On Sunday morning, December 6, the AJ Adult Education Committee will sponsor a Zoom event with local historian Professor Reena Sigman Friedman on the topic of “Lillian Wald: An Inspiration for Our Times.” An early twentieth-century Jewish pioneer in American nursing and public health, Lillian Wald became a New York-based leader in caring for victims of the 1918 influenza pandemic. She was also a prominent humanitarian and activist for the rights of women and minorities. She campaigned for suffrage, was a supporter of racial integration and was involved in the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Ms. Wald lived a remarkable life, and her commitments to social justice and public health resonate strongly with the challenges of our own time.
 
Known to many at AJ and in our local community, Professor Friedman is Adjunct Professor of Jewish History at Gratz College and  Associate Professor of Modern Jewish History at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. An expert in American Jewish history, Professor Friedman has a particular interest in the history of Jewish Philadelphia. She has authored several prominent works, including “These Are Our Children: Jewish Orphanages in the United States, 1880-1925, has served as a consultant for a curriculum program of the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History at Temple University, and is a member of the Education Committee of the National Museum of American Jewish History.
 
Please join us for what will be a fascinating exploration of the life and work of Lillian Wald, truly “an inspiration for our times.”  Please register below.