{{Short description|American activist}} {{Use American English|date=March 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date = March 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Rhoda Kaufman | image = Rhoda Kaufman, undated photograph.png | alt = A black and white photograph of a woman | caption = Kaufman in an undated photograph | birth_date = {{Birth date|1888|10|26}} | birth_place = [[Columbus, Georgia]], [[United States]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1956|03|04|1888|10|26}} | death_place = [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[United States]] | resting_place = [[Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta)|Oakland Cemetery]] | alma_mater = [[Vanderbilt University]] | occupation = [[Social activist]] }}
'''Rhoda Kaufman''' (October 26, 1888 – March 4, 1956) was an American social activist from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. A Jewish woman born to German immigrants, she moved to [[Atlanta]] after graduating from college and participated in numerous social activist organizations.
== Early life and career == Rhoda Kaufman was born on October 26, 1888, in [[Columbus, Georgia]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/kaufman-rhoda|title=Rhoda Kaufman|last=Polansky|first=Lee S.|website=[[Jewish Women's Archive]]|access-date=March 30, 2020}}</ref> Her parents, Leo Kaufman and Bettie Friedlaender, were middle-class [[Jewish-German]] immigrants.<ref name=":2" /> At the age of 12, Kaufman lost one of her legs and had to use crutches for the rest of her life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.georgiawomen.org/rhoda-kaufman|title=Rhoda Kaufman|website=[[Georgia Women of Achievement]]|language=en|access-date=March 30, 2020}}</ref> In 1909, she graduated from [[Vanderbilt University]] as a member of [[Phi Beta Kappa]], with a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in physics, logic, and psychology.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Shortly after graduation, she moved to [[Atlanta]], where she pursued a career in [[journalism]] with little success.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> While in Atlanta, she joined the local chapter of the [[American Association of University Women]], eventually becoming the chapter's president. Between 1913 and 1915, she spearheaded efforts in the group to support a training school for girls in the state and a training school for mentally disabled people.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />
In 1920, she was hired as an assistant secretary for the newly created Georgia Department of Public Welfare. Several years later, in 1923, she was promoted to executive secretary of the department.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Her push for more progressive reform efforts caused the ire of the [[Ku Klux Klan]], which had had a recent resurgence around this time, and an anti-Semitic letter from the group that attacked Kaufman circulated in 1928. The letter, combined with poor health, caused Kaufman to resign from her post in 1928.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> During the mid-1920s, Kaufman had also worked with local African American leaders in Atlanta, such as [[Morehouse College]] president [[John Hope (educator)|John Hope]] and Thomas J. Woofter from the [[Commission on Interracial Cooperation]] to help them receive funds from the [[Commonwealth Fund]] and [[Rosenwald Fund]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=on1coN7dipMC&q=Rhoda+Kaufman&pg=PA342|title=The Quiet Voices: Southern Rabbis and Black Civil Rights, 1880s to 1990s|publisher=[[University of Alabama Press]]|year=1997|isbn=978-0-8173-0892-6|editor-last=Bauman|editor-first=Mark K.|pages=3|language=en|editor-last2=Kalin|editor-first2=Berkley|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>
In 1930, President [[Herbert Hoover]] invited Kaufman to participate in a National Conference of Social Work as part of his plan to recruit national experts to assess welfare conditions in the country.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> Following her retirement in 1945, she remained socially active, joining groups such as the [[League of Women Voters]], the [[United Nations]] Women's Organization, and the [[Institute for Citizenship]].<ref name=":1" /> She was also a member of the [[The Temple (Atlanta)|Atlanta Temple]].<ref name=":1" />
== Death and legacy == Kaufman died on March 4, 1956, in Atlanta.<ref name=":1" /> She was buried in the Jewish section of [[Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta)|Oakland Cemetery]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://oaklandcemetery.com/oakland-resident-spotlight-rhoda-kaufman/|title=Resident Spotlight: Rhoda Kaufman|last=Breffle|first=Marcy|date=March 29, 2017|website=[[Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta)|Oakland Cemetery]]|language=en-US|access-date=March 30, 2020}}</ref> In 1998, she was inducted into the [[Georgia Women of Achievement]].<ref name=":0" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Find a Grave|id=52428961|name=Rhoda Kaufman|date=May 15, 2010|accessdate=March 30, 2020}}
{{Georgia Women of Achievement|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaufman, Rhoda}} [[Category:1888 births]] [[Category:1956 deaths]] [[Category:American people of German-Jewish descent]] [[Category:American Reform Jews]] [[Category:American disability rights activists]] [[Category:Activists from Atlanta]] [[Category:People from Columbus, Georgia]] [[Category:Vanderbilt University alumni]] [[Category:American amputees]] [[Category:Burials at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta)]] [[Category:Jewish American community activists]] [[Category:American community activists]] [[Category:American activists with disabilities]] [[Category:20th-century American people]]