Ramsey County Historical Society issued the following announcement.
Immigrant Hannah Leopold Austrian raised her family in St. Paul between 1870 and 1891.They joined the Mount Zion Hebrew Association, and Hannah helped found the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society (HLBS), which provided relief for new Jewish immigrants to the area. When a wave of 200 refugees arrived in the early 1880s, some city council members balked. Mrs. Austrian was having none of it. She, her husband, and Mount Zion Rabbi Dr. Judah Weschler called upon the mayor and governor to require aid beyond what the Jewish community could provide. It was unusual for a woman to take such a public stance, but her determination was recognized. The St. Paul Globe noted, “half the charitable money expended in St. Paul was dispersed” by the women’s organization she helped found.
For more on Hannah Austrian, and the HLBS, see “Tikkun Olam: Jewish Women Serving Their St. Paul Community” by Kate Dietrick, Gabrielle Horner, and Janet Kampf in Ramsey County History, Fall 2021 at https://publishing.rchs.com/…/ramsey-county-history…/
Image: Hannah Austrian on Madeline Island. Courtesy of State Historical Society of Wisconsin and Madeline Island Museum 2001.158.8.2.
Original source can be found here.
