Jewish History

Content type
Collection

In Our Own Voices

In Our Own Voices, published in 2005, is a how-to guide for conducting life history interviews with American Jewish women. This comprehensive resource and workbook includes introductory essays by leading scholars of Jewish women’s history, frameworks for understanding the multiple and intersecting spheres of women’s lives, and hundreds of sample questions to choose from.

Basic preservation tips for family papers and personal archives

Remember the day you became a Bat Mitzvah? The day you graduated from high school? Did you save your exams from college? Did you ever keep a diary? Write letters home from camp?

How-To: Preserving Memory

"Everyone has a story," the renowned anthropologist Barbara Myerhoff taught us, and these stories "told to oneself and others can transform the world." At the Jewish Women's Archive, we believe th

Dramatization of Anne Frank's diary broadcast on the radio

December 14, 1952

Soon after the 1952 publication of the English translation of Anne Frank's war-time diary of her family's hidden life in Nazi-controlled New Amsterdam

Death of Ilona Karmel, literary chronicler of the Holocaust

November 30, 2000

When Ilona Karmel died on November 30, 2000, she was remembered as the author of the novel, An Estate of Memory.

Linda Lingle elected Governor of Hawaii

November 5, 2002

After over 20 years in elected public life, Linda Lingle was elected as Hawaii's first female and first Jewish governor on November 5, 2002.

Death of author, educator, and Zionist pioneer Jessie Sampter

November 11, 1938

Jessie Sampter was an influential Zionist educator, a poet, and a Zionist pioneer. She died at Kibbutz Givat Brenner on November 11, 1938.

Army nurse Frances Y. Slanger killed by German artillery

October 21, 1944

On October 21, 1944, Frances Y. Slanger, R.N. died in Elsenborn, Belgium, a victim of a German artillery attack.

Anna Rosenberg, first woman to receive Medal of Freedom

October 29, 1945

Acclaimed for her talents as a labor mediator, diplomat, adviser, troubleshooter, and administrator, Anna Rosenberg became the first

Esther Lederer becomes Ann Landers

October 16, 1955

Esther Pauline Friedman Lederer, writing as Ann Landers, had her first advice column published in the Chicago Sun Times on October 16, 1955.

Celebrating 350 years of Jewish women in America

October 18, 2004

The Jewish Women's Archive joined with National Women's Philanthropy of the United Jewish Communities for an historic celebration of 350 years of American

Tovah Feldshuh stars in "Golda's Balcony"

October 15, 2003

Golda’s Balcony, starring Tovah Feldshuh, opened at Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theatre on October 15, 2003.

Rita Levi-Montalcini Wins the Nobel Prize

October 13, 1986

Rita Levi-Montalcini’s pioneering work on nerve growth earned her the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on October 13, 1986.

Founding of Women's American ORT

October 12, 1927

In a Brooklyn kitchen on October 12, 1927, Anna Boudin, Mrs.

Birth of photographer Annie Leibovitz

October 2, 1949

Annie Leibovitz, one of the country's most gifted photographers, was born on October 2, 1949.

Bess Myerson Crowned First Jewish Miss America

September 8, 1945

Just months after the shocking revelations of the Holocaust's devastation of European Jewry, Bess Myerson was crowned the first (and still only) Jew

9/11

September 11, 2001

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks touched and devastated every community in the United States.

Ruth Gruber finds haven for 1,000 Holocaust refugees

August 3, 1944

When President Roosevelt decided to accept a thousand European immigrants in the midst of World War II and the Holocaust, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes chose the Jewish-American writer and

Birth of conservative intellectual Gertrude Himmelfarb

August 8, 1922

Gertrude Himmelfarb, who was born on August 8, 1922, has made her career as an intellectual historian, but she has perhaps made her larger ma

Pioneering women's history summer institute

July 18, 1979

In the summer of 1979, a fifteen-day conference (July 13-29), co-sponsored by Sarah Lawrence, the Women's Action Alliance and the Smithsonian Institution, was held at Sarah Lawrence College.

Felice Gaer asks UN to take on antisemitism

June 21, 2004

On June 21, 2004, Felice Gaer gave a speech entitled "Unlearning Intolerance: Anti-Semitic Incidents Are Not Hooliganism—They Are Human Rights Abuses; The United Nations Should Address Them"

Birth of multi-talented Ruth Hagy Brod

May 31, 1911

Born in New York City on May 31, 1911, and raised in Chicago, Ruth Hagy Brod had a varied career that took her from the newsroom to Latin America

Gertrude Stein publishes Alice B. Toklas "Autobiography"

June 1, 1933

American modernist writer Gertrude Stein published a memoir, ironically titled The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, on June 1, 1933.

Atlantic City hotel apologizes to Bertha Rayner Frank for anti-Jewish discrimination

May 21, 1907

In May 1907, Baltimorean Bertha Rayner Frank's vacation turned into a cause célèbre when she was confronted with the reality of anti-Jewish social discrimination.

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