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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

Tillie DeLeon

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Tillie Israel DeLeon on May 24 and June 1, 2001, in Mercer Island, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words project. DeLeon shares her experiences and insights into the Sephardic community in Seattle, including its immigration history, cultural interactions, education, personal journey, and reflections on Sephardic customs and traditions.

Ruth Jungster Frankel

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Ruth Jungster Frankel on August 7 and 15, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women’s Words project. Frankel reflects on her experiences growing up in Germany, witnessing Hitler's rise to power, immigrating to the United States, involvement at Temple Herzi, her husband's Alzheimer's, and her engagement in Jewish camps, trips to Israel, and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Ann Meyers Kaplan

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Ann Meyers Kaplan on March 30, 2001, in Mercer Island, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Kaplan shares her family background, upbringing in Seattle, career, involvement in the National Council of Jewish Women, advocacy for the hearing impaired, reflections on Jewish identity and community, and fond memories of various aspects of her life.

Lenora "Leni" LaMarche

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Lenora LaMarche on May 24 and June 25, 2001, in Mercer Island, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. LaMarche shares her family history, Sephardic culture, and experiences growing up in the Seattle and Los Angeles Jewish communities, highlighting her education, comedic talents, work during World War II, raising a family, and involvement in various organizations.

Magda Schaloum

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Magda Altham Schaloum, on June 5, 2001, in Mercer Island, Washington, for the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Schaloum shares her experiences growing up in Hungary, including enduring antisemitism, the impact of anti-Jewish laws, her family's separation and deportation to Auschwitz, her survival through slave labor camps, and her life after the war, including immigrating to Seattle and building a new life with her husband and children.

Frieda Piepsch Sondland

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Frieda Sondland on May 1 and 17, 2001, in Mercer Island, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Frieda recounts her family's escape from Nazi Germany, their journey to South America, and their eventual settlement in Seattle, highlighting community involvement, and the challenges of parenting and aging.

Althea Diesenhaus Stroum

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown-Lavitt interviewed Althea Diesenhaus Stroum on July 23, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Stroum discusses her upbringing, family history, experiences of antisemitism, community activism, marriage, role as a mother, support for the arts, and philanthropy.

Dorothy Wittenberg

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Pamela Brown Lavitt interviewed Dorothy Wittenberg on April 26 and May 8, 2001, in Mercer Island, Washington, for the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Wittenberg recounts her family background, childhood memories, experiences as one of the few Jewish families in Tacoma, her education, volunteer work, and reflections on community, and women's roles.

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Oral History Collection." (Viewed on December 12, 2024) <https://jwa.org/oralhistories>.