Unfortunately, not much is known about Helen Ramsaye's life. She has no surviving relatives and left behind only a few pictures and books. We believe that, as a young girl, she lived on Park Avenue near 40th Street and attended Hamilton Elementary School; the current location of Weehawken High School. Helen and her husband Terry lived in Weehawken while Terry worked in the film industry. Many silent films were made in Weehawken in the 1920s. 

Terry Ramsaye (1885-1954) - a producer, writer, editor, and journalist - began to write newsreels, shorts, and features in 1915. In 1926, he wrote the still-relevant history of film A Million and One Nights. He would spend the rest of his career as editor of the prestigious periodical The Motion Picture Herald. 

Every December, students from Weehawken High School visited the elderly at the Fritz Reuter Retirement Home in North Bergen. The students would spread Christmas cheer through gifts of candy and conversation. It was a small gesture, but it meant a lot to those who experienced the students' kindness.

Helen Ramsaye was a resident of Fritz Reuter and met many Weehawken High School students to whom she felt a connection. When she passed away in 2001, she left part of her sizable estate to Weehawken High School. Her 1.8 million dollar "investment" provided the seed money for the Ramsaye College Scholarship Trust which has since helped deserving Weehawken students pay for college.