Teachers

Content type
Collection

Elsie Chomsky

Elsie Chomsky, one of the many young Jewish educators influenced by reformer Samson Benderly, taught Modern Hebrew and organized arts activities for many years at Gratz College in Philadelphia. She trained and supervised student teachers who taught in local Reform and Conservative Hebrew schools.  

Sarah Goldblatt

Sarah Goldblatt was a stanch advocate of the Afrikaans language of South Africa. Despite learning the language later in life, she devoted herself to her adopted tongue, publishing multiple books in Afrikaans and serving on the editorial board of an Afrikaans newspaper. Trained as a teacher, she also taught the language to students around the country.

Zoe Benjamin

Zoe Benjamin was a twentieth-century Australian teacher who pioneered liberal ideas in early child education, child rearing, and child psychology. She wrote and lectured, both in person and over the radio, in depth on these topics. Her work gained such distinction that she was known overseas in England as well as Australia.

Sue Wolf-Fordham

Project
Women Who Dared

Julie Johnson interviewed with Sue Wolf-Fordham on March 4, 2005 in Massachusetts for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Wolf-Fordham explores her early exposure to social activism through her mother's engagement in the Boston Jewish community, which led her to create adaptive tools for Ukrainian children with disabilities and establish an Educational Resource Center, and her dedication to passing on these values to her children.

Susan Maze-Rothstein

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Susan Maze-Rothstein on January 25, 2002, in Brookline, Massachusetts, for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Maze-Rothstein reflects on her family background, experiences with Judaism, activism in addressing diversity and anti-racist education, challenges of being an outsider in both the Jewish and African-American communities, her commitment to social justice as a lawyer and judge, and her inspiration from influential figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Maya Angelou.

Gertrude Webb

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Gertrude (Goldie) Mikel Webb on January 15, 2002, in Waltham, Massachusetts, for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Webb, a Boston educator, discusses her Jewish upbringing, a career in teaching students with learning disabilities, and ongoing commitment to helping others influenced by her Jewish heritage.

Judith Wright

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Judith Wright on July 25, 2000, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project, Wright discusses her family, Jewish identity, political activism, involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, incarceration during the Freedom Rides, and her continued engagement in various causes, including women's rights and antiwar activities.

Freyda Sanders

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Freyda Sanders on July 12, 2000, in Brookline, MA, for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Sanders shares her upbringing in a politically active household, her diverse career path, her involvement with Hadassah and its impact on her Jewish identity, her trip to Russia, and the influence of her mother's socialist beliefs on her life.

Judith Wolf

Project
Women Who Dared

Julie Johnson interviewed Judith Wolf on February 23, 2005, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Wolf reflects on her Jewish upbringing, volunteer work, religious schooling, and efforts to establish educational resources for disabled children in Ukraine, emphasizing the role of women and Jewish values in her life.

Jean Trounstine

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Jean Trounstine on July 21, 2000, in Lowell, Massachusetts for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Trounstine details her Jewish background in Cincinnati, how it shaped her political lens, and her prison reform work, including theater productions with incarcerated women.

Anne A. Jackson

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Anne A. Jackson on July 10, 2000, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Jackson shares her upbringing in a community of Russian Jews, her involvement in education and activism, including the Civil Rights Movement, her advocacy for Holocaust education, and her reflections on her career as an educator.

Rebecca Young

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Rebecca Young on January 29, 2002, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Young reflects on her upbringing in poverty, the loss of her mother, the reconnection to her Jewish identity, her activism in prison reform and prisoners' rights, and her involvement in various social causes including women's rights, anti-poverty, and anti-apartheid.

Sara Dalkowitz Kaplan

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Sara Kaplan on December 4, 2002, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Kaplan discusses her Jewish upbringing, experiences as the only Jewish kid in her town, involvement in debate and Hillel, meeting her husband, moving to Seattle, working in the Democratic Party, fighting antisemitism, teaching, and support for Israel.

