Hadassah of Western Pennsylvania

Early discussions for starting a Hadassah chapter in Pittsburgh began in May 1916, when members of the local Daughters of Zion held a meeting at the Fort Pitt Hotel. The Pittsburgh chapter was formally established during a meeting at the Fort Pitt Hotel on Feb. 18, 1917 with Rachel Vixman (president), Annie Jacobs Davis (vice-president), Sarah Treelisky (corresponding secretary), Fannie Klebansky (recording secretary), Mrs. Max Amdursky (financial secretary), Mrs. J. L. Lichter (treasurer), and others.

The Pittsburgh chapter grew from 500 members in 1920, to 900 members in 1930, to 1,105 members by 1938, and grew rapidly during World War II. In the early 1930s, Hadassah formed “study groups” in Squirrel Hill, the East End, Homestead, and Beechview to discuss Jewish history and current events. By 1940, Hadassah had 13 local study groups. Hadassah also organized in nearby small towns, including Aliquippa, Beaver Valley, Butler, Canonsburg, Carnegie, Clairton, Ellwood City–Wampum, Homestead, Irwin, Johnstown, Kiski Valley, Kittanning, McDonald, McKeesport, New Castle, New Kensington, Oil City, Punxsutawney, Shenango Valley, Uniontown, Washington, and Westmoreland-Fayette.

With the growth of Hadassah over the next 30 years, the Pittsburgh operations were reorganized in 1948 to create six neighborhood-based groups. The groups were originally numbered but received names in 1971. Hadassah of Greater Pittsburgh eventually grew to have some 4,200 members across 24 groups by the early 1990s. Hadassah merged Pittsburgh into its Detroit chapter in 2020 and disbanded the Pittsburgh chapter in 2022.

Presidents of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Hadassah include Rachel Vixman (1917-1921), Florence Kohn (1921), Rebecca Kreiger (1921-1926), Sara Cohen (1926-1929), Sadie H. Levin (1930-1932), Sara Marcus (1933-1935), Myrtle Fisher (1935-1938), Leona Davis (1938-1940), Elizabeth Rosenberg (1940-1943), Mollie Lyon (1943-1946), Sara Munter (1946-1949), Ruth Karlin (1949-1951), Irene Stern (1951-1953), Hilda Katzen (1954-1956), Jane Glass (1956-1958), Belle Shapiro (1958-1961), Eunice Krupp (1961-1963), Rose Kaplan (1963-1965), Doris Binstock (1965-1968), Libby Elbaum (1968-1970), Claire Klein (1970-1972), Margery Weiner (1972-1975), Mimi Ginsberg (1975-1978), Roz Markovitz (1978-1981), Marlene Silverman (1981-1984), Bernice Meyers (1984-1986), Judy Palkovitz (1986-1989), Bobbie Slotsky Kramer (1989-1992), Nancy Shuman (1992-1995), Shirley L. Zionts (1995-1997), Sonda I. Glasser (1997-1999), Dotty Weisberg (2000-2003), Susan Mazer (2003-2005), Donna Gerson (2005-2008), Lynda Heyman (2008-2011), Zandra Goldberg (2011-2013), Barbara Scheinberg (2013-2016), and Rochelle Parker (2016-2018).

Presidents of the Western Pennsylvania Region of Hadassah include Sara Cohen (founder, Pittsburgh), Florence Kohn (1930-1934, New Castle), Sarah Hurwitz (1934-1936, 1940-1942, Pittsburgh), Annette Richman (1937-1939, Washington), Louise M. Cohn (1942-1945, McKeesport), Mildred Koch (1945-1948, Altoona), Millie Ockner (1948-1950, New Kensington), Sarah Munter (1950-1953), Sarah Gladstone (1953-1956), Mildred Menlowe (1956-1959), Jean Newman Jacobson (1959-1960), Stella Kessler (1960-1963), Sarah Reiter (1963-1965), Libby Elbaum (1965-1968, Pittsburgh), Marcia Chamovitz (1968-1971, Aliquippa), Betty Fisher (1971-1974, East Liverpool, Ohio), Blanche Kaminsky (1974-1977), Naomi Leven (1977-1980, Allison Park), Audrey Lasday (1980-1983, Washington), Dr. Fran Fettman (1983-1986, Allison Park), Zelda Lowy (1986-1989, Wheeling, W. V. ), Janice Greenwald (1989-1992, White Oak), and Reva Shulman Dotan (1992-1995, Altoona).

Hadassah of Western Pennsylvania groups

Bibliography

Exhibit history

• Author: Eric Lidji
• Original: December 18, 2024
• Current: December 18, 2024