Narrator from Weaving Women's Words: Baltimore Stories

Edith Furstenberg

A social worker and homemaker, Edith Furstenberg has dedicated her life to family and the pursuit of social justice. Born in Baltimore in 1910, she was a member of the large Hollander family. Encouraged by her father's liberal views on education, Edith attended Goucher College, traveled alone in Europe as a young woman, and graduated from New York School of Social Work in 1933. Edith worked in the field of child welfare in New York City until her marriage to Dr. Frank Furstenberg in 1934. The couple moved to Baltimore, where they raised a family of six children, Carla, Mark, Frank Jr., Michael, Ellen and Anne. On several occasions, Edith assumed responsibility for moving their large family when her husband was assigned to medical positions in the Public Health Service during World War II. After a seventeen-year hiatus, she returned to social work, specializing in providing services to children with special needs and their families. An independent and energetic woman, Edith continues to travel and enjoy her large circle of family and friends.


	Independence was very important in my life. The ideals of my parents were taught to us—honesty and responsibility for your fellow man, all extremely Jewish concepts. As I look back on it, I know that there were very many Jewish values in our home without any ceremony.
Edith Furstenberg A social worker and homemaker, Edith Furstenberg has dedicated her life to family and the pursuit of social justice. Born in Baltimore in 1910, she was a member of the large Hollander family. Encouraged by her father's liberal views on education, Edith attended Goucher College, traveled alone in Europe as a young woman, and graduated from New York School of Social Work in 1933. Edith worked in the field of child welfare in New York City until her marriage to Dr. Frank Furstenberg in 1934. The couple moved to Baltimore, where they raised a family of six children, Carla, Mark, Frank Jr., Michael, Ellen and Anne. On several occasions, Edith assumed responsibility for moving their large family when her husband was assigned to medical positions in the Public Health Service during World War II. After a seventeen-year hiatus, she returned to social work, specializing in providing services to children with special needs and their families. An independent and energetic woman, Edith continues to travel and enjoy her large circle of family and friends.
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© 2004 Jewish Women's Archive. Photograph by Joan Roth