Ruth Brown Kahn
Ruth Brown Kahn (June 21, 1902 - April 9, 1987) was an American civic leader in Dallas, Texas. Kahn co-founded the Dallas Jewish Archives, which later became the Dallas Jewish Historical Society or DJHS.[1]
Biography
Kahn was born on June 21, 1902 in St. Louis, Missouri, but grew up near Eufaula in Oklahoma Territory.[1] She graduated from the University of Chicago in 1923 and in that same year, moved to Dallas, where she became involved in local Jewish community organizations.[1] She married Louis J. Hexter, an attorney, in 1923, and together they had two children before they divorced. She married Laurence S. Kahn in 1936. [1]
Kahn and Ginger Chesnick Jacobs were inspired to preserve local Jewish history when the early building of Temple Emanu-El was demolished.[2] The synagogue, destroyed in 1970, was the last remaining Jewish institution in South Dallas.[3] Kahn and Jacobs eventually housed the archives in the Dallas Jewish Community Center in 1978.[3]
Kahn died in Dallas on April 9, 1987.[1]
References
- Biderman, Rose (15 June 2010). "Kahn, Ruth Brown". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- "Who We Are". Dallas Jewish Historical Society. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- Gross, Harriet P. (24 May 2007). "Preserving the Past, Securing the Future". Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth). 61 (21). p. 12. Retrieved 2 June 2016.