Encyclopedia Categories | Jewish Women's Archive

Joanne Alter

When she challenged Chicago politicians to put a woman’s name on the ballot, Joanne Alter never expected the name would be her own.

Tosia Altman played important roles in the Jewish resistance to the Nazis. Her pale skin and blonde hair allowed her to blend in and serve as a spy, and she was integral to the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

American Birth Control Movement

Jewish women activists were among the first in the United States to highlight the need for reproductive health care. Women from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds found common political cause promoting access, advocacy, and education in the American birth control movement, achieving successes and confronting challenges throughout the twentieth century.

American Jewish Congress

The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) advocates for Jewish interests in the United States and abroad. Women have played an important part in AJCongress since the organization was first established after World War I.

Sadie American

Forceful, dedicated, and brash, Sadie American shaped the National Council of Jewish Women for more than twenty years before resigning and severing all ties with the organization. As one of the Council’s founders, American organized local sections and represented the group nationally and internationally, generally building up the organization.

Anda Pinkerfeld Amir

Anda Pinkerfeld-Amir was a Zionist poet, and author whose works reflected the tension between Judaism and feminism in the early twentieth century. In her youth, she was a member of Ha-Shomer ha-Za'ir in Poland, and in 1920 she immigrated to Palestine to write Hebrew verse. She is best remembered as a children’s writer who tackled complex topics with humor and compassion.

The Women’s Mizrachi Federation in America, Detroit Meeting, circa 1960s

AMIT

Founded in 1925 by Bessie Gotsfeld to create vocational schools for religious girls in Palestine, AMIT is now the largest religious Zionist organization in the United States and has a significant presence in Israel.

Birdie Amsterdam

Birdie Amsterdam capped a career of firsts in the legal profession with her role as the first woman elected to the New York State Supreme Court. Over the course of her career, she volunteered for various organizations and causes, such as running a bond drive during World War II and serving as Tammany Hall district co-leader of the Manhattan Democratic Club.

Mary Antin

With the publication of the memoir The Promised Land in 1912, the first bestseller written by and about an American Jew, the Russian Jewish immigrant Mary Antin celebrated America’s open door and boundless opportunities. Although the book’s reputation has waxed and waned over time, it has remained in print for more than a century.

Joyce Antler

Using both field research and her own experiences posing as a pregnant woman, Joyce Antler not only helped repeal New York’s laws against abortion, but ensured that women had real access to medical services after the law was repealed.

Jenny Apolant

An ardent suffragist, Jenny Apolant served as a board member of the General Association of German Women from 1910 to 1925. In Frankfurt, she was one of the first women municipal councilors from 1919 to 1924, founded the Political Workers Association in 1922, and strove to improve the condition of women through profound social change.

Bettina Aptheker

Bettina Aptheker is an American feminist, writer, educator, and political activist. She advocated for racial justice, studied and taught African American women’s history, and founded the Feminist Studies department at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Edna Arbel

While Edna Arbel was a justice on Israel’s Supreme Court from 2004 to 2014, her career has been influential for decades. She served variously as a District Attorney, a Judge, and as State Prosecutor, and her courageous determination to combat both governmental corruption and rising violence not only placed her in the public limelight but at times also aroused considerable hostility.

Shoshana Arbeli-Almozlino

From her upbringing in a traditional Iraqi family to her work in the Knesset and as Israeli Minister of Health, Shoshana Arbeli-Almozlino’s life spanned countries, careers, and experiences. She will be remembered as an active member of Knesset who fought for the rights of the working class and for the equal status of women in Israeli law.

Architects in Palestine: 1920-1948

The mass immigration from Europe after 1933 brought many architects to Palestine, amongst whom were a number of women. For these women, being an architect meant total devotion to the profession.

Students of the Mechona with Meyer Berlson in Buenos Aires, 1954

Argentina: Jewish Education

Over the course of the twentieth century, Jewish educational opportunities expanded for girls and teaching as an occupation became a possibility for Jewish women in Argentina. The 1920s saw the first female teachers in Jewish schools, and by the end of the 1950s, seventy percent of teachers were locally-trained women.

Argentina: Jewish White Slavery

Between 1875 and 1936, Buenos Aires was a major prostitution hub. Immigrant Jewish women were desperate enough to seek work in legally sanctioned brothels run by Jewish pimps. Although Jewish women compromised just a third of legal prostitutes in Buenos Aires in 1910, they were disproportionately visible in Argentina’s Catholic society.

Argentina: Philanthropic Organizations

Three Jewish women’s philanthropic organizations emerged on the scene in early 20th-century Argentina to support orphans and poor children in the community. The Society of Israelite Beneficent Women was responsible for the Jewish Girls’ Orphanage that opened in 1919. The Yiddish-speaking Women’s Aid Association formed the Jewish Infants’ Home to help new mothers and ran a Kindergarten. The Women’s Commission helped run the Jewish Boys’ Orphanage.

A Moroccan-Born Mother with Two of her Argentine-Born Daughters, circa 1929

Argentina: Sephardic Women

Argentina’s Sephardic community included Jews from all over the Sephardi diaspora. Immigrant women often worked alongside their fathers or husbands in general stores, as well as doing household chores and raising children. As Sephardic communities became more established, women’s educational opportunities expanded, and women played important roles in philanthropy and Zionism.

Judeo-Argentine newspapers and magazines from different periods in Yiddish, Hebrew and Spanish

Argentina: Zionist Activities

Argentine Jewish women were important players in Zionism, from early women’s committees of male groups to independent female ones. They carried out significant work on behalf of WIZO (Women’s International Zionist Organization) to help women and children in the Jewish community of Palestine and later in Israel, and participated in other Zionist organizations.

Margaret Gene Arnstein

Margaret Gene Arnstein was a principal architect of the American nursing profession. Her belief that nurses should be involved in health policy and research helped transform her profession. Renowned for her work in public health, Arnstein also advanced nursing education and research.

Jeannette Arons

Jeannette Arons served in a variety of roles with the National Council of Jewish Women, including president of the Brooklyn section. Her activism within NCJW ranged from helping juvenile offenders rebuild their lives, to advocating for the rights of people with disabilities, to helping Jewish immigrants become citizens.

Art in the United States

American Jewish women have made major contributions to the art world as artists, photographers, gallery owners, museum curators, art critics, art historians, and collectors. The number of American Jewish women artists rose in the 1930s, and their activities expanded from painting into sculpture. This growth of Jewish women artists continued into the 21st century.

Artists: Russia and the Soviet Union

Jewish women participated in the artistic life of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union for over a hundred years. Jewish women artists worked in all styles, from the routine academic to the extreme avant-garde. There were also well-known art patrons, gallery owners, art historians, and art critics.

Assimilation in the United States: Nineteenth Century

Female German Jewish immigrants were uniquely impacted by both their gender and class during the process of their assimilation to American life. They began participating in voluntary social work, which secularized over time, reflecting the women’s increased sense of personal autonomy. Through their work, German Jewish women immigrants preserved Jewish tradition and expanded their roles beyond the home.

Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change

The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women

Politics and Government