Pauline Perlmutter Steinem (August 4, 1864 — January 5, 1940) was a

Jewish American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

born in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. In 1904, she became the first woman to be elected to the Board of Education in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, as well as to any public office there, thereby becoming in all likelihood, the first Jewish woman, and definitely one of the earliest to hold, elected public office in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She rescued many members of her family from the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. She was also the grandmother of feminist

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...

Early life

Pauline Perlmutter was born in Radziejow,

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

(now located in

) in 1864 (according to her tombstone; some sources give 1863 or 1866 as the year), the daughter of

Reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous rev ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

emigrants Hayman Hirsch Perlmutter, a

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

, and Bertha Slisower Perlmutter. She was raised in Bavaria, attending a teacher training program there.Gloria Steinem
"Pauline Perlmutter Steinem"
''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia'' (March 2009).

Career

In 1914, Pauline Perlmutter Steinem wrote:

"People say: 'Women cannot succeed in certain fields.' How do we know what women can do, when we have never yet allowed them to try? No man knows what woman would do, if she were free to develop the powers latent within her, nor does she herself know as yet."

In education

Steinem moved to the

US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

as a young wife and mother. Her teacher training in Bavaria informed a lifetime of activism for education. She was the first woman to serve on the Toledo Board of Education; when she was elected in 1904, she became the first woman to hold public office in Toledo, and possibly the first Jewish woman to hold elected public office in the United States. She was elected on a coalition ticket along with

socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

and

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or hierarchy, primarily targeting the state and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state w ...

. She founded a public vocational school, the Macomber Vocational High School,Patricia Cronin Marcello
''Gloria Steinem: A Biography''
(Greenwood Publishing 2004): 3-5. and she worked for

juvenile court Juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal systems, chi ...

reform in Ohio. She was also appointed to the

board of trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

for the Toledo Public Library.

In Jewish organizations

She served as the chair of the Toledo chapter 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, the NCJW describes itself as the oldest Jewish women's grassroots organization organization in the USA and currently has over 225,000 members. ...

, and was national chair of that organization's Sabbath School committee. She was also president of the Hebrew Associated Charities and Loan Association, a mutual aid society. Although Steinem identified as Jewish, she also followed

Theosophy Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...

."Pauline Steinem Opts for Women's Suffrage and Theosophy"
in Jacob Rader Marcus, ed., ''The American Jewish Woman: A Documentary History'' (KTAV Publishing House 1981): 700. Steinem identified as a universalist rather than a

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

In women's suffrage

As an active member of the

National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National Woma ...

(NAWSA), she was a chairwoman of their educational committee and a delegate to the International Council of Women, held in Switzerland in 1908. She was head of the Ohio Woman's Suffrage Association from 1908 to 1911, and president of Toledo Council of Women, as well as president of the Toledo Federation of Women's Clubs.

Personal life

In 1884, Pauline Perlmutter married Joseph Steinem, a German-born businessman who was living in

. They had four sons together, Edgar, Jesse, Clarence, and Leo; Edgar was born in Germany in 1885; the younger three sons were born in Ohio. She was widowed when Joseph died in 1929. Pauline Perlmutter Steinem died in 1940, aged 75 years, in Toledo. Her son, Leo Steinem, was the father of American feminist

, and of lawyer and gem expert Susanne Steinem Patch.Barbara Gamarekian
"Gloria's Big Sister Her Own Kind of Activist"
''Tampa Tribune'' (March 12, 1978): 95. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinem, Pauline Perlmutter 1864 births 1940 deaths American people of German-Jewish descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American Reform Jews Suffragists from Ohio American Theosophists American women educators Educators from Ohio German Reform Jews Jewish socialists People from Toledo, Ohio Polish Reform Jews Prussian emigrants to the United States Reform anti-Zionists Reform Jewish feminists National American Woman Suffrage Association activists Jewish suffragists