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

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.

Dorothy Muscatel

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Dorothy Muscatel on April 12 and April 19, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Muscatel shares her family background, her father's community involvement, her upbringing in Seattle, her early engagement in charity work, her active role in Jewish organizations, the challenges of motherhood, and her current health condition.

Blanche Narodick

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Blanche Narodick on June 6, 2001, in Seattle, Washington for the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Narodick reflects on her childhood, education, professional life in Chicago, marriage, involvement with Jewish organizations, experiences during World War Two, work with the American Red Cross, friendships, and personal philosophy on life.

Ann Lustig Nieder

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Ann Lustig Nieder on July 11, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Nieder reflects on her childhood, family traditions, experiences at school and camp, community service work, and her role as a mother and grandmother, ending with the loss of her husband and life as a widow.

Ruth Emmerman Peizer

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Ruth Emmerman Peizer on June 18 and August 6, 2001, in West Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Peizer discusses her Yiddish upbringing, her parents' immigration, education, work, connection to Yiddishkeit, struggles during the Korean War, motherhood, volunteer work, teaching Yiddish, and volunteering in Latvia.

Bernice Mossafer Rind

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Bernice Mossafer Rind on June 5 and July 20, 2001, in Medina, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Rind recounts her family's history, her upbringing in Seattle, her musical career, meeting her husband, raising their son, volunteer work, Sephardic rituals, a trip to Israel, and her perspectives on family, Jewish heritage, aging, and personal philosophies.

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.

Jane Krieger Schapiro

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marcie 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
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.

Alice Siegal

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Alice Siegal on July 10 and July 19, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Siegal discusses her family, upbringing in Seattle, involvement in social justice, education, marriage, and career, reflecting on the changing Jewish community and her Jewish identity.

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.

Bernice Stern

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Bernice Stern on June 22 and July 31, 2001, in Seattle, Washington as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Stern discusses her Seattle upbringing, involvement in the Jewish community, activism in social justice causes, political engagement, and her roles as a councilwoman and grandmother.

Althea Diesenhaus Stroum

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Althea Diesenhaus Stroum on July 23, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Stroum discusses her upbringing, family history, experiences of antisemitism, community activism, marriage, role as a mother, support for the arts, and philanthropy.

Frances Berman Sulsky

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Frances Berman Sulsky was interviewed by Elaine Eff on April 30, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland for the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Sulsky discusses her upbringing, millinery career, family moves, the Jewish neighborhood, business growth, and reflections on being a businesswoman and life in Baltimore.

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.

Dorothy Wittenberg

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Dorothy Wittenberg on April 26 and May 8, 2001, in Mercer Island, Washington, for the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Wittenberg recounts her family background, childhood memories, experiences as one of the few Jewish families in Tacoma, her education, volunteer work, and reflections on community, and women's roles.

Type

Donate

Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.

donate now

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 June 13, 2026) <https://qa.jwa.org/oralhistories>.