Politics and Government

Content type
Collection

Death of Lawyer and Civil Rights Advocate Carol Lani Guinier

January 7, 2022

Carol Lani Guinier was an American professor, litigator, and civil rights advocate. She was the first woman of color to become a tenured professor at Harvard Law School, and her scholarship concerns itself primarily with the role of race and gender in legislation and the political process.

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.

Madeleine Kunin

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Ann Zinn Buffum and Sandra Stillman Gartner interviewed Madeleine Kunin on May 1, 2006, in Burlington, Vermont, as part of DAVAR's Oral History Project. Kunin shares her journey from Switzerland to the United States, her career in journalism, her involvement in Vermont politics as the first woman governor, and her role in education under the Clinton administration.

Ruth Kullman

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Ruth Kullman on November 8, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina’s Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Kullman discusses her career in community activism, including her work with Planned Parenthood, her involvement in helping her synagogue recover from Hurricane Katrina, and her contributions to various boards and local politics.

Sophie Wilmès becomes first Jewish and first woman Prime Minister of Belgium

October 27, 2019

On October 27, 2019, Sophie Wilmès became the first woman and first Jewish Prime Minister of Belgium. A member of the center-left Reformist Movement Party, Wilmès was appointed Prime Minister of a caretaker government, which ran the country while parties were in talks to form a coalition government.

Olga Shmuylovich

Project
Soviet Jewry

Alexandra Kiosse interviewed Olga Shmuylovich on July 24, 2016, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Soviet Jewry Oral History Collection. Shmuylovich details her upbringing in the Soviet Union, her involvement in the Jewish artist movement, her artistic journey under the mentorship of Solomon Levin, her immigration to the United States, her artistic career in Boston, and her inspirations from Jewish culture and history in her artwork.

Lis Kahn

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Lis Kahn on August 16, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Kahn shares her Jewish education, conversion to Judaism, Hurricane Katrina evacuation, and the challenges and significance of the New Orleans Jewish community.

Susan Hess

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Susan Hess on November 16, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Hess talks about her family background, experiences during Hurricane Betsy and Hurricane Katrina, her journey towards more observant Judaism, and her involvement in raising funds for the Louisiana SPCA and City Park after Katrina.

Julie Harris

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Julie Schwam Harris on October 14, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Harris shares her family background, her work in the Mayor's office during Hurricane Katrina, witnessing the impact on vulnerable populations, her identity as an agnostic Jew, her involvement in grassroots politics, and her hopes for a more equitable future for New Orleans.

Sarah Kappelman Harris

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Jean Freedman interviewed Sarah Kappelman Harris on May 24, 2002, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Harris shares her experiences growing up in Washington, DC, her relationship with Judaism, the influence of her foreign-born parents, her career in the retail industry, meeting Eleanor Roosevelt, her marriages, involvement in Hadassah, and reflections on customs, women's roles, and Judaism.

Marcia Greenberger

Project
Washington D.C. Stories

Deborah Ross interviewed Marcia Greenberger on June 27, 2011, in Washington, DC, as part of the Washington D.C. Stories Oral History Project. Greenberger reflects on her experiences of encountering discrimination against women and Jews, her commitment to social change during the turbulent '60s, and her admiration for her mentor, Justice Arthur Goldberg, as she pursued a legal career.

Arva Davis Gray

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Arva Davis Gray on June 25 and August 9, 2001, in Bellevue, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words project. Gray recounts her upbringing as a poor Mormon in Utah, her journey of rejecting the Mormon church and embracing Judaism, her family life, volunteer work, and personal challenges.

Jackie Gothard

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Jackie Gothard on September 20, 2006, in Metairie, Louisiana, as part of Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Gothard shares her experiences growing up as an orthodox Jew in New Orleans, the destruction of Beth Israel synagogue during Hurricane Katrina, her efforts to restore the synagogue and reassemble the congregation, and her reflections on gender and Southern politics in the Orthodox community.

Alan Gerson

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Alan Gerson on August 3, 2007, in New Orleans, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Gerson discusses his family history, childhood as a Jew in New Orleans, college experience, artistic pursuits, evacuation and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, emotional toll, community support for artists, disillusionment with the government, and a vivid memory of an abandoned beach ball after the storm.

Deena Gerber

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Deena Garber on December 12, 2006, in Metairie, Louisiana, as part of Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Garber talks about her experiences growing up in New Orleans, her involvement in Young Judea, her evacuation during Hurricane Katrina, and her role as the executive director of Jewish Family Services in providing aid and services to the community.

Nadia Fradkova

Project
Soviet Jewry

Nadia Fradkova was interviewed in Massachusetts as part of the Soviet Jewry Oral History Project. Fradkova shares her experiences of growing up in the Soviet Union, facing antisemitism, resistance from her father, imprisonment in a labor camp and psychiatric hospital, and eventually immigrating to Israel and the United States.

Bess Fishman

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Elaine Eff interviewed Bess Fischman on May 30 and June 8, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words oral history project. Fishman shares memories of her childhood, family, Jewish observance, marriage, and involvement in Jewish organizations and the Zionist movement, being involved with the Beth T’filoh Sisterhood and visiting Israel.

Miriam Waltzer

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Miriam Waltzer on September 28, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Waltzer details her childhood during World War II, her career as the first woman elected to the New Orleans Criminal District Court, her experiences during Hurricane Katrina, and her current volunteering activities in Dallas.

Rose Pines Cohen

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marcie Cohen Ferris interviewed Rose Pines Cohen on April 24, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words project. Rose traces her family's immigration to Baltimore, their experiences during World War I, her pursuit of education and teaching, her family life, and her involvement in Jewish organizations, reflecting on her career and influence on her children.

Tamara Bunke, AKA Tania the Guerrillera, is killed by Bolivian Army

August 31, 1967

Haydée Tamara Bunke Bider, known as Tania the Guerillera, was a German-Jewish guerrilla fighter in the National Liberation Army of Bolivia, led by Che Guevara. As the only woman guerilla fighter, much rumor and mystery surround her life and role in the Marxist revolutionary movement in South America.

Omer Yankelevich named first female Haredi minister in Israeli Parliament

May 14, 2020

On May 14, 2020, Israeli’s Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz named Omer Yankelevich as Diaspora Minister, making her the first Haredi woman cabinet member. Yankelevich was the second Haredi woman to serve in the Knesset (Israel’s parliament).

Donna Sternberg

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Donna Sternberg on November 28, 2006, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Sternberg discusses her upbringing, pro-Israel activism, and involvement in organizing disaster relief for Hurricane Katrina, reflecting on the impact on the Jewish community and government response.

Sara Stone

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Sara Stone on February 7, 2008, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Project. Stone details her early life, activism in the Jewish community of the South, experiences of prejudice, organizing the Women's Division of the Jewish Welfare Fund, and her resilience in the face of personal tragedy and Hurricane Katrina.

Reva Twersky

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Reva Twersky on June 19, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Twersky discusses her family's Russian roots, their Orthodox values, community life in Seattle, experiences during World War II, involvement in Jewish organizations, and her marriage.

Shannie Goldstein

Project
Women Who Dared

Abriel Louise Young interviewed Shannie Goldstein on January 12, 2005, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Goldstein explores her family history, childhood in Lowell, Massachusetts, her Jewish education, her involvement in the Soviet Jewry movement, her undercover trips to the Soviet Union, her views on feminism, her battle with breast cancer, and her engagement in the Jewish community.

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