Pamela Sussman-Paternoster

Project
Women Who Dared

Julie Johnson interviewed Pamela Paternoster-Sussman on March 1, 2005, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Paternoster-Sussman shares her upbringing in a blended family, strong Jewish identity, experiences of antisemitism, activism, teaching marginalized students, and her educational pursuits in Cleveland and Cambridge.

Laurie Schwab Zabin

Project
Women Who Dared

Chana Revell Kotzin interviewed Laurie Schwab Zabin for Women Who Dared on September 24 and October 13, 2002, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Zabin discusses the intersection of adolescent sexual education with politics, economics, population, and the environment, sharing frustrations with the lack of emphasis on family planning and education in various countries.

Laurie Schwab Zabin

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Jean Freedman interviewed Laurie Schwab Zabin on April 29, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Zabin shares her personal journey, including her education, family experiences, involvement with Planned Parenthood, and career in population and reproductive health, highlighting key moments such as meeting her husbands, navigating motherhood, and contributing to advancements in family planning internationally.

Abby Shevitz

Project
Women Who Dared

Elise Brenner interviewed Abby Shevitz on December 12, 2003, in Sharon, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Shevitz discusses her family, childhood, education, Jewish identity, and involvement in HIV/AIDS activism, emphasizing the impact of womanhood and the women's movement while reflecting on her accomplishments and offering advice for community organizing.

Mildred Rosenbaum

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Mildred Rosenbaum on August 8th and 9th, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, for the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Rosenbaum recounts her journey from a childhood accident and hospitalization to her involvement in the Jewish community, her marriage, her support for Israel, and the establishment of Congregation Beth Shalom in Seattle.

Amalie Rothschild

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Jean Freedman interviewed Amalie Rothschild on August 19, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Rothschild details her life journey, from growing up in Baltimore suburbs, studying art, getting married, raising her children, and pursuing a successful career as an abstract artist and sculptor, while navigating her Jewish identity and the evolving role of women.

Shoshana Shoubin Cardin

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Elaine Eff interviewed Shoshana Shoubin Cardin on August 30, September 4, September 7, and October 3, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Cardin shares her journey as an immigrant to the United States, her experiences growing up in Baltimore, her education, marriage, and the challenges and changes in the Jewish community, as well as her lifelong commitment to volunteerism and philanthropy.

Denise Khaitman Schorr

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Denise Khaitman Schorr on June 14, 2000, in Natick, Massachusetts for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Schorr talks about her childhood in Paris, experiencing growing antisemitism and the Nazi occupation, joining the resistance, working as a social worker after liberation, immigrating to the USA, and her ongoing efforts to share her story and educate others.

Sylvia Willard

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Sandy Gartner and Ann Buffum interviewed Sylvia Willard on June 29, 2005, in Rutland, Vermont, as part of the Vermont Jewish Women's Oral History Project. Willard shares her family history, growing up in Vermont, her passion for theater, involvement in the Jewish community, meeting her husband Howard, and their successful ventures in the retail industry.

Anne A. Jackson

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Pam Goodman and Fran Putnoi interviewed Anne A. Jackson on February 4 and May 19, 1997, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Jackson recounts her personal journey, including her close relationship with her sister and the impact of her death, her experiences during the war years, raising her children, and her lifelong passion for art.

Rita Arditti

Project
Women Who Dared

Julie Johnson interviewed Rita Arditti on March 14, 2005, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Arditti, a Jewish activist from Argentina, discusses her upbringing, academic journey, involvement in the women's movement and Science for the People, her battle with breast cancer, and her impactful work with the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

Victoria Marks

Victoria Marks (b. 1956) is an American dancer, choreographer, professor, and activist. Marks began dancing as a child and later expanded her career as the founder of Victoria Marks Performance Company and a professor at various conservatories around the world. She is also an advocate for mental health and accessibility, collaborating on films that investigate the effects of mental illness and founding the Dancing Disability Lab at UCLA in 2014.

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