Politics and Government

Content type
Collection

Semah Unterman

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Ann Buffum and Sandy Gartner interviewed Semah Unterman on August 12, 2005, in Belmont, Vermont, for the Vermont Jewish Women's History Oral History Project. Unterman discusses her family, childhood activism, experiences during the war, career in education and local politics, the importance of critical thinking, and her daughter's illness and travels.

Sara Wallace

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Iris Geik interviewed Sara Wallace on February 8, 1997, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Wallace talks about her community activism and career as a lawyer, discusses her immigrant upbringing, her pioneering role as a woman in the legal profession, her involvement in social advocacy, and her membership with Temple Israel Boston.

Althea Diesenhaus Stroum

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown-Lavitt interviewed Althea Diesenhaus Stroum on July 23, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Stroum discusses her upbringing, family history, experiences of antisemitism, community activism, marriage, role as a mother, support for the arts, and philanthropy.

Judy Somberg

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Judy Somberg on July 18, 2000, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Somberg recounts her activism through the years, reflecting on her involvement in anti-war movements, women's rights, and the Cambridge Sister City Project, advocating for human rights and supporting affected communities.

Judy Patkin

Project
Soviet Jewry

Judy Patkin was interviewed in Waltham, Massachusetts, as part of the Soviet Jewry Oral History Project. Patkin shares her experiences meeting refuseniks, visits to the former Soviet Union, involvement in the Soviet Jewry movement, the birth of Action for Post-Soviet Jewry, her Jewish identity, organizational work, interactions with the American government, personal growth, and the impact of her children on her trajectory.

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.

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.

Dvorah Hacohen wins the National Jewish Book Award for "To Repair a Bro­ken World "

January 20, 2021

On January 20, 2021, distinguished Israeli historian Dvorah Hacohen won the National Jewish Book Award for To Repair a Bro­ken World, a biography of Hadassah founder Hen­ri­et­ta Szold. The multitude of strong female Jewish voices present in the construction and content of Hacohen’s book speaks to an intergenerational admiration for Jewish women leaders.  

Ida Mae Kahn

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Betsy Abrams and Bobbie Burstein interviewed Ida Mae Kahn on July 11, 1997, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, as a part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Kahn talks about her Jewish upbringing, meeting her husband, starting a family, and her extensive involvement in volunteer work, including leadership roles in various organizations and serving on the board of Public Welfare.

Collage with outlines of the UK and Arkansas divided by a white line, on a red background

Being Jewish in the UK at Christmas

Irene Y. Raich

I loved the time I spent in England, but I would’ve enjoyed it more had my school attempted to create a more diverse, welcoming, and not Christian-centric environment.

Roz Garber

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Roz Garber on July 26th, 2000, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared project. Garber, a Canadian, shares her journey from choosing to study in the United States and embracing Conservative Judaism, to her work in the Soviet Union, educating and supporting Refuseniks, and her subsequent activism within the Jewish community, recognizing the importance of fighting injustice both at home and abroad.

Barbara Gaffin

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Barbara Gaffin in Boston, Massachusetts on July 11, 2000, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Gaffin, raised in a Jewish community, recounts her career in Jewish organizations, her perspective on the relationship between American Jews and Israel, her work in Ethiopia, and the prejudice and contradictions she encountered while helping others.

Ruth Abrams

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Judge Ruth Abrams on July 25, 2001, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Judge Abrams explores her family, education, career path, focus on gender issues, and notable legal cases in an interview.

Diana Shklyarov

Project
Soviet Jewry

Gabriel Weinstein and Aaron Hersh interviewed Diana Shklyarov on November 10, 2016, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Soviet Jewry Oral History Project. Shklyarov discusses her desire to leave the USSR, her family's struggles with denied exit visas, her Jewish identity, experiences with antisemitism, her arrival in the United States, and the importance of Jewish identity in her life now.

Two women wearing "I voted" stickers

Casting a Vote for Reproductive Justice

Steph Black

In the upcoming midterm elections, Jews have the chance to affirm that access to safe, legal abortion is a Jewish value.

Ellen David-Friedman

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Ann Zinn Buffum and Sandra Stillman Gartner, project directors, interviewed Ellen David Friedman on November 8, 2005, in East Montpelier, Vermont, as part of DAVAR's Vermont Jewish Women's History Project. Friedman reflects on her family background, immigration history, Jewish identity, involvement in progressive politics, volunteer efforts, and her role as a grassroots labor organizer in Vermont.

Richard Perles

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Richard Perles on September 1, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Perles is a lawyer, musician, and active volunteer from Boston who now resides in New Orleans, serving on the board of a Jewish Day School, practicing law, playing music, and engaging in various charitable activities.

Julie Wise Oreck

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Julie Wise Oreck was interviewed by Rosalind Hinton, on July 2, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Oreck discusses her Jewish upbringing, involvement in Jewish organizations, and her active role in the recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina, expressing frustration with the government's response but not attributing it to racism.

Ann Lustig Nieder

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Ann Lustig Nieder on July 11, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Nieder reflects on her childhood, family traditions, experiences at school and camp, community service work, and her role as a mother and grandmother, ending with the loss of her husband and life as a widow.

Dorothy Muscatel

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Dorothy Muscatel on April 12 and April 19, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Muscatel shares her family background, her father's community involvement, her upbringing in Seattle, her early engagement in charity work, her active role in Jewish organizations, the challenges of motherhood, and her current health condition.

Hinda Miller

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Ann Zinn Buffum and Sandra Stillman Gartner interviewed Hinda Miller on December 5, 2006, in Burlington, Vermont as part of DAVAR's Vermont Jewish Oral History Project. Miller details her family background, travels to Lithuania, Ireland, and England, growing up in Montreal, educational experiences, involvement in yoga and Kabbalah, inventing the sports bra, political career as a state senator, and reflections on her family and Jewish identity.

Ann Meyers Kaplan

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Ann Meyers Kaplan on March 30, 2001, in Mercer Island, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Kaplan shares her family background, upbringing in Seattle, career, involvement in the National Council of Jewish Women, advocacy for the hearing impaired, reflections on Jewish identity and community, and fond memories of various aspects of her life.

Deborah Markowitz

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Sandra Stillman Gartner and Ann Buffum interviewed Deborah Markowitz on July 12, 20005, in Montpelier, Vermont, as part of the Vermont Jewish Women's Oral History Project.  Markowitz explores her Ukrainian heritage, family history, the influence of music, her Jewish education, her commitment to Tikkun Olam, her role as Secretary of State in Vermont, and her efforts to improve civic engagement and support victims of domestic violence.

Sandy Levy

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Sandy Levy on October 3, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina’s Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Levy speaks about her Orthodox upbringing, transition to Reform Judaism, and her experiences during Hurricane Katrina, highlighting the resilience and resourcefulness of the Jewish community in New Orleans.

Ruth Levy

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marcie Cohen Ferris interviewed Ruth Surosky Levy on September 8, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Levy shares her love for family and Judaism, recounting her upbringing in Baltimore, her father's kosher butcher shop, her involvement in Zionist activities, her education, her Navy service, raising her children, and the importance of Judaism in her life.

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