New Bedford Mourns Irene Duprey-Gutierrez: Educator, Historian, and Hetty Green Reenactor Dies at 84

A New Bedford High School teacher who went to jail rather than obey a local judge's order to end an illegal teachers' strike in 1975 has passed away, leaving a legacy of education, local history, theater, and more.

Irene Duprey-Gutierrez was a member of the New Bedford Educators Association (NBEA) negotiating team when contract talks with Mayor John A. Markey and the New Bedford School Committee broke down, resulting in the strike.

READ MORE: Remembering Former New Bedford Mayor and Judge John Markey

The NBEA is affiliated with both the Massachusetts Teachers' Association (MTA) and the National Education Association (NEA).

The 1975 New Bedford Teachers' Strike

As many as a dozen New Bedford teachers, including Duprey-Gutierrez, spent up to 10 days incarcerated at the Ash Street Jail for defying a back-to-work order. The strike lasted from September 8 through October 9, 1975.

New Bedford Teacher Who Went To Jail Over Contract Dispute Has Passed

A Lifelong Educator and Local Historian

A native of New Bedford, Duprey-Gutierrez "spent most of her professional life as a teacher of English at New Bedford High School," according to a recent obituary. Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School, Newbury Community College, and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth also employed her.

Duprey-Gutierrez passed away on July 28, 2026. She was 84.

Get our free mobile app

Bringing the "Witch of Wall Street" to Life

While Duprey-Gutierrez was well known for her civic involvement, she is perhaps best known in recent years as an avid local historian and for her "in-character historical reenactments" of Hetty Green, a local 19th-century icon known as the "Witch of Wall Street."

Whenever she was planning a reenactment in the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, Duprey-Gutierrez would usually call into my radio program to inform the listeners and invite them to participate. The last time she called was probably no more than two weeks before she passed away.

Communities need people like Irene Duprey-Gutierrez to survive and thrive. Her loss is immeasurable.