Dorah Sterne
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1896
Dorah Sterne | |
|---|---|
 Dorah Sterne, from the 1919 yearbook of Smith College | |
| Born | Dorah Heyman 1896 Atlanta, Georgia |
| Died | April 9, 1994 (age 97) Birmingham, Alabama |
| Occupations | Civic leader, philanthropist, clubwoman |
| Spouse | Mervyn H. Sterne |
Dorah Sterne (1896 – April 9, 1994), born Dorah Heyman, was an American clubwoman and philanthropist, "a prominent figure in the civic and cultural life" of Birmingham, Alabama.[1]
Dorah Heyman was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of Arthur Heyman and Minna Simon Heyman. Both of her parents were born in the American South. Her father was a lawyer. The Heymans were a prominent Southern Jewish family.[2][3] In 1911, she won a gold medal in an essay contest sponsored by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.[4][5] She graduated from Smith College in 1919.[6][7] In 1985, she was presented with the Smith College Medal, as a distinguished alumna.[8]
Career
In Birmingham, Alabama, after she married, Sterne was active in a range of community leadership roles.[7] She was president of the Birmingham chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women.[9] In 1925, she presided at a meeting of the Southern Interstate Conference of Jewish Women.[10] She was elected commissioner of the Birmingham Girl Scout Council in 1931.[11] She was involved with the Birmingham Little Theater.[12] She was a leader of the Birmingham League of Women Voters from the 1930s into the 1980s; she was honored by the League with a life membership in 1982.[13]
During World War II, the Sternes sponsored families of German Jewish refugees, and helped them settle in Alabama.[14][15] The Sternes' philanthropic interests extended to libraries, museums, hospitals, mental health, and civil rights in Birmingham.[16] She was appointed chair of Birmingham's Motion Picture Review Board when it was formed in 1953.[17]
Sterne gave an oral history interview to the Birmingham Public Library in 1985.[6]
AAUW and prison reform work
Sterne was president of the Birmingham branch of the American Association of University Women.[18][19] Supported by the AAUW, she led "a vigorous campaign for prison reform in Alabama."[20] She served on the state's 1948 Prison Investigating Committee,[21] and arranging for radios for women prisoners.[22] She also organized the sale of rugs made by women prisoners.[23] She lectured about her prison reform work to women's clubs in Selma in 1948.[1]
University of Alabama at Birmingham
The Sternes' social circle included University of Alabama at Birmingham administrator John U. Monro.[24] She endowed the Sterne Library at the named in her husband's memory.[7][25] In 1986, she received an honorary life membership in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Alumni Society, for her contributions to the school.[26] The Sterne Family Papers are at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Archives.[27]
