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Description
The New Haven Museum (NHM) will highlight the resilience, courage, and ingenuity of local Jewish women during the Second World War during the Third Annual Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program presentation, “Bullets, Bandages, and Making WAVES: Jewish Women in WWII New Haven,” on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at 2 p.m. The program will also stream on FB Live. In the case of inclement weather, the event be recorded and aired on YouTube and social media.
Presented by the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven (JHSGNH), the program will share recorded oral histories and historical documents capturing the challenges and triumphs of life in WWII. From running a family business, to managing home front challenges, serving in the Navy's WAVES or making bullet shells reminiscent of "Rosie the Riveter," their stories illustrate the ways American women contributed to the war effort in the Elm City.
JHSGNH volunteers, writer Carole Bass and oral-history interviewer Rhoda Zahler Samuel, will present segments of the video memories of Rita Small Melman (1928-2013), Mitzi Fenster Bargar (born 1927), Lucille Wolfe Alderman (1924-2024), Rose Rosenberg Dubin (born 1924), Ruth Grannick (1921-2022), and Edith Londer Gillman (1924-2018). Jennifer Kein, Bradford Durfee Professor of History at Yale University, will give a brief presentation about the ways WWII influenced women’s roles.
The program will honor the legacy of these remarkable women and invites attendees to reflect and consider how history shapes our current values and societal norms. Visitors will discover the new roles women accepted out of necessity during the war: enlisting in the armed forces, working in munitions factories, running family businesses at home. “These roles challenged traditional gender norms and forever changed public perception of women in the workforce,” says Samuel. “With this event, we hope to inspire ongoing conversations about gender equality.” She adds, “World War II was a turning point for women, yet there is still much work to be done to promote equal participation in the work force and armed services.”
About the Speakers
Carole Bass is a writer, editor, and lifetime member of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven. As a volunteer member of the planning team for the Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program, she wrote and helped research a biographical sketch that will be distributed at the program honoring Laurel Vlock. A longtime journalist, Carole worked for publications as varied as the Connecticut Law Tribune, the New Haven Advocate, and the Yale Alumni Magazine. She is active in her synagogue, BEKI (Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel).
Jennifer Klein is the Bradford Durfee Professor of History at Yale University. Her work focuses on U.S. labor politics, social policy, and political economy in 20th century United States. Her books include “For All These Rights: Business, Labor, and the Shaping of America’s Public-Private Welfare State,” and “Caring for America: Home Health Workers in the Shadow of the Welfare State,” co-authored with Eileen Boris. In addition to academic journals and collections, her articles have appeared in Dissent,
the New York Times, American Prospect.org, Washington Post.com, The Nation.com, and New Labor Forum. She’s received fellowships from the NEH, Russell Sage Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Brookings Institution, and Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Research Center.
Rhoda Zahler Samuel has been involved in the development of the Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program since its inception. Since her retirement from a 24-year career as Neighborhood Planner and Director of Special Projects for the City of New Haven, she has conducted over 50 oral-history interviews for the archives of the Jewish Historical Society (JHS), where she has served as a board member and past president. Transcriptions of several of the interviews have been published by the JHS and the Fortunoff Video Archives at Yale. She also serves on the Board of the Ethnic Heritage Center, where she is the coordinator of Walk New Haven: Cultural Heritage Tours project.
About Judith Ann Schiff
This annual lecture series presented by the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven and the New Haven Museum is dedicated to the memory of Judith Ann Schiff, who spent a lifetime promoting women’s, ethnic, and Elm City History. Schiff was an archivist at Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library for over sixty years and New Haven’s first female City Historian. She grew up in New Haven and graduated from Hillhouse High School. She received a bachelor’s degree in American history from Barnard College and master’s degrees in library science from Southern Connecticut State University and in history from Columbia University. She co-founded several organizations, including the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven, the Ethnic Heritage Center of New Haven, and New England Archivists. She served on the boards of the New Haven Museum and Grove Street Cemetery and was heavily involved with the League of Women Voters. She received the Yale Medal in 2020 and passed away in 2022.
About the Jewish Historical Society of New Haven
The Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven began in the attic and basement of Harvey N. Ladin’s Central Avenue home. After years of collecting pictures and memorabilia about Jewish life in New Haven, Ladin helped to organize and found the Jewish Historical Society in 1976. He became its first president. Since its origin, the society has been collecting and cataloguing the greater New Haven Jewish community’s eventful past, publicizing its history and preserving its heritage for future generations.
Date & Time
Sun, Mar 2, 2025 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Venue Details
New Haven Museum
114 Whitney AvenueNew Haven, Connecticut 06510
