Works Cited for this Project

Hyman, Paula E. “Jewish Feminism Faces the American Women’s Movement.” American Jewish Women’s History. New York: NYU Press, 2003.

Levin, Marj Jackson. “Jewish Women for Social Justice.” Michigan Jewish History, Fall 2005, Volume 45: 31.

Lipstadt, Deborah. “Feminism and American Judaism: Looking Back at the Turn of the Century.” Women and American Judaism: Historical Perspectives. Hanover, NH: Brandeis University Press, 2001.

Rosen, Ruth. The World Split Open: How the Modern Women’s Movement Changed America. New York: Viking Penguin, 2000.

Helpful Links and Web Resources

The National Organization for Women (NOW) – www.now.org

Michigan Now – www.michnow.org

Other Michigan chapters – www.now.org/chapters/mi.html

The National Council of Jewish Women – www.ncjw.org

Greater Detroit Section: http://www.ncjwgds.org/index.html

Michigan Veteran Feminists of America documentary film: Passing the Torch

Womencenter at Oakland Community College – http://www.oaklandcc.edu/womencenter/

Jewish Women’s Archive – www.jwa.org
Especially see exhibit on “Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution” – http://jwa.org/feminism/
“The mission of the Jewish Women’s Archive (JWA) is to uncover, chronicle, and transmit to a broad public the rich history of American Jewish women. A national non-profit organization founded in 1995 and based in Brookline, MA, the Jewish Women’s Archive presents the stories, struggles, and achievements of Jewish women in North America. We create and disseminate educational materials, develop partnerships, sponsor programs, conduct and support original research, and maintain an innovative website all designed to help us understand our past and shape our future.”

Walter P. Reuther Archives at Wayne State University – http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/
Especially see oral history interviews with Detroit-area feminists, conducted in 2003 by Sarah Arvey, under the auspices of the Michigan Veteran Feminists of America, and including transcripts of interviews with the following women: Harriet Alpern, Algea Harrison, Marj Levin, Gerry Barrons, Elizabeth Homer, Allyn Ravitz, Patricia Burnett, Joan Israel, Jacqueline Steingold, Marcia Cron, Millie Jeffrey, Mary Jo Walsh, Margot Duley, Jean King, Jackie Washington, Marcia Federbush, Diana Leventer

NARAL Pro-Choice America – www.naral.org

MARAL Pro-Choice Michigan – www.prochoicemichigan.org

Lilith Magazine – “independent, Jewish, and frankly feminist” – http://www.lilith.org/

Jewish Women Watching – www.jewishwomenwatching.com
“Jewish Women Watching aims to rouse the public to challenge and change the sexist and other discriminatory practices in the American Jewish community. We use biting satire and real-life facts to criticize our community’s narrow-minded priorities. Jewish Women Watching remains anonymous to focus attention on the issues – not ourselves.”

Feminist Seder – Democracy Now! radio show on the Seder Sisters, featuring Esther Broner, Naomi Wolf, Phyllis Chesler, Robin and Letty Pogrebin.

Film: Passing the Torch, Michigan Veteran Feminists of America

Influential Organizations mentioned in the interviews

o American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – National organization advocating individual rights. (Susan Kurtzman)

o Common Ground – a free medical clinic for troubled youth. (Susan Kurtzman)

o Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) – Founded in 1942, CORE is one of the oldest civil rights groups in the United States. (Jacquie Steingold)

o Detroit Women’s Forum – Meets once a month for a lecture and luncheon, also hosts a yearly feminist Seder. (Joan Israel, Arlene Frank)

o Feminist Federal Credit Union – Detroit established in 1973, provided loans to women who could not receive them from a bank at an extremely low rate. (Allyn Ravitz)

o Interim House (domestic violence shelter) – “YWCA Interim House, a unit of the YWCA of Metropolitan Detroit, first opened its doors in 1979, becoming one of the first and largest shelters in Michigan with a capacity of 67 beds. Interim House offers comprehensive services to battered women and their children in a family setting” (http://www.volunteersolutions.org/uwsem/org/1865750.html). (Jacquie Steingold)

