Anna Lederer Rosenberg

(1899 - 1983)

Rosenberg was born in Hungary and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1912. She volunteered for several government campaigns in New York City during World War I, but it was a suffrage speech she made in the 1920's that brought her to the attention of Tammany governmental official. She began her public career managing campaigns for several Democratic officials and later served as an adviser to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, New York Mayor LaGuardia and New York Governor Herbert Lehman; she also took positions in several New Deal agencies. In 1945, she was President Truman's person representative to Europe; she was a member of UNESCO and was the first woman awarded the Medal for Merit.  In 1950, she was nominated to be assistant secretary of defense; when accusations spread about her supposed "Un-American" activities, Jewish groups claimed that anti-Semitism lay behind the rumors and the Senate confirmed her nomination.  Rosenberg was active in the United Palestine Appeal, the Joint Distribution Committee, the National Council of Jewish Women and ORT.  

Sources: Jewish Women's Archive