completely destroyed and several homes on the hill above the complex were damaged or destroyed, all employees escaped due to the courageous efforts of Tessie McNamara.
Born in Lyndhurst in 1892, Tessie McNamara lived there fifty-two years before moving to East Rutherford where she died in 1971.------------------------------------In the distance can be seen the "stack", the most visible remains of the Canadian Car & Foundry Co. Ltd.
Marker is on Clay Avenue, on the left when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
