Art

Frances Berman Sulsky, born in New York in 1910, was known for over half a century as Baltimore's leading milliner and trendsetter. She took chances in the retail world of women's fashion that distinguished her both as a merchandiser and a businesswoman.

A well-known painter and sculptor, Amalie Rothschild discovered her penchant for drawing while still a young child.

Recognized by a noted retailer as the "Number One Shoe Salesperson in America," Micky Loveman spent a lifetime working in Baltimore's retail shoe business, building a loyal client base.

A devoted mother and wife and an influential saleswoman, Selma Litman was born in 1917. Although her father, one of the few Jews in Russia to have gotten a college education, died when she was just 20 months old, Selma was raised on stories that her mother and siblings regularly shared about him.

After the devastating loss of her husband, Elsie created a new life for herself, becoming the chief buyer for Miller Brothers, her family's women's clothing business. A unique family trust established by her parents ensures extended family presence at Passover seders, Hanukkah celebrations and an annual vacation/reunion.

A designer of haute couture, Frieda Sondland used her creative skills to survive the Holocaust. Born in Berlin, Germany in 1921, she married Gunther Sondland when she was sixteen and a half years old. When she was seventeen, and pregnant with her first child, Frieda and her parents were forced to leave Germany for South America. Frieda supported herself and her daughter by working as a clothing designer in Montevideo, Uruguay. Eight years later, Gunther joined them. Frieda and Gunther moved to Seattle in 1953 to reunite with Gunther’s family who had emigrated there after the war. In Seattle, Frieda worked in the alterations department for both John Doyle Bishop, and Frederick and Nelson until she and Gunther opened their dry cleaning and alterations business in West Seattle. In 1957, their son, Gordon, was born. Since arriving in the United States, Frieda has become a beloved and active member of Seattle’s Jewish community.

A Seattle native of Ashkenazic-German descent, Carolyn Danz grew up in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. She was a lifelong member of Temple De Hirsch Sinai, the oldest Reform Congregation in the Pacific Northwest. Carolyn graduated in 1939 from the University of Washington with a BA in Fine Arts, married Jerry Taylor in 1940, and had two children. Jerry, diagnosed with MS early in their marriage, died in 1959. Carolyn supported her family by opening and running a dressmaking business. A skilled seamstress, she and her talented African American assistant, Maude, made beautiful clothing.

I am particularly nourished by the history of art, the history of the Jewish people, and by the unwritten history of women.

The histories of the women in the Bible were nothing if not those of women ferociously pioneering for the rights of females.

Standing on top of the world, with a true and equitable representation of its women, seemed a harmonious interchange between dreams and actions, work and belief.

It was feminism and humor that made me a cartoonist.

I was rushing backward as fast as I could in order to get the shot of these proud and happy women energetically marching to the Houston convention center...

It was obvious that birth was a universal human experience and one that is central to women's lives. Why were there no images?

I know now that she lost herself as soon as she married, taking on the persona of the wife she imagined she must be.