Cecila Davidson Razovsky (May 4, 1891 – September 27, 1968) was a Jewish American social worker and activist for immigrants in the US.

Early life

Razovsky was born on May 4, 1891, to immigrant parents Jonas and Minna (Meyerson) Razovsky in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

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. She worked several jobs in order to help support her family including sewing buttons on overalls in a factory at the age of 12 and working as salesgirl, waitress, laundress, stenographer, clerk, and secretary. At the age of 18 she began teaching immigrants at night at the Jewish Educational Alliance in St. Louis.Guide to the Papers of Cecilia Razovsky (1886-1968), undated, 1913-1971. http://digifindingaids.cjh.org/?pID=109184 American Jewish Historical Society. Retrieved May 4, 2014. She was educated at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

(1911), the Corliss School of Law (1912), the St. Louis School of Economics (1913), and the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy (1919). Additionally, she attended graduate classes in sociology at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

.McCune, Mary. "Cecilia Razovsky." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on May 4, 2014) .

Life and career

In 1911, she began working for the St. Louis Board of Education as an attendance officer. In 1917, she moved to

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and became and become an inspector in the child labor division of the United States Children's Bureau. She worked there until 1920. Razovsky become the Executive Secretary 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 ...

in 1921. She served as secretary for the immigrant aid department from 1920 to 1932, and became associate director in 1932. Razovsky represented the NCJW as a delegate to the First World Conference of Jewish Women in Vienna in 1932 where she spoke in immigration restrictions in the United States. Razovsky also worked on immigration issues for a number of other organizations including the National Conference of Social Work from 1926 to 1929, Conference on Immigration Policy in 1928, executive director of the National Coordinating Committee for Aid to Refugees and Emigrants coming from Germany, and executive secretary of German-Jewish Children's Aid in 1934. Razovsky was also involved with many other organizations including the National Conference of Social Work (1926 to 1929), the Conference on Immigration Policy (1928) and the International Conference for Protection of Migrants in Geneva (1929). In 1934, she organized the Coordinating Committee for Refugee Resettlement which would become the

National Refugee Service The National Refugee Service (NRS) was a refugee aid organization founded in New York City on 15 May 1939 to assist refugees from Europe fleeing Nazi persecution. It represented a reorganization of a predecessor organization, the National Coordin ...

in 1939.JTA," Mrs. Cecilia Razovsky Davidson Dead at 77, Aided Immigrants and Refugees", November 6, 1968 Between 1944 and 1948 she worked for the

United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in November 1943, it was dissolved in September 1948. it became part o ...

and the

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City. Since 1914 the organisation has supported Jewish people living in Israel and throughout the world. The organization i ...

. As part of her efforts to study and assist Jewish refugees, Razovsky traveled extensively and established a social service program for refugees in Cuba. She married Dr. Morris Davidson in 1927 and they had one son David L. Davidson. The family lived in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. She died at the age of 77 on September 28, 1968, in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

Works

* ''What every emigrant should know : a simple pamphlet for the guidance and benefit of prospective immigrants to the United States'' (1922) * ''Handicaps in naturalization: a study of the effect of high fees upon the naturalization of aliens in the United States'' (1932) * ''Making Americans'' (1938)

References

External links

Guide to the Papers of Cecilia Razovsky (1886-1968)
at the

American Jewish Historical Society The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) was founded in 1892 with the mission to foster awareness and appreciation of American Jewish history and to serve as a national scholarly resource for research through the collection, preservation an ...

, New York. {{DEFAULTSORT:Razovsky, Cecilia 1890s births 1968 deaths American Jews Washington University in St. Louis alumni People from St. Louis National Council of Jewish Women