Jennie Franklin Purvin
Communal activist Jennie Purvin was one of the essential people without whom the striking beachfront of Chicago would not exist.
Institution: The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, OH, www.americanjewisharchives.org and Florence M. Henderson
Of her many efforts to improve Chicago, the legacy that still stands as Jennie Franklin Purvin’s most visible accomplishment is the beachfronts on Lake Michigan for swimming and recreation. Purvin volunteered with a variety of women’s groups and chaired various women’s committees to support mayoral candidates. She campaigned to clean up the beaches of Lake Michigan and ensure public access. She served as president of the local section of the National Council of Jewish Women and of the sisterhood of Chicago’s Sinai Congregation. In 1933, Purvin became the sole female member of the board for the city’s public library. Towards the end of her life, she worked with Mandel Brothers’ Department Store to create the Club Women’s Bureau, an exhibition space for local artists.
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Kominsky, Neil. “Jennie Franklin Purvin: A Study in Womanpower.” In The American Jewish Woman: A Documentary History (1981).
Purvin, Jennie Franklin. Collection. AJA, Cincinnati, Ohio.
WWIAJ (1938).
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