Career
She led the National Committee on Religious Schools for the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods. She led the congregation at the Temple Beth Israel in Meridian, Mississippi, beginning December 12, 1951. She continued to lead the congregation until a replacement was found in September 1953, although she was never formally ordained.
Regarding her chances of being selected for the job, Ackerman wrote to a friend, "I also know how revolutionary the idea is—therefore it seems to be a challenge that I pray I can meet.
Ackerman later performed services at her home temple, Temple Beth-El in Pensacola, from 1962 until a replacement was found nine months later. In 1981, Ackerman moved from Pensacola to Atlanta, Georgia.
She died in Thomaston, Georgia on January 12, 1989, aged 95. In 1986 the Union of American Hebrew Congregations held a ceremony at The Temple in Atlanta to recognize Ackerman"s contribution to Jewish communal life.
Some of Ackerman"s papers are held in the American Jewish Archives, in Cincinnati, Ohio.