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

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.

Sally Mack

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Sally Mack on August 3, 2000, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Mack discusses her Orthodox Jewish upbringing, her transition into social activism, including her arrest for protesting, and the connection she finds between activism and spirituality in Jewish communities.

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.

Deborah Markowitz

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Sandra Stillman Gartner and Ann Buffum interviewed Deborah Markowitz on July 12, 20005, in Montpelier, Vermont, as part of the Vermont Jewish Women's Oral History Project.  Markowitz explores her Ukrainian heritage, family history, the influence of music, her Jewish education, her commitment to Tikkun Olam, her role as Secretary of State in Vermont, and her efforts to improve civic engagement and support victims of domestic violence.

Antoinette Matlins

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Sandra Stillman Gartner and Ann Buffum interviewed Antoinette Matlins on July 20 and September 28, 2006, in South Woodstock, Vermont, as part of the Vermont Jewish Women's Oral History Project. Matlins recounts her diverse heritage, religious upbringing, conversion to Judaism, and her role in establishing a vibrant Jewish community in Vermont with her husband, Stuart Matlins, through the creation of Shir Shalom.

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.

Lisa Mednick-Owen

Project
Meet Me at Sinai

Jayne Guberman interviewed Lisa Mednick-Owen on February 8, 2015, in New York, New York, as part of the Meet Me at Sinai Oral History Project. Lisa reflects on the accomplishments of Jewish feminism, highlights the ongoing challenges in traditional and Orthodox Jewish communities, and emphasizes the role of Jewish values in addressing broader feminist issues, particularly regarding sexual assault and gender equality, while also recognizing the importance of organizations like the Jewish Women's Archive and the potential for Judaism to guide discussions on these topics.

Bernard H. Mehlman

Project
Soviet Jewry

Tamar Shachaf Schneider, Aaron Hersh, and Gabriel Weinstein interviewed Rabbi Bernard H. Mehlman on November 1, 2016, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Soviet Jewry Oral History Project. Rabbi Mehlman shares his experiences delivering a heart valve in the USSR, arranging the evacuation of a refusenik, fundraising for Soviet emigre families, and providing support and education programs for newly arrived emigres at Temple Israel of Boston.

Carol Michael

Project
Adult Bat Mitzvahs

Shayna Rhodes interviewed Carol Michael on February 23, 2005, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of JWA’s Adult Bat Mitzvah Oral History Project. Michael recounts her family background, her disconnection from Judaism, her son's disabilities, and her rediscovery of Judaism through her daughter's bat mitzvah, leading to her active participation in Jewish practices and community.

Jeremy Morrison

Project
Soviet Jewry

Tamar Shachaf Schneider interviewed Rabbi Jeremy Morrison on November 8, 2016, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Soviet Jewry Oral History Project. Rabbi Morrison recounts his involvement with the Reform Youth Federation of Temple Israel (RYFTI), collecting furniture for Joseph Gilbo's apartment and his experiences with Russian customs, as well as delivering a film on behalf of the Charneys in their bugged apartment in Moscow and a visit to Riga.

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.

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.

Judy Panko Reis

Project
Women Who Dared

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Judy Panko Reis in Wilmette, Illinois, on February 21st, 2007, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Disability activist Judy Panko Reis overcame personal tragedy to fight for equitable access in disability transportation and co-founded the Women with Disabilities Center while pursuing higher education and working as a Healthcare Policy Analyst.

Aliza Parker

Project
General

Jayne Guberman interviewed Aliza Parker on February 13 and March 28, 2008, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Jewish Women's Archive's general oral history project. Parker discusses her family history, upbringing in Brooklyn, involvement in Zionist youth movements, experiences in Israel, teaching career, participation in a Jewish study group, and reflections on her marriage, children, and the evolving world and Israel.

Judy Patkin

Project
Soviet Jewry

Judy Patkin was interviewed in Waltham, Massachusetts, as part of the Soviet Jewry Oral History Project. Patkin shares her experiences meeting refuseniks, visits to the former Soviet Union, involvement in the Soviet Jewry movement, the birth of Action for Post-Soviet Jewry, her Jewish identity, organizational work, interactions with the American government, personal growth, and the impact of her children on her trajectory.

Marilyn Paul

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Marilyn Paul on July 27, 2000, in Lexington, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Marilyn's journey from a childhood in Lexington with a distant connection to Judaism and Israel to her eventual involvement in public health work in Gaza challenged her perspective on management culture, gender dynamics, and Palestinian-Israeli collaboration, ultimately shaping her unique bond with Israel and her career in organizational management, which she plans to continue alongside her husband through consulting for nonprofits in Israel, while reflecting on the cultural differences she's observed between Israeli and American societies.

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.

Muriel Pokross

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Ellen Rovner interviewed Muriel Pokross on December 20, 1996, and June 30, 1997, in Belmont, Massachusetts, for the Women Whose Lives Spanned the Century Oral History Project. Pokross reflects on her experiences during significant historical events, her efforts to aid Jewish refugees, and her career as a rehabilitation counselor, while emphasizing the passing down of values and her close family bonds.

Hedy Ratner

Project
Women Who Dared

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Hedy Ratner on January 31, 2007, in Chicago, Illinois, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Ratner shares her journey from her childhood in Chicago as an immigrant's child to her experiences with Jewish education, women's liberation, social justice activism, and her evolving relationship with Judaism, highlighting the influential figures and moments in her life.

Toby Reifman

Project
Barnard: Jewish Women Changing America

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Toby Reifman on October 30, 2005, in New York, New York, as part of the Barnard: Jewish Women Changing America Oral History Project. Reifman talks about her journey of growing up in Providence, Rhode Island, her experiences with gender dynamics and inequalities in Judaism, her involvement in Jewish feminist movements, and her evolving commitment to feminism and personal fulfillment throughout her life.

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.

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Oral History Collection." (Viewed on June 13, 2026) <https://qa.jwa.org/oralhistories>.