Bullets, Bandages, and Making WAVES: Jewish Women in WWII New Haven
2025-03-02 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Ave, New Haven, CT
The New Haven Museum (NHM) will highlight the resilience, courage, and ingenuity of local Jewish women during World War II in the Third Annual Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program, “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 Facebook Live. In the case of inclement weather, the event will be recorded and aired on YouTube and social media.
Register here: http://www.simpletix.com/…/bullets-bandages-and-making…
Presented by the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven (JHSGNH), the program will share clips of recorded oral histories and historical documents capturing the challenges and triumphs of life in WWII, which ended 80 years ago, in 1945. From running a family business to managing home-front challenges, to serving in the Navy’s WAVES or making bullet shells reminiscent of “Rosie the Riveter,” their stories illustrate the ways American women in the Elm City contributed to the war effort.
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), Edith Londer Gillman (1924-2018), and Laura Small Levine (1919-2016). Jennifer Klein, 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 invite attendees to reflect and consider how history shapes our current values and societal norms. Visitors will discover the new roles women accepted 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.”
Michael Dimenstein, President of the JHSGNH, notes how fitting the topic is for the Schiff Women’s History Program. “In the third year of this program, the ingenuity and drive of these women during WWII aptly reflects Judy Schiff’s resourcefulness, determination, and belief in the importance of preserving and sharing our collective history.”
Selected photographs, publications, and objects related to the presentation were curated by Nicole Zador, managing archivist at the JHSGNH, and will be on view in the Community Case in the Museum’s rotunda throughout March 2025.

Jewish Voices of Grove Street: A Guided Cemetery Tour
2025-05-21 16:00 - 17:30 | Grove Street Cemetery, 227 Grove St, New Haven, CT, 06511, United States
Join us on Wednesday, May 21 at 4:00 pm for this roughly 90-minute tour of the Grove Street Cemetery, America’s first chartered cemetery. We will cover the history of the cemetery itself, including its architecture and innovative layout, as well as the history of some of the known and lesser-known Jewish residents, including remarkable pioneers, scholars, philanthropists, and community leaders who shaped the city and beyond. Whether you’re a history enthusiast, a member of the local Jewish community, or curious about New Haven’s diverse heritage, this tour offers a unique and meaningful way to connect with the past.

The total walking distance for the cemetery tour will be approximately a mile, so please wear comfortable shoes! Light refreshments will be provided.

Register and learn more here!

2025 Annual Awards Celebration: Honoring Chapel Haven Schleifer Center
2025-10-19 11:00 - 13:30 | JCC of Greater New Haven, 360 Amity Rd, Woodbridge, CT, 06525, United States
The Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven invites you to our Annual Awards Celebration, where we recognize members of the local Jewish community who are shaping history through their work, volunteerism, and philanthropy.
This year, we are proud to honor not an individual, but an organization: the Chapel Haven Schleifer Center. An award-winning, nationally accredited school and transition program serving adults of all abilities, Chapel Haven was co-founded by Jerry Rossman and Sydney Krass as “a place where our kids could live and learn their independence.” Since then, it has grown into a vibrant community that continues to enrich lives every single day.
Join us on Sunday, October 19, from 11:00 AM – 1:30 PM at the JCC of Greater New Haven to celebrate Chapel Haven, its residents, and its devoted staff. The program includes a catered brunch, musical performance, material from our archives, and tributes from a few of the many people this organization has affected.

Meeting the Moment Session 1: Empathy is Not Endorsement
2026-01-11 09:30 - 11:45 | Congregation B’nai Jacob, 75 Rimmon Rd, Woodbridge, CT, 06525, United States
What I learned from researching and writing Some Kind of Hate – An Intergenerational book talk.

Location: Congregation B’nai Jacob, Woodbridge

Speaker: Sarah Darer Littman, journalist and author of award-winning young adult fiction.

