Marion Misch

Background

She was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania (some sources say Newark, New Jersey) in 1869. Her father was Louis Benjamin Simon and her mother was Rachel Pulaski Simon. She grew up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, attending public school there.

Career

She served as president of the National Council of Jewish Women (1908-1913) and president of the Rhode Island State Federation of Women"s Clubs. When she was 14, she organized and taught the first Sabbath School in Pittsfield. She later trained to be a schoolteacher.

After ten years in Brooklyn, the couple moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where Misch opened his first department store.

His holdings would expand to ten department stores throughout New England. After his unexpected death in 1921, Marion became the only female owner of a department store in Providence.

In 1905 she helped found the Providence section of the National Council of Jewish Women, serving as its first president, and in 1908 was appointed third president of the National Council of Jewish Women, a position she held for five years. She also served as president of various charitable societies.

Her activism extended to both Jewish and non-Jewish activities in Providence.

In 1921 she became the first Jewish president of the Rhode Island Federation of Women"s Clubs. She served as Chairman of the North End Free Dispensary, which she organized under auspices of the Providence Section, Council of Jewish Women. She was one of the first presidents of the Temple Beth El Sisterhood, and often spoke on Jewish topics for the National Council of Jewish Women and other groups.

She died on January 18, 1941 in Providence, aged 71.

She was buried in the Sons of Israel and David Cemetery.

Achievements

• She was also vice president of the Providence Civic and Park Association, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Music Clubs, director of the Providence Association for the Blind, and founder of the Providence Plantation Club.

Membership

She was a member of the board of directors of the Providence Society for Organizing Charity. A member of the board of managers of the Providence District Nursing Association. And a member of the Sex Hygiene Committee of the Rhode Island State Conference of Charities.

She was a member of the Providence school board from 1925 to 1939, supervising the expansion of music education in city schools.

Misch was the first female member of the Providence Playground Committee, having been appointed by both Republican and Democratic mayors, and having entire charge of purchasing all the supplies.