Amplify Jewish Women’s Voices

Your gift keeps these stories alive—this Passover, please consider a monthly gift.

Help us meet our Passover goal
21 of 50 monthly donors

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

Martha Bergadine

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Martha Bergadine on November 3, 2006, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as a part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Rabbi Bergadine discusses her journey to Judaism, her work with the Jewish Federation, the impact of Hurricane Katrina on Baton Rouge, and the sense of community that emerged from the disaster.

Bessie Berman

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Betsy Friedman Abrams interviewed Bessie Berman on December 10, 1996, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Berman explains her introduction to Temple Israel, her roles and responsibilities, her relationship with her coworkers and the rabbis, and how her career unfolded over fifty years with Temple Israel.

Beatrice Biller

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Emily Mehlman interviewed Beatrice Biller on February 25, 1996, in Ipswich, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Biller shares her family history, and involvement in various volunteer activities, reflecting on her experiences living through significant historical events such as the World Wars and her contributions to the Jewish community in Temple Israel.

Allan Bissinger

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Allan Bissinger on August 3, 2006, in Metairie, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina’s Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Bissinger talks about his upbringing in New Orleans, his experience during Hurricane Katrina, his involvement in the Jewish community's recovery efforts, and how his Jewish identity has influenced his life, despite not being religious.

Eva Bitsberger

Project
Jewish Experience at Harvard

On June 17, 1986, as part of the Harvard Semitic Museum Oral History Project documenting the Harvard Radcliffe Jewish experience, Eva Friedman Bitsberger, Radcliffe College, Class of 1953, was interviewed about her years at Radcliffe, her Jewish identity, marriage and life in Japan and New York, experiences with feminism and antisemitism, and her later career as Director of Financial Aid at the New England Conservatory.

Hadassah Blocker

Project
Women Who Dared

Elise Brenner interviewed Hadassah Blocker on December 16, 2004, in Newtonville, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Blocker shares her upbringing in Massachusetts, her Orthodox background, challenges to gender roles in Judaism, and her dedication to teaching and promoting women's equal participation.

Hadassah Blocker

Project
Adult Bat Mitzvahs

Shayna Rhodes interviewed Hadassah Blocker on November 3, 2004, in Newtonville, Massachusetts, as part of the Adult Bat Mitzvahs Oral History Project. Blocker discusses her Orthodox Jewish background, her role in Torah learning, and her advocacy for women's participation in synagogue services and adult Jewish education.

Darryl Bloom

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Ann Buffum and Sandra Stillman Gartner interviewed Darryl Bloom on August 15, 2005, in Montpelier, Vermont, as part of DAVAR: The Vermont Jewish History Project. Bloom reflects on her upbringing, conversion to Judaism, experiences on a kibbutz, commitment to social justice, involvement in the Montpelier Jewish community, and teaching at the Family Center of Washington County.

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.

Elsbeth Bothe

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Elaine Eff interviewed Elsbeth Bothe on September 14 and October 22, 2001, in Baltimore Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women’s Words Oral History Project. Both shares her family background, education, career journey, activism in the Civil Rights movement, and reflections on her Jewish identity and experiences as a woman in the legal profession.

Renee Brant

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Renee Brant on July 18, 2001, in Newtown Highlands, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Brant discusses her upbringing, activism, and career in addressing sexual abuse, emphasizing personal growth, and promoting mental health services in medicine.

Helen "Lainie" Breaux

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Lainie Breaux on September 17, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Breaux reflects on her upbringing, activist family background, evacuation during the storm with her newborn son, and her ongoing work as a therapist in New Orleans.

Shirley Bridge

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Shirley Bridge on June 27, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women’s Words Oral History Project. Bridge discusses her family, childhood memories, education, a career in pharmacology, marriage, raising a family, social activism, and her 50-year battle with cancer.

Sally Bronston

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Sally Bronston on August 10, 2007, in Metairie, Louisiana, as part of Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Bronston shares her Jewish upbringing, education, involvement in Jewish organizations, experiences during Hurricane Katrina, challenges of post-storm life, and reflections on God and Judaism.

Joel Brown

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Joel Brown on October 23, 2006, in Metairie, Louisiana, as part of Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Brown explains his family background, education, Jewish upbringing, opening a kosher restaurant in New Orleans, the impact of Hurricane Katrina on his business and life, the support from the Memphis Jewish community, and his hopeful return to New Orleans.

Pearl Brown

Project
Jewish Experience at Harvard

Pearl Brown reflects on her Jewish student life and education at Radcliffe and Harvard, describing the intellectual, social, and cultural experiences that shaped her lifelong friendships, community involvement, and enduring attachment to Cambridge and its academic environment.

Gilda Bruckman

Project
Ga’avah: LGBTQ+ Jews

Nicole Zador interviewed Gilda Bruckman on November 10, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts as part of the Ga'avah LGBTQ+ Jews project. In this interview, Gilda discusses her upbringing, connection to the Jewish community, coming out experience, co-founding of the book store New Words and its evolution into a non-profit, as well as her extensive involvement in various volunteer programs and organizations, highlighting how her research into her family history as well as her relationship with her partner, Judy Wachs, strengthened her bond with Judaism.

Andy Busch

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Andy Busch on August 2, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Rabbi Bush discusses his childhood, rabbinical training, serving as the rabbi of Touro Synagogue in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, their evacuation and exile experience, rebuilding the community in Houston, and reflecting on the impact of the storm and the efforts of the Jewish Reform Movement.

Meta R. Kaplan Buttnick

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Meta R. Buttnick on May 31, June 20, and July 17, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women’s Words Oral History Project. Meta, born in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1913, discusses her upbringing, education, marriage, and lifelong commitment to preserving Jewish history in Seattle through oral histories and archival projects.

Vivian Cahn

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Vivian Cahn on October 21, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Cahn tells her experiences of growing up in the South, moving to New Orleans, evacuating during Hurricane Katrina, and the challenges and recovery efforts faced by the Jewish community in rebuilding the city after the storm.

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.

Nina Beth Cardin

Project
General

Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin is a rabbi, writer, and former director of Jewish Life at the JCC in Baltimore, Maryland, and the founder of the Jewish Women’s Resource Center.

Anna Castleman

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Frances Godine interviewed Anna Castleman on December 17, 1996, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Anna Castleman discusses her upbringing in New England, her marriage and family life, her community involvement in Boston, and her experience as a Jewish woman at Wellesley College and in various Jewish organizations.

Gail Chalew

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Gail Chalew on August 15, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Chalew remembers Hurricane Katrina's impact, her evacuation to Baltimore with her son, and her dedication to rebuilding her community while reflecting on the changes in herself, the Jewish community, and New Orleans.

Judith Chalmer

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Sandra Stillman Gartner and Ann Buffum interviewed Judith Chalmer in Winooski, Vermont, on November 3 and December 8, 2005, as part of DAVAR’s oral history project. Chalmer discusses her family's history, her creative path as a writer, and her reflections on her Jewish identity and the role of women in Judaism, inspired by her father's experiences during the Holocaust and her efforts to honor those who helped her family.

Birth City

Interviewer

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 15, 2026) <https://qa.jwa.org/oralhistories>.