Nina Morais Cohen organized the Jewish women’s community of Minneapolis as a force for women’s suffrage, community service, and scholarship. The oldest daughter of the founding president of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Cohen helped raise her younger siblings after the death of her mother. She worked as a teacher and later superintendent of the Southern Branch of Philadelphia’s Hebrew Sunday School before marrying and moving to Minneapolis, where she began writing for Jewish and scholarly journals and became active in the women’s suffrage movement. In 1893, she attended the Congress of Religions in Chicago and took part in founding the National Council of Jewish Women, returning home to organize a local chapter and establish their study program. She served as president of the Minneapolis section and vice president for Minnesota, and led a rigorous study program on Jewish literature, history, and biblical studies for many years.