Miriam Freund-Rosenthal brought her passion for art and history to her leadership of Hadassah, convincing the artist Marc Chagall to create stained glass windows for Hadassah’s medical center in Jerusalem and compiling a history of Hadassah for posterity.Freund-Rosenthal became involved in Zionism at an early age, thanks to her mother, a Zionist and friend of Henrietta Szold. Freund-Rosenthal earned her doctorate in history from NYU in 1935 and made her first trip to Palestine that year. After her return, she spoke to Hadassah groups about her experiences, and in 1940 was asked to join their national board. In 1943 she quit teaching public school to chair the American Zionist Youth Commission, one of many positions she held within Hadassah before becoming national president from 1956–1960. She served as chair of their education, Zionist affairs, and youth survey committees as well as representing Hadassah at the UN. After marrying Harry Rosenthal in 1974, she and her husband created an educational endowment fund for Hadassah. She also wrote a memoir in 1989, In My Lifetime, and edited A Tapestry of Hadassah Memories in 1994, a collection of interviews with past and present leaders of the organization.