Oral History Collection

The Nicki Newman Tanner

Oral History Collection

As part of JWA’s mission to expand the narrative of Jewish history, we have collected and recorded hundreds of interviews with leaders, activists, and community members across the United States, documenting their encounters with major events and movements of the 20th and 21st centuries and the many ways that gender, class, place, and religious and ethnic identities have shaped women’s lives. With generous support from Nicki Newman Tanner,  Mass Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, we are proud to make these interviews and transcripts available to the public. All entries include transcripts; audio or video recordings are also available where narrator permissions allow. 

More about the collection

Rosalie Silber Abrams

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marcie Cohen Ferris interviewed Senator Rosalie Silber Abrams on May 24, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women’s Words Oral History Project. Abrams, a progressive health advocate, and former Maryland Senator, reflects on her life and career in an interview, highlighting her nursing background, political engagement, and contributions to healthcare and senior services.

Fiola Blum

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Elaine Eff interviewed Fiola Blum on August 20, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women’s Words Oral History Project. Fiola Blum reminisces on childhood memories, starting her realty company, her experiences as a Jewish woman in real estate, and reflects on her family background and Baltimore's Jewish communities.

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.

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.

Lois Blum Feinblatt

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Jean Freedman interviewed Lois B. Feinblatt on March 21, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Feinblatt talks about her background, including experiences of growing up in a segregated Baltimore, her college years, marriage and motherhood during World War II, her career in welfare and later as a psychotherapist, and reflects on her Jewish practice and the Jewish community in Baltimore.

Ruth Finkelstein

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marcie Cohen Ferris interviewed Dr. Ruth Finkelstein on August 30, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words project. Dr. Finkelstein reflects on her upbringing in New York City, her journey as a female medical student, her experiences as an obstetrician, balancing career and family life, and her engagement in the Jewish community and organizations like Planned Parenthood.

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.

Edith Furstenberg

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marcie Cohen Ferris interviewed Edith Furstenberg on March 16, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Furstenberg, born in Baltimore in 1910, shares her family history, educational experiences, a career in social work, marriage, and reflections on national political movements, including the Civil Rights Movement.

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.

Clementine Kaufman

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Jean Freedman interviewed Clementine Kaufman on March 16, 2002, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Kaufman discusses her upbringing as a rabbi's daughter, her experiences in Switzerland, relationships, college, volunteer work, career in social work, and the changes she has observed in Baltimore.

Naomi Kellman

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Elaine Eff interviewed Naomi Kellman on July 9, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Kellman explores her childhood memories in East Baltimore, her family's Jewish traditions, her education, her career in advertising and with Associated Jewish Charities, encounters with antisemitism, memories of Camp Louise, and reflections on her life decisions and relationships.

Trude Kranzler

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Jean Freedman interviewed Trude Kranzler on April 28, 2002, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Kranzler recounts her experience as a Jewish child in Germany during the rise of Hitler, her family's escape to the United States, and her subsequent career as an educator, emphasizing the importance of education and creating a positive learning environment for students.

Nina Lederkremer

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Jean Freedman interviewed Nina Lederkremer on May 24 and June 24, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Lederkremer shares her experiences of escaping Nazi Germany, settling in the United States, her work, teaching, marriage, and her thoughts on Jewish practice, Israel, survival, and her decision not to go to Israel after the war.

Elsie Miller Legum

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Elaine Eff interviewed Elsie Miller Legum on April 19, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women’s Words Oral History Project. Legum talks about her childhood in a large family, strict upbringing, Jewish observance, neighborhoods in Baltimore, elopement, work at Miller Brothers, second marriage, and reflections on friendship, family, and Judaism.

Beatrice Levi

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marcie Cohen Ferris and Brenda Rever interviewed Beatrice Levi on February 4 and November 8, 2002, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women’s Words Oral History Project. Levi reflects on her childhood, family life, involvement with the League of Women Voters, experiences during the Great Depression, academic pursuits, marriage, volunteer work, and pride in her daughters' achievements.

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.

Selma Litman

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marcie Cohen Ferris interviewed Selma Cohen Litman on July 9, 2002, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Litman recalls her family history, including her father's journey from Russia to the United States, her mother's immigration, and her childhood memories in Baltimore, as well as experiences working at a Bridal Shop and balancing her career with raising her children in a vibrant Jewish household.

Micky Loveman

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Elaine Eff interviewed Miriam “Micky” Loveman on August 14, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Loveman reflects on her life journey, from her childhood in Boston to move to Baltimore, her successful career in shoe sales, and her experiences with family and relationships, highlighting her love for her work and the joy she found in connecting with customers.

Esta Maril

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marcie Cohen Ferris interviewed Esta Maril on May 22, 2002, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Maril details her family history, upbringing, matriarchal Jewish heritage, childhood memories, education, social work career, marriage to artist Herman Maril, and reflections on her family's lives and accomplishments.

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.

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.

Minna Shavitz

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marcie Cohen Ferris interviewed Minna Shavitz on March 22, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, for the Weaving Women's Words series. Shavitz details her upbringing in the South, encountering antisemitism, her family dynamics, college life, marriage, owning a deli, and the challenges and joys of her personal and professional life.

Vivienne Shub

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Elaine Eff interviewed Vivienne Shub on September 4, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Shub talks about her family background, her parents' activism, her journey as an actress, founding Center Stage in Baltimore, her involvement in cultural and political movements, her love for Jewish and Yiddish culture, and reflections on various aspects of her life and career.

Lillie Steinhorn

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Jean Freedman interviewed Lillie Steinhorn on July 7, 2001 in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Steinhorn reflects on her upbringing, experiences with antisemitism, and various jobs in the federal government, sharing stories of resilience, illness, accomplishments, and the importance of Judaism in her life.

Birth Country

Project

Type

Donate

Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.

donate now

Listen to Our Podcast

Get JWA in your inbox

Read the latest from JWA from your inbox.

sign up now

How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Oral History Collection." (Viewed on November 21, 2024) <https://jwa.org/oralhistories>.