Full Series: $36 | Individual Sessions: $18
Covers admission for up to 2 household members – Light refreshments will be served

This is the first session of Meeting the Moment: What the Jewish Past Teaches About the Future. Explore the depths of American Jewish history and connect with the stories that shape our times. In a period that has tested our community’s resilience, it’s important to come together to understand the influences that impact our lives. Our community stands at a crucial point, considering our identity, beliefs, and sense of security. “Meeting the Moment” is a thoughtful space for engaging conversations, expert perspectives, and finding a way forward.
Register Here!
Sponsored by Congregation Mishkan Israel, Temple Beth Sholom, Congregation B’nai Jacob, Congregation Or Shalom, and the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven

2026 Judith Ann Schiff Women's History Program Film Series: Made in L.A.
2026-01-31 19:00 - 21:00 | Temple Beth Sholom, 1809 Whitney Ave, Hamden, CT, 06517, United States
Saturday, January 31 (snow date Saturday, February 7) 7-9 PM,
Temple Beth Sholom, 1809 Whitney Avenue
Made in L.A. 2008 News and Documentary Emmy Award, Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story. The film focuses on three Latina women who work in Los Angeles sweatshops and are denied minimum wages and overtime pay, enduring long hours in poor conditions. It chronicles their three-year journey, from a lawsuit against Forever 21 to a community-supported boycott and settlement.
Register Here
Each screening in this winter film series portrays some of the amazing women who have and continue to fight for workers’ rights, and raises the issues faced by women as clerical workers, factory workers, and teachers from around the nation. It serves as a prelude to 4th Annual Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program, A Wonderful Struggle, on March 1, 2026, 2:00 pm, at the New Haven Museum, which will focus on local Jewish women involved in labor organizing and unions.
Presented by The Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven, The New Haven Museum, Hilton C. Buley Library of Southern Connecticut State University, Whitney Center, and the Ethnic Heritage Center.
This film series is sponsored by the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven.

2026 Judith Ann Schiff Women's History Program Film Series: When We Fight
2026-02-01 14:30 - 16:00 | Buley Library, SCSU, 377 Fitch St, New Haven, CT, 06515
Sunday, February 1 at 2:30-4 PM
Buley Library at SCSU, 377 Fitch Street, New Haven, CT, Ground Floor/Lower Level (Park at 377 Fitch Street lot, behind the Library)
When We Fight, Award Winning documentary about the 2019 teacher’s strike in Los Angeles, (38 minutes) followed by a discussion of the issues and results, led by a panel of local educators, including a former New Haven Public School Teacher, Helene Sapadin, current NHPS high school teacher Rayna Walters, who is also an SCSU EdD student, and Gladys Labas. Associate Professor. Educational Leadership & Policy at SCSU. Registration not required.
Register Here
Each screening in this winter film series portrays some of the amazing women who have and continue to fight for workers’ rights, and raises the issues faced by women as clerical workers, factory workers, and teachers from around the nation. It serves as a prelude to the 4th Annual Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program, A Wonderful Struggle, on March 1, 2026, 2:00 pm, at the New Haven Museum, which will focus on local Jewish women involved in labor organizing and unions.
Presented by The Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven, The New Haven Museum, Hilton C. Buley Library of Southern Connecticut State University, Whitney Center, and the Ethnic Heritage Center.
This film series is sponsored by the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven.

2026 Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program Film Series: 9to5 -- The Story of a Movement, New Haven Museum
2026-02-07 14:00 - 16:30 | New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Ave, New Haven, CT
Saturday February 7, 2:30 PM
New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT
9to5—The Story of a Movement is a documentary about the real-life 1970s Boston office workers who formed the 9to5 organization to fight for better, promotion opportunities, and an end to sexual harassment, inspiring the hit song and movie 9 to 5. It chronicles how these women merged the women’s movement with the labor movement, bringing critical issues like equal pay, family leave, and harassment to the national stage, a fight whose impact on workplace equality continues today.
Ellen Cassedy, a founder of the 9to5 movement in the 1970s featured in the film, will join us for introductory comments and a discussion following the screening.
Register Here
Each screening in this winter film series portrays some of the amazing women who have and continue to fight for workers’ rights, and raises the issues faced by women as clerical workers, factory workers, and teachers from around the nation. It serves as a prelude to the 4th Annual Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program, A Wonderful Struggle, on March 1, 2026, 2:00 pm, at the New Haven Museum, which will focus on local Jewish women involved in labor organizing and unions.
Presented by The Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven, The New Haven Museum, Hilton C. Buley Library of Southern Connecticut State University, Whitney Center, and the Ethnic Heritage Center.
This film series is sponsored by the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven.

