Rosalyn Cottler
Rosalyn Cottler grew up in the Roxbury and Dorchester neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. She attended the Dorchester High School for Girls, where she served as president of her graduating class. Before her marriage, she worked in Boston's business district. In 1941, she married Frank Cottler, a Duke University graduate who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. During the war, Rosalyn followed her husband to military postings throughout the United States. After the war, the couple settled first in Brighton and later in Newton, Massachusetts, where they raised their daughters, Joan and Susan. A longtime resident of Newton, Cottler became actively involved in civic, cultural, and religious life. She was among the founding members of Temple Shalom and participated in many aspects of the congregation's early development, including fundraising, membership outreach, religious school support, and community-building activities. She was also active in the Temple Shalom Sisterhood, Garden Club, and Girl Scouts. Beyond her volunteer work, she pursued interests in gardening, figure skating, ballet, and real estate, earning a broker's license after her children were grown.
July 7, 1999
In this interview, Rosalyn Cottler discusses her family background, courtship, and marriage to Frank Cottler, as well as her experiences as the wife of a U.S. Army Air Corps serviceman during World War II. She describes following her husband to military postings throughout the United States, raising her young family during the war, housing shortages in the postwar period, and encounters with antisemitism in the American South. Cottler reflects on wartime events, including the Coconut Grove fire, the death of a close family friend in the Pacific theater, and public reactions to the deaths of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the end of World War II. The interview documents her memories of Jewish life in Boston and Newton, her transition from an Orthodox Jewish upbringing to Reform Judaism, and her involvement in the founding and early development of Temple Shalom. She describes the congregation's early years in borrowed church spaces, fundraising and building campaigns, the role of women in establishing the synagogue community, and the congregation's commitment to egalitarian practices.
July 28, 1999
In this follow-up interview, Rosalyn Cottler provides additional details about her childhood in Boston's Jewish community, her family history, and the social and cultural environment of Roxbury and Dorchester during the early twentieth century. She discusses her mother's influence on her Jewish upbringing, her brother's bar mitzvah, visits to her grandmother's synagogue, and the role of extended family members in her life, including relatives who struggled with poverty, mental illness, and alcoholism. Cottler reflects on changing social attitudes toward disability, family obligations, and ethnic identity. She describes her education at Dorchester High School for Girls, her early employment experiences, and her memories of local Jewish institutions and businesses. The interview also documents her interests in gardening, figure skating, ballet, and volunteer activities, including her involvement with Temple Shalom, the Temple Shalom Garden Club, and the Girl Scouts. Cottler discusses her later employment at Wellesley College and in real estate, as well as her views on evolving religious practices within Reform Judaism and changing patterns of participation in synagogue life.
The views expressed in these interviews are solely those of the speakers and do not reflect the positions of JWA or its affiliates.
