Arlene Hirschfeld (born 1944) is an American community

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

. Since the 1980s, she has served on the board of trustees of numerous Denver and

Colorado state Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

organizations, working in advisory, leadership, and fundraising capacities. The recipient of numerous awards, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2006.

Early life and education

Arlene Friedman was born in 1944 in Denver, Colorado. She earned her B.A. in English from the University of Denver in 1966. From 1966 to 1970, she taught English at the Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver, also serving as an American Field Service sponsor.

Community activism

Hirschfeld became active in local and state organizations and nonprofits on an almost full-time basis beginning in the 1980s. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Denver Art Museum, the MDC Richmond American Homes Foundation, the Children's Diabetes Foundation of Denver, Breathe Better Foundation, the

Mizel Museum Mizel Museum, a Jewish history museum located in Denver, Colorado, is an entity with The Mizel Institute and is a part of Lion Global Foundation. It was founded by Larry Mizel and his wife Carol in 1982. According to Larry, "The museum is really ...

, and the Colorado Governor's Residence Preservation Fund. She is an honorary trustee of the Women's Foundation of Colorado, and an emeritus member of the board of trustees of the

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

. She was the first Jewish president of the Junior League of Denver (1986–1987), and the first woman board chair for the Rose Community Foundation (2006–2008). She also chaired the Allied Jewish Federation (now JewishColorado). As a member of the steering committee of the Dean's Council at Harvard Divinity School, she was involved in raising $1 million to endow one of the five scholars of that university's Women's Studies in Religion Program.

Awards and honors

Hirschfeld has received many awards, including the 1991 Community Service Award from the University of Denver, the 1997 Denver Women of Distinction award from Girl Scouts of Colorado, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the 2002 Rex Morgan Award, the 2003 Colorado Philanthropy Day Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser Award, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Business Social Responsibility Award. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2006. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Metro Volunteers in 2015. She and her husband were the 2018 recipients of the Community Service in the Arts Award from the Bonfils–Stanton Foundation.

Personal life

She married A. Barry Hirschfeld, an MBA graduate of the University of Denver, in 1966. They have two sons. Barry became the owner of A. B. Hirschfeld Press (later known as National Hirschfeld, closed in 2009) founded by his grandfather in 1907, and A. B. Hirschfeld & Sons, a real estate company. In the mid-1970s, the couple purchased Shangri-La, an Denver mansion built by movie theater owner

Harry E. Huffman Harry E. Huffman (1883–1969) was an American movie theater owner and manager. Originally a pharmacist in Denver, Colorado, he began purchasing movie theaters after seeing a motion picture for the first time and foreseeing their potential cultura ...

as a replica of the monastery featured in the 1937 film '' Lost Horizon''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirschfeld, Arlene 1944 births Living people University of Denver alumni Activists from Denver 21st-century American women