Marion Louise Simon Misch (May 13, 1869 – January 18, 1941) was an American activist, teacher, writer, and businesswoman in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. She served as president of the

National Council of Jewish Women The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. Founded in 1893, NCJW is self-described as the oldest Jewish women’s grassroots organization in the United States, now comprised by over 180,000 members. As of ...

(1908-1913) and president of the

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

State Federation of Women's Clubs. She founded the Providence Plantation Club and co-founded the Providence section of the National Council of Jewish Women.

Early life

She was born in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

(some sources say

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

, attending public school there. When she was 14, she organized and taught the first

Sabbath School Sabbath School is a function of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Seventh Day Baptist, Church of God (Seventh-Day), some other sabbatarian denominations, usually comprising a song service and Bible study lesson on the Sabbath. It is usually held b ...

in Pittsfield. She later trained to be a schoolteacher. In 1890 she married Caesar Misch (1857-1908), a native of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. After ten years in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, the couple moved to

, where Misch opened his first department store. His holdings would expand to ten department stores throughout

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. After his unexpected death in 1908, Marion became the only female owner of a department store in Providence.

Activities

In 1905, she helped found the Providence section of the National Council of Jewish Women, serving as its first president, and in 1908 was appointed third president of the

, a position she held for five years. She also served as president of various charitable societies. She was a member of the board of directors of the Providence Society for Organizing Charity, a member of the board of managers of the Providence District Nursing Association, and a member of the Sex Hygiene Committee of the

State Conference of Charities. Her activism extended to both Jewish and non-Jewish activities in Providence. She was a member of the Providence school board from 1925 to 1939, supervising the expansion of

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

in city schools. In 1921 she became the first Jewish president of the Rhode Island Federation of Women's Clubs. She was also vice president of the Providence Civic and Park Association, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Music Clubs, director of the Providence Association for the Blind, and founder of the Providence Plantation Club. Misch was the first female member of the Providence Playground Committee, having been appointed by both Republican and Democratic mayors, and having entire charge of purchasing all the supplies. She served as Chairman of the North End Free Dispensary, which she organized under auspices of the Providence Section, Council of Jewish Women.

Works

Misch co-wrote a ''Children's Service for the Day of Atonement'' (Fox and Saunders, 1907) and compiled ''Selections for Homes and Schools'' (

Jewish Publication Society The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskop ...

, 1911). She also penned newspaper articles on Jewish topics and on white slave traffic, and wrote Jewish prose and poetry. She spoke extensively on music, education, women's issues, and Jewish issues on her lecture tours in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, India, and Australia.

Personal

Marion and her husband Caesar Misch had one son, Walter (1891-1957), and one daughter, Dorothy Louise (1896-1918). While she and her family were not religious, she harbored an affinity for

cultural Judaism Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jewi ...

throughout her life. She and her husband joined Temple Beth El of Providence, where their son was

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

. She was one of the first presidents of the Temple Beth El Sisterhood, and often spoke on Jewish topics for the National Council of Jewish Women and other groups. She died on January 18, 1941, in Providence, aged 71. She was buried in the Sons of Israel and David Cemetery.

References

Bibliography

External links

Marion Simon Misch
at Jewish Women's Archive

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', January 20, 1941, obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Misch, Marion Simon 1869 births 1941 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers Activists from Allentown, Pennsylvania American activists American Jews Businesspeople from Allentown, Pennsylvania Organization founders Presidents of the National Council of Jewish Women Women founders Writers from Allentown, Pennsylvania Writers from Providence, Rhode Island