Hannah Solomon

Born Hannah Greenebaum in Chicago to a wealthy family, the social reformer and women’s leader Hannah Solomon studied in both Jewish and public schools and was a member of the Reform congregation Temple Sinai. In 1893, she was instrumental in establishing the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), which she modeled on the Chicago Woman’s Club, of which she and her sister were the first Jewish members. Solomon served as the president of NCJW (1893–1905), which by 1896 had fifty local branches and more than four thousand members. Envisioning one of its central tasks as improving the Jewish education of Jewish wives and mothers so that they could better transmit Jewish tradition in the home, the NCJW also carried out aid work in the rapidly expanding Jewish immigrant population. After leaving NJCW, Solomon devoted herself to other charities and endeavors, including the Illinois Industrial School for Girls.