Dorah Sterne
Dorah Sterne | |
|---|---|
 Dorah Sterne, from the 1919 yearbook of Smith College | |
| Born | Dorah Heyman 1896 Atlanta, Georgia |
| Died | April 9, 1994 Birmingham, Alabama |
| Occupation(s) | Civic leader, philanthropist, clubwoman |
| Spouse | Mervyn H. Sterne |
Dorah Sterne (1896 – April 9, 1994), born Dorah Heyman, was an American clubwoman and philanthropist.
Early life
[edit]Dorah Heyman was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of Arthur Heyman and Minna Simon Heyman. Both of her parents were born in the American South. Her father was a lawyer.[1] She graduated from Smith College in 1919.[2]
Career
[edit]In Birmingham, Alabama after she married, Sterne was involved with the League of Women Voters, and the Birmingham Little Theater.[3] She served as commissioner of the Birmingham Girl Scout Council,[4] president of the Birmingham branch of the American Association of University Women,[5][6] and president of the Birmingham chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women.[1] During World War II, the Sternes sponsored families of German Jewish refugees, and helped them settle in Alabama.[7][8] The Sternes' philanthropic interests extended to libraries, museums, hospitals, mental health, and civil rights in Birmingham.[9] Dorah Sterne took particular interest in prison reform, serving on the 1948 Prison Investigating Committee,[10] and arranging for radios for women prisoners.[11]
Sterne gave an oral history interview to the Birmingham Public Library in 1985.[2] That same year, she was presented with the Smith College Medal, as a distinguished alumna.[12]
Personal life
[edit]In 1922,[13] Dorah Heyman married banker Mervyn Hayden Sterne (1892–1973).[9] They had one daughter, also named Dorah, called Dody (1933–1998).[14] Dorah Sterne died in 1994, aged 98 years. The Sterne Family Papers are at the University of Alabama Birmingham Archives.[15]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Sandra Berman, interviewer. Lyons Joel Heyman[permanent dead link] (2001), oral history interview for the Jewish Oral History Project of Atlanta.
- ^ a b Hazel Olshan, interviewer; Dorah Sterne (January 10, 1985), Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections.
- ^ "Birmingham Little Theater's Play Contest". The Montgomery Advertiser. 1929-11-21. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-11-16 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Objectives for 1932 Pointed Out by Mrs. Sterne". The Birmingham News. 1932-01-03. p. 31. Retrieved 2020-11-16 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "University Women Slate Luncheon". The Birmingham News. 1938-09-23. p. 27. Retrieved 2020-11-16 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Hill, Miriam Gann (1954-08-04). "AAUW to Have Busy Year; Social Work to be Stressed". The Birmingham News. p. 23. Retrieved 2020-11-16 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Kohn, Ernest Ferdinand Markus". Birmingham Holocaust Education Center. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ Elovitz, Mark H. (2003-03-27). A Century of Jewish Life In Dixie: The Birmingham Experience. University of Alabama Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-8173-5021-5.
- ^ a b Olive, J. Fred III. "Mervyn H. Sterne". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ Sparrow, Hugh W. (1954-01-27). "State Penal System has 'Grown Up'". The Birmingham News. p. 24. Retrieved 2020-11-16 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Sun Shines Through These Prison Bars". The Birmingham News. 1949-11-30. p. 12. Retrieved 2020-11-16 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "About Smith - Smith History - Smith College Medalists". Smith College. Retrieved 2020-11-16.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Mr. Sterne Engaged to Miss Dorah Heyman". The Anniston Star. 1922-09-26. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-11-16 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dorah A. Sterne is Wed in South; Married to Lawrence Rosen, Washington and Jefferson Alumnus, in Birmingham". The New York Times. 1957-09-08. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ Mervyn H. Sterne and Sterne Family Papers, UAB Archives.
External links
[edit]- Levy, Cynthia Betty. "You Can't Imagine This Life: Diaries and Letters of a Southern-Jewish Grande Dame, Josephine Joel Heyman, 1901-1993" (PhD. diss., Louisiana State University 1999). About Dorah Sterne's sister-in-law, Josephine Joel Heyman.
- 1896 births
- 1994 deaths
- People from Atlanta
- People from Birmingham, Alabama
- Smith College alumni
- Jewish women philanthropists
- American anti-poll tax activists
- Activists from Georgia (U.S. state)
- Activists from Alabama
- Philanthropists from Georgia (U.S. state)
- Philanthropists from Alabama
- 20th-century American philanthropists
- 20th-century American women philanthropists
- Jewish women activists