Jennie Mannheimer (January 9, 1872 – May 26, 1943), also known professionally as Jane Manner, was an American

elocutionist Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...

, acting coach, and teacher of speech and drama.

Early life

Mannheimer was born in New York City, the daughter of

Louise Herschman Mannheimer Louise Herschman Mannheimer (3 September 1845 - December 17, 1920) was a Czech-American Jewish author, poet, school founder, and inventor. Mannheimer was the founder of the Cincinnati Jewish Industrial School for Boys. She held patents for severa ...

and Sigmund Mannheimer. Her mother was a writer, translator, and inventor born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, and her German-born father was a professor and librarian at

Hebrew Union College Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. Both of her brothers became

rabbis A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

. Mannheimer was one of the first two women to earn a bachelor's degree in Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College, in 1888;''A Finding Aid to the Jennie Mannheimer (Jane Manner) Papers''
American Jewish Archives. she also earned degree from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

, in 1892."Jane Manner Dies; Dramatic Reader"
''New York Times'' (May 28, 1943): 21.

Career

Mannheimer was director of the drama department at the Cincinnati College of Music from 1900 until 1907. She also ran her own school, the Cincinnati School of Expression (1894-1912). In 1914, she went traveling in Europe with her brother, only to encounter difficulty as the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

began. Her letters home to Cincinnati were quoted in the newspaper as first-hand accounts of the volatile situation. Mannheimer moved to New York, where she performed dramatic readings, including at a Red Cross benefit during World War I. She opened the Jane Manner Studio to teach acting. She also wrote several texts on the topic, including ''The Silver Treasury of Prose and Verse for Every Mood'' (1934), and the ''Junior Silver Treasury'' (1938). She was founder of the Drama Recital Club, and a member of the New York Drama League, the New York League of American Pen Women, the

Council of Jewish Women A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

, and the Temple Emmanu-El Women's Auxiliary."Jennie Mannheimer" in Julius Schwartz, Solomon Aaron Kaye, John Simons, eds.
''Who's Who in American Jewry''
(Jewish Biographical Bureau 1926): 412.

Personal life

Mannheimer died in 1943, aged 71 years. Her papers were donated to the

American Jewish Archives The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, founded in 1947, is committed to preserving a documentary heritage of the religious, organizational, economic, cultural, personal, social and family life of American Jewry. It has bec ...

by her sister Edna B. Manner in the 1960s.

References

External links

* Marion Wilson Kimber,
The Elocutionists: Women, Music, and the Spoken Word
' (University of Illinois Press 2017). {{DEFAULTSORT:Mannheimer, Jennie American educators American women in World War I Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion alumni 1872 births 1943 deaths 20th-century American people