2026 Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program Film Series: 9to5 -- The Story of a Movement, Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel
2026-02-08 10:00 - 12:00 | Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel, 81 Harrison St, New Haven, CT, 06515
Sunday, February 8 (snow date Sunday, February 22), 10AM – 12 noon
Congregation Beth El Keser Israel, 81 Harrison Street, New Haven, CT
9to5—The Story of a Movement is a documentary about the real-life 1970s Boston office workers who formed the 9to5 organization to fight for better promotion opportunities and an end to sexual harassment, inspiring the hit song and movie 9 to 5. It chronicles how these women merged the women’s movement with the labor movement, bringing critical issues like equal pay, family leave, and harassment to the national stage, a fight whose impact on workplace equality continues today.
Discussion following the film with several of the BEKI members involved in planning the March 1st program at the New Haven Museum, including Rhoda Zahler Samuel, Susan Voigt, Helene Sapadin, Carole Bass, and Nicole Zador. Co-sponsored by the BEKI Sisterhood.
Register Here
Each screening in this winter film series portrays some of the amazing women who have and continue to fight for workers’ rights, and raises the issues faced by women as clerical workers, factory workers, and teachers from around the nation. It serves as a prelude to the 4th Annual Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program, A Wonderful Struggle, on March 1, 2026, 2:00 pm, at the New Haven Museum, which will focus on local Jewish women involved in labor organizing and unions.
Presented by The Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven, The New Haven Museum, Hilton C. Buley Library of Southern Connecticut State University, Whitney Center, and the Ethnic Heritage Center.
This film series is sponsored by the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven.

Meeting the Moment Session 2: Why Not Give Palestine Back (To The Jews) Again
2026-02-15 09:30 - 11:45 | Temple Beth Sholom, 1809 Whitney Ave, Hamden, CT, 06517, United States
A History of Christian Zionism and What it Means to Israel’s Future
Location: Temple Beth Sholom, Hamden
Speaker: Rabbi Dan Judson
Provost, Hebrew College, Newton, MA

Full Series: $36 | Individual Sessions: $18
Covers admission for up to 2 household members – Light refreshments will be served

This is the second session of Meeting the Moment: What the Jewish Past Teaches About the Future. Explore the depths of American Jewish history and connect with the stories that shape our times. In a period that has tested our community’s resilience, it’s important to come together to understand the influences that impact our lives. Our community stands at a crucial point, considering our identity, beliefs, and sense of security. “Meeting the Moment” is a thoughtful space for engaging conversations, expert perspectives, and finding a way forward.
Register Here!
Sponsored by Congregation Mishkan Israel, Temple Beth Sholom, Congregation B’nai Jacob, Congregation Or Shalom, and the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven

2026 Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program Film Series: Norma Rae
2026-02-21 19:30 - 21:00 | Whitney Center, 200 Leeder Hill Dr., Hamden, CT, 06517
Saturday February 21 at 7:30 PM
Whitney Center, 200 Leeder Hill Drive, Hamden, CT (Park in South parking lot, Visitor Parking spaces)
Norma Rae is a 1979 film about a southern textile worker, played by Sally Field, who becomes a labor union organizer after meeting a New York union organizer, played by Ron Leibman. The film follows her journey from a single mother working in a mill with poor conditions to becoming a key figure in a hard-fought struggle to unionize her factory, ultimately changing her life and gaining the support of her co-workers. The movie was released in 1979 and is based on the true story of Crystal Lee Sutton. In 1978 Sutton was fired after trying to unionize employees at the J.P. Stevens textile mills in North Carolina. Shortly after, on August 28, 1978, Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) began to represent workers at the plant.
Register Here
Each screening in this winter film series portrays some of the amazing women who have and continue to fight for workers’ rights, and raises the issues faced by women as clerical workers, factory workers, and teachers from around the nation. It serves as a prelude to the 4th Annual Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program, A Wonderful Struggle, on March 1, 2026, 2:00 pm, at the New Haven Museum, which will focus on local Jewish women involved in labor organizing and unions.
Presented by The Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven, The New Haven Museum, Hilton C. Buley Library of Southern Connecticut State University, Whitney Center, and the Ethnic Heritage Center.
This film series is sponsored by the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven.

