Born in the early 20th century, Harriet Segal Cohn was the daughter of Lithuanian immigrants. Her grandfather helped organized the first Socialist Party of Massachusetts.  She grew up in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester and later Winthrop, MA.  Her family was one of few Jewish families in their Winthrop neighborhood, and at an early age Harriet learned to embrace Judaism even though it set her apart from most of her friends.  Her dedication to Temple Israel was strong as evidenced by her weekly trek for services and schooling; as a sixth-grader she had to ride a train, a ferry, and three streetcars to get there.  Harriet attended the Choate School and later Wellesley College.  In 1928, during spring vacation of her senior year, Harriet married Haskell Cohn, a prominent lawyer at Hale and Dorr. Harriet dedicated her life to raising her children and to a variety of social service activities, including Temple Israel Sisterhood and Jewish Family and Children’s Services.  In her later years, Harriet reluctantly learned to accept widowhood and growing older.  According to a Boston Globe feature about her, Harriet remained active until her death at 100 years old in 2006.