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Oral History Collection

The Nicki Newman Tanner

Oral History Collection

As part of JWA’s mission to expand the narrative of Jewish history, we have collected and recorded hundreds of interviews with leaders, activists, and community members across the United States, documenting their encounters with major events and movements of the 20th and 21st centuries and the many ways that gender, class, place, and religious and ethnic identities have shaped women’s lives. With generous support from Nicki Newman Tanner,  Mass Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, we are proud to make these interviews and transcripts available to the public. All entries include transcripts; audio or video recordings are also available where narrator permissions allow. 

More about the collection

Ruth Rothstein

Project
Women Who Dared

David Johnson interviewed Ruth Rothstein on March 3, 2003, in Chicago, Illinois for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Rothstein discusses her upbringing in Brownsville, New York, her involvement in union organizing, the influence of her Jewish identity on her career, including the Jewish hospital movement, and her current work at Cook County Hospital.

Nathan Rothstein

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Nathan Rothstein on July 22, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Rothstein talks about his family history, parents, Jewish upbringing, his experience in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, his work with nonprofit organizations, and his efforts to foster interfaith collaboration in the city, providing insights on race and the Jewish community.

Ary Rotman

Project
Soviet Jewry

Ary Rotman was interviewed on October 25, 2016, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Soviet Jewry Oral History Project. Rotman shares his experiences of discovering the official process to leave the USSR for Israel, his struggles in securing a visa and becoming a refusenik, his arrest and time in jail, his eventual successful visa acquisition, and his adjustment to life in the United States.

Amy Rubin

Project
Women Who Dared

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Amy Rubin on February 7, 2007, in Morton Grove, Illinois, for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Rubin shares her challenging childhood in Chicago, understanding her Jewish and feminist identity, her involvement with B'nai B'rith Women's organization and addressing domestic abuse in the Jewish community, and her current role as Director of JCares nonprofit.

June Salander

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Ann Zinn Buffum and Sandra Stillman Gartner interviewed June Salander on June 29, 2005, in Rutland, Vermont, as part of DAVAR’s Vermont Jewish Women’s Oral History Project. Salander recalls her immigration to the United States from Poland as a young girl, settling in Harlem, attending Hebrew School, and her active life as a Red Cross volunteer, Hebrew School teacher, real estate broker, and baker, culminating in her Bat Mitzvah at age 89.

Sonia Saltzman

Project
Adult Bat Mitzvahs

Shayna Rhodes interviewed Sonia Saltzman on December 21, 2004, in Newton, Massachusetts, as part of the Adult Bat Mitzvahs Oral History Collection. Saltzman reflects on her childhood in Chile, her determination to have a bat mitzvah, her family's move to New Jersey, her personal growth through studying Hebrew and preparing for her bat mitzvah with her son, and the transformative power of her bat mitzvah experience.

Mark Samuels

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Mark Samuels on August 2, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Samuels discusses his childhood, love for music, his wife's death, the impact on his Jewish community involvement, evacuation from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, rebuilding his business, and his positive outlook for the future of the city.

Freyda Sanders

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Freyda Sanders on July 12, 2000, in Brookline, MA, for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Sanders shares her upbringing in a politically active household, her diverse career path, her involvement with Hadassah and its impact on her Jewish identity, her trip to Russia, and the influence of her mother's socialist beliefs on her life.

Nancy Sargon

Project
Adult Bat Mitzvahs

Shayna Rhodes interviewed Nancy Sargon on December 23, 2004, in Newton, Massachusetts, as part of the Adult Bat Mitzvahs Oral History Project. Sargon discusses her family background, her Jewish upbringing in a Conservative family, her experiences with Jewish education, her career path in social work, and her bat mitzvah experience in 2000, emphasizing her commitment to Jewish education and ritual practice for herself and her children.

Magda Schaloum

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Magda Altham Schaloum, on June 5, 2001, in Mercer Island, Washington, for the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Schaloum shares her experiences growing up in Hungary, including enduring antisemitism, the impact of anti-Jewish laws, her family's separation and deportation to Auschwitz, her survival through slave labor camps, and her life after the war, including immigrating to Seattle and building a new life with her husband and children.

Jane Krieger Schapiro

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marie Cohen Ferris interviewed Jane Krieger Schapiro on April 11, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Schapiro details her journey growing up in Baltimore, encountering antisemitism, eloping with her first husband during World War II, her involvement in Jewish organizations, her commitment to Israel, and the roles of motherhood and community in her life.

Charlotte "Lotta" Scheiberg

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Emily Mehlman interviewed Charlotte Scheiberg on July 1, 1996, in Cambridge, Massachusetts as part of the Women Whose Lives Span the Century Oral History Project. Scheiberg discusses her upbringing in Germany, her immigration to the United States, her return to Germany in 1985, her experiences during World War II, acts of kindness she and her mother performed, and her involvement as a volunteer in the Fellowship of Jewish and Arab Youth.

