In 1893,
Hannah G. Solomon of
Chicago was asked to organize the participation of
Jewish women for the
Chicago World's Fair. When Solomon and her recruits discovered that they were not invited to contribute to the proceedings but were instead expected to serve coffee and act as hostesses, they withdrew. In response, the women sought to form an organization that would strengthen women's connection to
Judaism and pursue a wide-ranging social justice agenda. That agenda included advocating for women's and children's rights, assisting Jewish immigrants, advancing social welfare, defending
Jews and
Judaism, advancing Jewish identity, and generally incorporating
Jewish values into their work. According to Faith Rogow, author of
Gone to Another Meeting: The National Council of Jewish Women (1893–1993), "NCJW was the offspring of the economic and social success achieved by German Jewish immigrants in the United States. As this community of German Jews matured and stabilized, it faced the same challenge to gender role definitions that had accompanied the
Jacksonian Democracy a half-century earlier." (Rogow 1995:2) Initially, NCJW focused on educating Jewish women and helping Jewish immigrants become self-sufficient through adult study circles, vocational training, school health programs, and free community health dispensaries.
20th century In the early 1900s, NCJW began to respond to wider needs within its community, working closely with the
settlement movement to help the economically disadvantaged and independently advocating for social legislation on
low-income housing,
child labor,
public health, and food and drug regulations. Promoting
civil rights, NCJW also argued for a federal anti-lynching law in 1908. During
World War I, NCJW raised funds for war relief in Europe and Russia and advocated for the
Nineteenth Amendment. In the 1920s, NCJW was involved in founding the first ten birth control clinics in the U.S., which later became
Planned Parenthood health centers. As the
Depression began, NCJW became involved in government programs to provide relief and help the unemployed find jobs while continuing its legislative efforts for social legislation. During the 1940s, NCJW called for an end to segregation and racial discrimination.
World War II saw NCJW engage in rescuing Jewish children from Germany and working to reunite thousands of displaced persons with family members, as well as a broad range of other relief efforts. During
World War II, NCJW engaged in rescuing Jewish children from Germany and working to reunite thousands of displaced persons with family members, as well as a broad range of other relief efforts. After the war, NCJW fought to preserve civil liberties during the
McCarthy era. It also helped develop the
Meals on Wheels program for the elderly and pioneered the Senior Service Corps to help seniors lead productive lives as volunteers. After calling for an end to segregation and racial discrimination in the 1940s, the organization joined the emerging civil rights movement and participated in the drive to enact and promote civil rights programs addressing issues on prejudice, voting rights, and economic inequality in the 1960s. During this time, NCJW also involved itself in the revitalized
women's movement. In the 1970s, NCJW published a series of documents, including:
Windows on Day Care, the first nationwide survey of day care facilities and services;
Children Without Justice, a study of the
US Justice Department's work with foster children; and
Innocent Victims, a comprehensive manual on child abuse detection and prevention. In 1993, NCJW led a letter-writing campaign to have several
racial slurs removed from the
Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, including the definition of the word "Jew," which was listed as a verb defined as "To bargain with - an offensive term." Amid accusations of
censorship,
Hasbro eventually announced a compromise:: the
Official Scrabble Players Dictionary would exclude several offensive words, and the
Official Tournament and Club Word List, which does not include definitions, would include them.
21st century In 2020, NCJW launched Rabbis for Repro, an organization of rabbis supporting
reproductive rights. In 2021, the DC chapter of the
Sunrise Movement called for the removal of NCJW, the
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and the
Jewish Council for Public Affairs from a voting rights coalition due to their ties to Israel and Zionism. Sunrise later apologized and retracted the statement after criticism from Jewish and Non-Jewish organizations.
Audio interviews The
University of Pittsburgh houses a collection of audio interviews produced by NCJW. Over one hundred audio interviews produced by the Pittsburgh Chapter of NCJW are available online. Those interviewed describe their interactions and affiliations with historical events such as emigration, synagogue events, and professional activities. These interviews also include information about personal life events, episodes of discrimination against Jews, moving from Europe to America, and meeting
Enrico Caruso,
Robert Oppenheimer,
Jonas Salk and other historical figures. Others who were interviewed came to America but were born elsewhere, with Jews from Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Hungary, India, Israel, Korea, Poland, and other countries describing their experiences. ==Council presidents==