SIM-36: Jane Catherine Vredenburgh Papers

Jane Catherine (Anderson) Vredenburgh was born in Brooklyn c. 1941 and was an infant when her family moved to West Brighton, Staten Island later that year. Educated in public schools, she graduated from PS40 and Curtis High School. Subsequently she completed coursework at New York University, the College of Staten Island, and the American School of Business Management. In the early 1960s she worked briefly in the general adjustment bureau of Chase Manhattan Bank. She went on to a job at The New York Times as a forms analyst and graphics artist. In 1965 she married Richard “Dick” Vredenburgh and stopped working outside her home. The couple located in St. George and, in 1969, moved to Stapleton. She and her husband were parents to two children: Fletcher and Elizabeth. Vredenburgh returned to the workforce in 1989, holding a position as mediator for the New York Center for Interpersonal Development in St. George, working with students at Markham Intermediate School and Egbert Intermediate School. Her public service won her the Community Board 1 Sister Assisium Award for service to Staten Island and the Alini Award from the Staten Island Republican Party. She retired in 2001 and died from a cancerous brain tumor in 2005 The papers in this collection document Mrs. Vredenburgh’s involvement in the Stapleton community. Throughout her adult life she was involved in civic and community life. She was a founder and the first executive director of the Stapleton Local Development Corporation and served on Community Board 1 for more than 24 years. Her obituary (included in the collection) lists the following activities:

Boy Scout Troop 45 (Scout master and committee chair)

Girl Scouts of America (local leader)

Trinity Lutheran School (PTA president)

Curtis High School (PTA president, afterschool program volunteer, Curtis representative to the Staten Island Federation of PTAs, Curtis representative to the NYC Board of Education, founding member of the Curtis High School Association of Alumni and Friends, Curtis High School Centennial Committee member)

Friends of Stapleton Library (chairwoman)

Stapleton Civic Association (officer)

Metro New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Church Women’s Group (secretary and convention organizer)

Church Women United (officer)

Stapleton Local Development Corporation (founder and first executive director)

West Brighton AARP (membership chair)

Women’s Club of Staten Island (president)

Women’s Republican Club of Richmond County (president)

New York Federation of Republican Women (corresponding secretary and vice-president-elect)

Community Board 1 (chairwoman of the transportation/public service committee, member of the land use committee, chair of the youth committee, chair of the rules committee, chair of the Stapleton area committee, chair of the human services committee, editor of the newsletter)