Jeannette Epstein
Jeannette (Silverman) Epstein (1916–2018) was born in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, to Russian Jewish immigrants Harry and Fanny Silverman. She grew up in an extended family, later moving to Roxbury, and attended Latin School and Simmons College, where she studied nutrition. Her work and volunteer activities included teaching cooking at a settlement house and serving in hospital settings, including Children’s Hospital. She was married to William “Will” Epstein for 71 years and had three sons, Kenneth, Richard, and James Barry. Formerly of Newton, she lived in Dedham and died on her 102nd birthday, August 3, 2018.
In this August 16, 1999, interview, Jeannette Epstein discusses her childhood in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury, Massachusetts, as the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants. She recalls her father’s tailoring business, her extended family, and an aunt’s accounts of life in Russia, including the disappearance of her son after a Bolshevik raid. Epstein describes growing up among non-Jewish neighbors, her family’s religious observance, and her developing sense of Jewish identity. She reflects on her mother’s domestic responsibilities and her own expectations of marriage. Other topics include attending Latin School, friendships, dancing and piano lessons, outings to Fenway Park and local theaters, and summers in Nantasket. She discusses attending Simmons College during the Depression, studying nutrition, volunteering at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and teaching cooking to boys at a settlement house. Later portions address hospital work and volunteering, family relationships, and loss, although extensive inaudible passages limit the detail available in the transcript.
The views expressed in these interviews are solely those of the speakers and do not reflect the positions of JWA or its affiliates.
