Ruth Brown Kahn (June 21, 1902 - April 9, 1987) was an American civic leader in Dallas, Texas. Kahn co-founded the Dallas Jewish Archives, which later became the Dallas Jewish Historical Society or DJHS.[1]

Biography

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Kahn was born on June 21, 1902, in St. Louis, Missouri, but grew up near Eufaula in Oklahoma Territory.[1] She graduated from the University of Chicago in 1923 and in that same year, moved to Dallas, where she became involved in local Jewish community organizations.[1] She married Louis J. Hexter, an attorney, in 1923, and together they had two children before they divorced. She married Laurence S. Kahn in 1936. [1]

Kahn and Ginger Chesnick Jacobs were inspired to preserve local Jewish history when the early building of Temple Emanu-El was demolished.[2] The synagogue, destroyed in 1970, was the last remaining Jewish institution in South Dallas.[3] Kahn and Jacobs eventually housed the archives in the Dallas Jewish Community Center in 1978.[3]

Kahn died in Dallas on April 9, 1987.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Biderman, Rose (15 June 2010). "Kahn, Ruth Brown". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Who We Are". Dallas Jewish Historical Society. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  3. ^ a b Gross, Harriet P. (24 May 2007). "Preserving the Past, Securing the Future". Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth). Vol. 61, no. 21. p. 12. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
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