Madalyn Schenk

Project
Women Who Dared

Abe Louise Young interviewed Madalyn Schenk on January 11, 2005, in New Orleans, Louisiana, for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Schenk discusses her journey as an activist, starting with her involvement in the National Council of Jewish Women, her work in building economic partnerships between the US and Israel, organizing the first pro-choice rally in Louisiana, and her contributions to political campaigns supporting pro-choice and women politicians.

Madalyn Schenk

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Madalyn Schenk on July 25, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Schenk talks about her upbringing in a tight-knit Jewish community in Chicago, her move to New Orleans, her leadership during Hurricane Katrina, and her involvement in civic organizations and fundraising for the city's rebuilding efforts, as well as her approach to Jewish identity through activism.

Mark Schleifstein

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Mark Schleifstein on December 10, 2006, in Metairie, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Schleifstein talks about advocating for hurricane preparedness, experiencing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and struggling to reconcile his faith in science and belief in God while finding solace in the unity of the Jewish community.

Sara Schlosser

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Sandy Gartner and Ann Buffum interviewed Sara Schlosser on January 19, 2008, in Wolcott, Vermont, as part of DAVAR's Vermont Jewish Women's Oral History Project. Schlosser discusses her family history, childhood, and journey to becoming a vegetarian, her experiences growing up in New Jersey, eventually starting her own family farm, and celebrating Jewish traditions with the local community.

Florence Schornstein

Project
Women Who Dared

Abe Louise Young interviewed Florence Schornstein on January 11, 2005, in New Orleans, Louisiana as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Schornstein recounts her upbringing and journey with Judaism, highlighting her involvement in various organizations, including her role in the Civil Rights Movement, and reflects on the importance of humanitarian causes and encouraging young Jewish women to be active in their communities.

Florence Schornstein

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Florence Schornstein on July 31, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, for the Katrina’s Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Schornstein, a longtime political and Jewish community activist in New Orleans, discusses her involvement in politics, her experiences during Hurricane Katrina, her role in rebuilding the city, and her frustration with national services for their lack of support post-Katrina.

Denise Khaitman Schorr

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Denise Khaitman Schorr on June 14, 2000, in Natick, Massachusetts for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Schorr talks about her childhood in Paris, experiencing growing antisemitism and the Nazi occupation, joining the resistance, working as a social worker after liberation, immigrating to the USA, and her ongoing efforts to share her story and educate others.

Ronya Schwaab

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Vicki Gabriner interviewed Ronya Schwaab on January 18 and 26, February 3 and 7, and June 18, 1997, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Schwaab recounts her childhood in Gomel, Belarus, highlighting aspects such as the First World War, Jewish traditions, women's roles, interfaith relations, arranged marriages, and encounters with the anti-revolutionary group, the Chyornaya Sotnya.

Laurie Schwab Zabin

Project
Women Who Dared

Chana Revell Kotzin interviewed Laurie Schwab Zabin for Women Who Dared on September 24 and October 13, 2002, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Zabin discusses the intersection of adolescent sexual education with politics, economics, population, and the environment, sharing frustrations with the lack of emphasis on family planning and education in various countries.

Laurie Schwab Zabin

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Jean Freedman interviewed Laurie Schwab Zabin on April 29, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Zabin shares her personal journey, including her education, family experiences, involvement with Planned Parenthood, and career in population and reproductive health, highlighting key moments such as meeting her husbands, navigating motherhood, and contributing to advancements in family planning internationally.

Barbara Seaman

Project
Barnard: Jewish Women Changing America

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Barbara Seaman on October 30, 2005, in New York, New York, as part of the Barnard: Jewish Women Changing America Oral History Project. Seaman discusses her research on preventative hysterectomies, the influence of Rose Kushner, her family history, activism in the women's movement, and challenges as an activist journalist confronting the pharmaceutical industry.

Jane Sickles Segal

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Roberta Burstein interviewed Jane Sickles Segal on August 14, 1997, in Brookhaven, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned the Century Oral History Project. Segal shares her family history, including her mother's conversion to Christian Science, her grandparents' immigration from Germany, her college experience, and life in Chillicothe and Boston, discussing topics such as the rise of Nazi groups in the US and her involvement in Jewish community councils.

Yemema Seligson

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Joan Rachlin interviewed Yemema Seligson on January 7, 1998, in Brookline, Massachusetts, for the Women Who Lives Spanned the Century Oral History Project. Seligson reflects on her family's immigration, her mother's work as a seamstress, childhood memories, the friendship with linguist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, her career journey, and her current life, activities, and friendships.

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Oral History Collection." (Viewed on August 17, 2024) <http://qa.jwa.org/oralhistories>.