Tikkun Olam: Jewish Women Serving Their St. Paul Community
with Kate Dietrick, Gabrielle Horner, and Janet Kampf

History Revealed Series
Thursday, March 17, 2022
7:00 pm

In partnership with the Ramsey County Historical Society and the Roseville Library

Live presentation on Zoom
Register in advance for this meeting: Zoom Registration Link
Registration is limited. You will receive a confirmation email after registering.
For questions, please email [email protected]

The Ramsey County Historical Society, in partnership with the East Side Freedom Library, the Ramsey County Roseville Library and other community organizations, will present a series of programs and events during 2022 that will center on the experiences of indigenous people, African Americans, and immigrants in Ramsey County from the 1800s through the current day, Making Minnesota: Natives, Settlers, Migrants, and Immigrants. These programs focus on the too often lost, erased, forgotten or misrepresented histories and stories of Ramsey County and the state of Minnesota. We expect these presentations to enrich and complicate our understanding of the development of the county and the state that we call home.

Five women from St. Paul’s Jewish community—Hannah Austrian, Sophie Wirth, Annie Paper, Gretta Freeman, and Rhoda Redleaf embraced and helped resettle impoverished Jewish immigrants through education efforts, job training, and by providing relief. They also rallied for basic rights, stepping up in times when progressive actions by women were often frowned upon. While their names may have been forgotten by most, their work to make the world a better place still impacts the local community to this day. Their lives provide insights into Jewish immigrant life in the upper Midwest in the late nineteenth century.

Authors and historians Kate Dietrick, Gabe Horner and Janet Kampf will present the stories of these women and the long-lasting effects that their efforts have had on the Jewish community.

To learn more, see the Ramsey County History article in the Fall 2021 issue.

Image: Boys at the Lake Rest Vacation Home, established in 1911 was renamed Sophie Wirth Camp in 1926 to honor the work of Sophie Wirth.

Kate Dietrick is the archivist for the Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives at the University of Minnesota. She is a resident of St. Paul and a member of Mount Zion Temple.

Gabrielle Horner is a descendant of Italian, German and English immigrants to St. Paul and is a lifelong resident. She is coauthor of A Grand History: The Summit Hill Neighborhood’s First 200 Years.

Janet Kampf joined Mount Zion Temple in 1968 and is a member of The Women of Mount Zion Temple. She is the past chair and the current secretary-treasurer of Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council.