Birmingham Chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women

The Birmingham Chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women (CJW) was organized in 1898 under Jeanette Goldberg.

The Birmingham CJW hosted weekly study groups for members and joined in civic and philanthropic projects such as the establishment of the Temple Kindergarten in 1900. Later, under the leadership of Dorah Sterne the organization joined with the Birmingham Chapter of the American Association of University Women on efforts both local and international. Locally, the CJW lobbied against child labor and for prison reforms.

The group, with more than 200 members, became a powerful lobby. Sterne organized a landmark meeting for their group with officials of the Alabama Department of Corrections at Temple Emanu-El in March 1939.

In 1950 the group published a resolution condemning the bombing of Joel Boykins' home in Smithfield and urging the Birmingham Police Department to investigate and prosecute crimes against all residents equally.

References

• "Council of Jewish Women Here Looks Back Over 41 Years Of Loyal Community Service" (October 30, 1938) The Birmingham News , quoted in Nail-2010
• "Jewish Women Adopt Resolution, Condemn Negro Home Bombing" (April 21, 1950) Birmingham Post-Herald
• Nail, Kaye Cochran (2010) "Birmingham's Jewish Women and Social Reform, 1880-1980" Master's thesis. UAB.