o MARAL-Pro-Choice Michigan was founded in 1979 as a state affiliate of NARAL Pro-Choice America. (Susan Kurtzman)

o Michigan Media Committee – Organization formed by Joan Israel that served to examine and combat the negative portrayal of women, especially older women, in media and advertising. (Joan Israel)

o Michigan Women’s Forum – “Michigan Women’s Forum facilitates opportunities for individuals, businesses and organizations to share messages of enlightenment and inspiration that benefit women and all who love them” (http://www.michiganwomensforum.com/). (Jacquie Steingold, Arlene Frank)

o Michigan Women’s Liberation Movement (forerunner of Michigan NOW). (Jacquie Steingold)

o National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) – “The National Council of Jewish Women is a volunteer organization that has been at the forefront of social change for over a century. Inspired by Jewish values, NCJW courageously takes a progressive stance on issues such as child welfare, women’s rights, and reproductive freedom” (http://www.ncjw.org/html/AboutNCJW/). (Susan Kurtzman, Arlene Frank)

o National Organization of Women (NOW) – “NOW is the largest, most comprehensive feminist advocacy group in the United States. Our purpose is to take action to bring women into full participation in society — sharing equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities with men, while living free from discrimination” (http://www.now.org/about.html). (Joan Israel, Jacquie Steingold)

o Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) – one of the principle organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. (Jacquie Steingold)

o Veteran Feminists of America (VFA) – “A nonprofit organization for veterans of the Second Wave of the feminist movement. The goals are to enjoy the camaraderie forged during those years of intense commitment, to honor ourselves and our heroes, to document our history, to rekindle the spark and spirit of the feminist revolution and act as keeper of the flame so that the ideals of feminism continue to reverberate and influence others” (http://www.vfa.us/MainArea.htm). (Jacquie Steingold)

o Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA, now AmeriCorps) – “AmeriCorps State and National supports a broad range of local service programs that engage thousands of Americans in intensive service to meet critical community needs” (http://www.americorps.org/about/ac/index.asp). (Jacquie Steingold)

o Women’s Actions for New Directions (WAND) – “WAND empowers women. To take political action. To change our culture and our national priorities: Toward peace and real security. Away from militarism and violence” (http://www.wand.org/). (Joan Israel)

o Wayne County Childcare Coordinating Committee (also Child Care Coordinating Council of Detroit/Wayne County; 4Cs) – The mission of Child Care Coordinating Council of Detroit/Wayne County, Incorporated is to educate and support and thereby empower families, communities and service programs to provide quality care and environments for all children and to promote, within strong family units the development of children to their full potential and well being”

Some Feminist Texts Recommended by Interviewees

The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir

Fear of Flying by Erica Jong

When and Where I Enter by Paula Giddings

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Freidan

Required texts for our independent study with Professor Kirsten Fermaglich

Judith Baskin, Jewish Women in Historical Perspective

Susan Glenn, Daughters of the Shtetl

Linda Gordon Kuzmack, Woman’s Cause

Dan Horowitz, Betty Friedan and the Making of the Feminine Mystique

Paula Hyman, Gender and Assimilation in Modern Jewish History

Deborah Lipstadt, “Feminism and American Judaism” from Women and American Judaism. New portrayals of the religious lives of American Jewish women from colonial times to the present.

Pamela Nadell, ed. American Jewish Women’s History

Ruth Rosen, The World Split Open – “In this enthralling narrative–the first of its kind–historian and journalist Ruth Rosen chronicles the history of the American women’s movement from its beginnings in the 1960s to the present. Interweaving the personal with the political, she vividly evokes the events and people who participated in our era’s most far-reaching social revolution. Rosen’s fresh look at the recent past reveals fascinating but little-known information including how the FBI hired hundreds of women to infiltrate the movement. Using extensive archival research and interviews, Rosen challenges readers to understand the impact of the women’s movement and to see why the revolution is far from over.”