A Wonderful Struggle: New Haven Jewish Women in the Labor Movement
2026-03-01 14:00 - 16:00 | New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Ave, New Haven, CT
Teachers. Social workers. Secretaries. When we think of women in the labor movement, these occupations may not come to mind. Yet in New Haven and elsewhere, women in white-collar and “pink-collar” jobs broke new ground in the 1970s and ’80s by organizing and demanding labor rights. The New Haven Museum (NHM) and Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven (JHSGNH) will present the stories of Jewish women in New Haven who fought for labor rights during the 20th century during the Fourth Annual Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Program, “A Wonderful Struggle: Local Jewish Women in the Labor Movement,” on Sunday, March 1, 2026, at 2 p.m. Also streaming on Facebook Live. In the case of inclement weather, the event will be recorded for social media.
In the words of Edie Bartman Fishman, who was active in unions ranging from electrical workers to teachers: “Life is a struggle. But it’s a wonderful struggle when you’re fighting for the right things.” Jewish women fought to improve working conditions and pay in Connecticut for more than a century. Some of the women highlighted in the “A Wonderful Struggle” program won landmark victories in fields traditionally considered women’s work. Their stories still reverberate today, as the United States commemorates its 250th birthday and the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven its 50th.
In “A Wonderful Struggle: Local Jewish Women in the Labor Movement,” we will hear in person and on video from women who participated in the massive New Haven teachers strike of 1975 and in the historic victories of Yale University clerical and technical workers in 1983-84. They will describe the issues that motivated them to join the “wonderful struggle,” the difficulties they encountered, what helped them succeed, the results that followed the strikes and creation of new unions, and the ways these activities influenced their future work experiences.
In addition, the Nu Haven Kapelye Allstars—Cynthia Astmann, Dana Astmann, and Hedda Rubenstein—will perform traditional workers’ songs in both Yiddish and English.
A collection of items relating to the women highlighted in the program and their work environments will be featured in the Community Case in the New Haven Museum rotunda during the month of March.
A companion film series, the 2026 Judith Ann Schiff Women’s History Film Series, will take place at various locations in the Elm City. On Saturday, February 7, 2026, at 2 p.m., New Haven Museum will host a screening of the documentary “9 to 5: The Story of a Movement.” Attendance is free with paid museum admission. Register here. View the full film-series schedule here).
Michael Dimenstein, co-president of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven, notes that many JHSGNH members have been involved in labor issues in their respective careers. “As long-term residents of New Haven, they are aware of the local labor issues, strikes, results, and work remaining to be done, and we are happy to share this important discussion with the public.”

Meeting the Moment Session 3: When Moses Met Washington
2026-03-15 09:30 - 11:45 | Congregation Mishkan Israel, 785 Ridge Rd, Hamden, CT, 06517, United States
250 Years of Engagement: With rising antisemitism and intense political divides, let’s explore historical moments of engagement
Location: Congregation Mishkan Israel
Speaker: Rabbi Charles Savenor
Executive Director, Civic Spirit
Full Series: $36 | Individual Sessions: $18
Covers admission for up to 2 household members – Light refreshments will be served

This is the third session of Meeting the Moment: What the Jewish Past Teaches About the Future. Explore the depths of American Jewish history and connect with the stories that shape our times. In a period that has tested our community’s resilience, it’s important to come together to understand the influences that impact our lives. Our community stands at a crucial point, considering our identity, beliefs, and sense of security. “Meeting the Moment” is a thoughtful space for engaging conversations, expert perspectives, and finding a way forward.
Register Here!
Sponsored by Congregation Mishkan Israel, Temple Beth Sholom, Congregation B’nai Jacob, Congregation Or Shalom, and the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven

Meeting the Moment Session 4: "Concealed"
2026-03-22 09:30 - 11:45 | Congregation Or Shalom, 205 Old Grassy Hill Rd, Orange, CT, 06477
An American-born daughter’s memoir of her Iranian-Jewish parents’ experience emigrating to the U.S. from the Iranian city of Mashhad.
Location: Congregation Or Shalom
Speaker: Esther Amini, author, painter, and psychoanalytic psychotherapist
Full Series: $36 | Individual Sessions: $18
Covers admission for up to 2 household members – Light refreshments will be served

This is the fourth and final session of Meeting the Moment: What the Jewish Past Teaches About the Future. Explore the depths of American Jewish history and connect with the stories that shape our times. In a period that has tested our community’s resilience, it’s important to come together to understand the influences that impact our lives. Our community stands at a crucial point, considering our identity, beliefs, and sense of security. “Meeting the Moment” is a thoughtful space for engaging conversations, expert perspectives, and finding a way forward.
Register Here!

Sponsored by Congregation Mishkan Israel, Temple Beth Sholom, Congregation B’nai Jacob, Congregation Or Shalom, and the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven
