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Maud Nathan: Social Worker and Suffragist by Seymour "Sy" Brody Maud Nathan was an outspoken advocate for better working conditionsfor women and for the right of women to vote. She is perhaps knownbest for her leadership and work as the president of the Consumers'League of New York. She was born on October 20, 1862, in New York City, the first daughterof Annie Augusta and Robert Weeks Nathan. Her parents were descendantsfrom one of the most distinguished Sephardic Jew- ish families in theUnited States. She was a first cousin of Emma Lazarus and SupremeCourt Justice Benjamin Cardozo. Her sister, Annie Nathan Meyer, was anauthor and the founder of Bamard College. When Maud was seventeen, she married her first cousin, FrederickNathan, who was a successful broker in his mid-thirties. They had adaughter, who died when she was eight years old. She became involvedin charitable activities. She joined the board of directors of theHebrew Free School Association, where she taught English to the Jewishimmigrants. Her many activities brought her in contact with Josephine Shaw Lowell,who interested her in helping to improve the working conditions of theNew York shop-girls. In 1890 with other women, they formed theConsumers' League of New York. The league's goal was to better theworking conditions of women retail clerks. Nathan investigated the working conditions of women in retail storesand discovered that they worked sixty hours a week for two to threedollars. She was appalled by the filth in the stores, hidden from thecustomers, and found that there was sexual harassment on the job. In 1897, she became the league's president, a position that she heldfor twenty-one years. Under her leadership, the league publicized thedeplorable working conditions in the retail stores and factories. Theycreated a "white list" which named the stores and factories that metthe league standards for wages and conditions and urged the public topatronize them. Nathan realized that lobbying in Albany was fruitless as women did notvote and they did not have any clout over the legislatures. Shestarted to devote more time for the right for women to vote. Shejoined the Equal Suffrage League of New York. Her brothers and sisterwere against women's suffrage and even her cousin, Benjamin NathanCardozo, the supreme court justice had second thoughts about it. Shewas almost sixty when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified givingwomen the right to vote. She and her husband attended Shearith Israel Synagogue and she wasactive in the National Council of Jewish Women. She believed inliberal religion and loved Judaism for its universal truths. In 1897, she was invited by Temple Beth-El to read a paper on "TheHeart of Judaism" in place of the sermon. This was the first time thata woman had played such an active role in an American Jewish serviceof worship. Maud Nathan was eighty-four when she died on December 15, 1946. Shededicated her life to help women work under decent conditions for afair wage and to help women obtain the right to vote. Her philanthropyin helping others was in keeping with her character. She hascontributed to the legacy and contributions of her American Jewishancestors.
Anke
Eckhardt-Würz
