Oral History Collection

The Nicki Newman Tanner

Oral History Collection

As part of JWA’s mission to expand the narrative of Jewish history, we have collected and recorded hundreds of interviews with leaders, activists, and community members across the United States, documenting their encounters with major events and movements of the 20th and 21st centuries and the many ways that gender, class, place, and religious and ethnic identities have shaped women’s lives. With generous support from Nicki Newman Tanner,  Mass Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, we are proud to make these interviews and transcripts available to the public. All entries include transcripts; audio or video recordings are also available where narrator permissions allow. 

More about the collection

Vicki Gabriner

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Vicki Gabriner on July 20, 2000, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Gabriner recounts growing up in Brooklyn, her journey through activism, involvement in social justice issues, experiences with the Weathermen, coming out as a lesbian, and her deepening connection to Judaism and Yiddish culture.

Roz Garber

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Roz Garber on July 26th, 2000, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared project. Garber, a Canadian, shares her journey from choosing to study in the United States and embracing Conservative Judaism, to her work in the Soviet Union, educating and supporting Refuseniks, and her subsequent activism within the Jewish community, recognizing the importance of fighting injustice both at home and abroad.

Anne A. Jackson

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Anne A. Jackson on July 10, 2000, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Jackson shares her upbringing in a community of Russian Jews, her involvement in education and activism, including the Civil Rights Movement, her advocacy for Holocaust education, and her reflections on her career as an educator.

Judith Kates

Project
Barnard: Jewish Women Changing America

Judith Rosenbaum and Jayne Guberman interviewed Judith Kates on October 20th, 2005, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Jewish Women Changing America: Barnard Conference Oral History Project. Kates talks about her Orthodox upbringing, her struggle for gender equality within Judaism, her education, involvement in the women's movement, teaching women's studies, her gabbai position at a synagogue, and the impact of feminism on Judaism.

Susan Maze-Rothstein

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Susan Maze-Rothstein on January 25, 2002, in Brookline, Massachusetts, for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Maze-Rothstein reflects on her family background, experiences with Judaism, activism in addressing diversity and anti-racist education, challenges of being an outsider in both the Jewish and African-American communities, her commitment to social justice as a lawyer and judge, and her inspiration from influential figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Maya Angelou.

Betsy Shure Gross

Project
Women Who Dared

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Betsy Shure Gross on July 31, 2001, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Gross discusses her childhood, family roots, connection to Judaism, involvement in community restoration, and environmental justice issues, emphasizing the intersectionality of her activism as a woman and highlighting the impact of her work on others.

Birth Country

Type

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Oral History Collection." (Viewed on May 19, 2024) <http://jwa.org/oralhistories>.