Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Rochelle Ruthchild interviewed Frances Addelson on October 18, November 14, and December 10, 1997, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Addelson shares her life journey from childhood experiences in a Jewish orphanage in Boston to her education at Radcliffe College, a career in social work, and active involvement in social justice, despite not being particularly religious, until an accident in the late 1990s.

This interview with Kay Albert-Spector traces her life from her upbringing in Boston’s South End and Dorchester through her lifelong engagement with music, work in Jewish resort hotels, family experiences, and community involvement.

These interviews document Bess Arick’s life from her upbringing in a Russian Jewish immigrant family on a Massachusetts farm through experiences of antisemitism, limited educational opportunity, marriage, career as a medical journal editor, and family loss.

Marion Arvedon recounts her family’s immigration from Eastern Europe, her upbringing in Malden, Massachusetts, her father’s entrepreneurial career, and her own experiences with education, marriage, wartime separation, community involvement, and reflections on social change and aging.

Lorraine Baron reflects on her upbringing in a Jewish family in Massachusetts, tracing how her parents’ values of compassion, justice, and Jewish continuity shaped her lifelong commitments to family, religious practice, community leadership, feminism, civil rights, and intergenerational Jewish life.

Bernice Barres discusses her childhood in a large family during the Depression, her courtship and marriage to a World War II veteran who lost both legs in combat, her evolving Jewish identity and community involvement, her later-in-life career as a nurse, and her experiences raising a family while caring for her husband through years of illness.

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.

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.

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.

In interviews conducted on June 17 and June 21, 1999, Donna Joftis interviewed Naomi Cherny about her experiences growing up during the Depression and World War II, pursuing education and professional work despite gender expectations, building Jewish community institutions in Lexington and Arlington, working in counseling and equal employment at Hanscom Air Force Base, officiating interfaith marriages as a justice of the peace, and her reflections on family, volunteerism, nutrition, exercise, and social change.

On July 13, 1999, Caroline Essig interviewed Charlotte Chipman about her upbringing in a Jewish immigrant family in Chelsea, Massachusetts, her work as a secretary and office manager, her involvement in the founding of Temple Reyim, her lifelong volunteerism and community engagement, and her reflections on Jewish life, family, travel, education, and civic participation across the twentieth century.

On June 1, 1999, Charlotte Kupiec interviewed Lillian Cohen about growing up as one of three fraternal triplets in Providence, Rhode Island, her family’s Jewish immigrant history, community and religious life, experiences during World War II, marriage and family, artistic and musical interests, and her long involvement in floral design and beautification work at Temple Emunah.

Helene Bailen interviewed Harriet Segal Cohn on January 9 and January 16, 1997, in Westwood, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Harriet shares her family's immigration to Boston, her childhood experiences, education, encountering antisemitism, meeting her husband, experiences volunteering, and reflects on her life as a widow.

Rachel Alexander interviewed Barbara Cole on August 20, 1997, in Lexington, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Span The Century Oral History Project. Cole discusses her upbringing, Jewish cultural background, thoughts on religion, experiences at Smith College and work at Filene's, as well as her travels to the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia.

Sally Corwin reflects on her upbringing as the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants in Washington, D.C.; her path into law during the New Deal; her legal career and political work in Massachusetts; her family life; her Jewish identity; and the evolving role of women in the legal profession across the twentieth century.

Rosalyn Cottler reflects on her childhood in Boston’s Jewish community, her family life, wartime experiences as the wife of an Army serviceman, her role in the founding and early development of Temple Shalom in Newton, and her perspectives on Jewish identity, community, family, and social change.

Joan Kachlia interviewed Ruth Sheinwald Cowin on February 13th and 25th, 1997 in Nonquit, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Cowin discusses her family history, childhood experiences with antisemitism, marriages, raising her son, career in medical social work, teaching experience, involvement in the Rosenfeld Foundation, the impact of social and cultural movements, and her dedication to social justice.

Irma Devore reflects on a long life shaped by Jewish family traditions, immigrant roots, education, resilience in the face of personal loss and family hardship, and a deep commitment to community, music, and caring for others, while tracing the social and cultural changes she witnessed throughout the twentieth century.

Frances Godine interviewed Marjorie Loeb Edenfield on October 31, 1997, in Boston, Massachusetts, as of the Women Whose Lives Spanned the Century Oral History Project. Edenfield reflects on her late accomplishments, experiences of identity, family dynamics, religious affiliation, motherhood, and career at Filene's, and contemplates friendship, spirituality, and gratitude.

Emily Mehlman interviewed Marion Eiseman in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 19, 1997, for the Women Whose Lives Span the Century project. Eisman talks about her life experiences, including challenges during the Great Depression, involvement with Temple Israel, frustrations with her daughter's interfaith wedding, participation in Jewish resettlement during WWII, founding Call for Action, political views, volunteer work, and reflections on Boston's changes over time.

Helen Fine recounts her upbringing in an immigrant Jewish family in Roxbury, her decades-long career teaching in Boston public schools and Hebrew education at Temple Israel, and how her teaching methods, community life, and personal experiences led her to create influential Jewish educational plays and books.

Ellen Meisel interviewed Martha Goldstein Finn on January 13th, 1997 in Boston Massachusetts as part of the project Women Whose Lives Span the Century. Finn discusses her early life in Dorchester, her college experience in the 1920s and 1930s, the challenges faced by women in the workforce at the time, her family life, including adopting a child, and her involvement in volunteer and community work, particularly with ORT and Temple Israel.

Betsy Friedman Abrams and Roberta Burstein interviewed Selma Gross Finstein on September 30, 1997, in Waltham, Massachusetts, as part of Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Finstein discusses growing up in a predominantly non-Jewish area, her involvement in Temple Israel, her education at Boston Teacher's College and teaching at the Boston Public Library, her second career at Brandeis, and the influential people in her life.

Beatrice Freedman reflects on growing up in an immigrant Jewish family in Boston, navigating the Great Depression, education, marriage, motherhood, evolving views on women's independence, and decades of civic and Jewish communal engagement while documenting the social changes that shaped twentieth-century Jewish life in the Greater Boston area.

Rochelle Ruthchild interviewed Bernice Frieze on January 16, 1997, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Frieze shares stories of her family's immigration to the United States, her upbringing in Boston during the Great Depression, her family life, Jewish practice, and involvement in charitable work.