Honor Judith Rosenbaum's leadership on her 10th anniversary as JWA’s CEO by making a donation!
Close [x]

Show [+]

Lee Isaacson

b. 1956

Lee Isaacson was born in New Orleans in 1956 and grew up in the Broadmoor neighborhood.  His family was a member of the Touro Synagogue, where Lee was confirmed.  After graduating from the University of Texas in Austin, Lee moved back to the New Orleans area.  He works as a computer specialist for the New Orleans Jewish Community Center and is actively involved in the Broadmoor Improvement Association.  He is married to Nancy Isaacson, a teacher, and has two step-children.

Scope and Content Note

Lee talks about his family history, early childhood, and Jewish education.  He never had a bar mitzvah but was affiliated and confirmed with the Touro Synagogue in New Orleans.  Lee discusses his current views on religion and his experience with Judaism.  He is not affiliated now and does not believe in organized religion.  Lee describes the private schools he attended in New Orleans, his experience in college in Austin, Texas, and his motivations for returning to his hometown after graduating.  Lee recalls his experiences during Hurricane Katrina and in the following months after the storm.  Lee and his wife evacuated three days before the storm and stayed with his wife's son in Vicksburg, Mississippi, which was also impacted by the storm.  They lost electricity and running water, so they moved to Austin, Texas, where Lee had gone to college and had friends and connections.  Lee and his wife and parents leased an apartment for three months, returning periodically to New Orleans to assess and repair the damage to his flooded home.  During the three months he and his wife stayed in Augustin, Lee volunteered at the convention center and assumed the role of community leader and activist in the aftermath of the storm.  Lee expresses frustration towards the government's negligence and racial tensions after Katrina.  Finally, Lee reflects on the charter schools he helped open following the storm and how he began helping the Jewish Community Center, where he now works as a computer consultant.

Donate

Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.

donate now

Get JWA in your inbox

Read the latest from JWA from your inbox.

sign up now

How to cite this page

Oral History of Lee Isaacson. Interviewed by Rosalind Hinton. 30 August 2007. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on October 12, 2024) <https://jwa.org/oralhistories/isaacson-lee>.

Oral History of Lee Isaacson by the Jewish Women's Archive is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://jwa.org/contact/OralHistory.