"The Status of Women..." (1980)
The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
The Pittsburgh Jewish Women’s Forum was founded in 1987 to advocate on behalf of professional and volunteer women throughout the Jewish community of Pittsburgh.
The organization emerged out of “The Status of Women in Jewish Organizations of Greater Pittsburgh,” a landmark study published in 1980 by the American Jewish Committee-Pittsburgh Chapter and the National Council of Jewish Women-Pittsburgh Section. The study examined the role of women as staff, administration, board directors, and board officers within 26 Jewish organizations in Western Pennsylvania.
When a follow-up study in 1986 found only minimal improvement in the status of Jewish women, the Pittsburgh Jewish Women’s Forum was established to proactively advocate for the advancement of women into key leadership positions within major Jewish organizations. The forum included representatives from the American Jewish Committee, Hadassah, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Women’s Division of the United Jewish Federation, and the Zionist Organization of America. The founding committee included Barbara Aaron, Annette Kolski-Andreaco, Barbara Burtsin, Corinne Krause, Eileen Lane, Shirley Lavine, Bernice Meyers, Judy Palkovitz, Judy Roscow, Connie Schwartz, Frieda Shapira, Barbara Shore, Carol Williams, and Florence Zeve.
