{"id":1290,"date":"2016-10-13T22:43:46","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T22:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjhblog.cjh.org\/index.php\/2016\/10\/13\/chutzpah-in-style-hats-and-deeds-of-rose-halprin\/"},"modified":"2016-10-13T22:43:46","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T22:43:46","slug":"chutzpah-in-style-hats-and-deeds-of-rose-halprin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/2016\/10\/13\/chutzpah-in-style-hats-and-deeds-of-rose-halprin\/","title":{"rendered":"Chutzpah in Style: Hats and Deeds of Rose Halprin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

#Out of the Archives <\/p>\n

By Andrey Filimonov<\/h2>\n

\u00a0"Rose Halprin’s joie de vivre<\/i> was reflected in
\nher love of the arts and of people. The resplendence and distinctiveness of her
\nhats was proverbial, but beneath that varied headgear was a Yiddisher kop<\/i>\u2014a
\nbrilliant, analytical Jewish mind\u2014together with a warm and sensitive Jewish
\nheart.“ – Rabbi Israel Goldstein<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n
\n

Rose Halprin in 1948; Hadassah Archives on Long-term Deposit at
\nthe American Jewish Historical Society, I-578, RG 18\u2014Photographs;<\/i> Box
\n173; Folder 6<\/i>; American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the pantheon of former Hadassah
\nleaders few women stand out more than Rose Luria Halprin\u2014a two-term national
\npresident of Hadassah, a woman of many talents, speaker of several languages, a
\nfriend to many national leaders and a foe to the enemies of Eretz Yisrael. The
\nlist of her accomplishments is truly awe-inspiring. \u00a0During her terms as
\nHadassah president, she opened the hospital complex on Mount Scopus in 1939,
\nestablished the Hebrew University\u2013Hadassah Medical School, and broke ground for
\nthe new Hospital at Ein Karem in 1952. As a member of the American Section of
\nthe Jewish Agency, she argued before the United Nations for the Partition Plan
\nof 1947 and raised millions to absorb the influx of new immigrants entering
\nIsrael in 1950s and 1960s. Despite her humble origins, she wielded immense
\npolitical power with the establishment in the US and in Israel at a time when
\nwomen were seldom seen in leadership positions.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n
\n

Rose Halprin in a meeting with President Harry S. Truman, circa
\nlate 1940s. Hadassah Archives on Long-term Deposit at the American Jewish
\nHistorical Society, I-578, RG 18\u2014Photographs; Box 173; Folder 4; <\/i>American Jewish Historical
\nSociety, New York, NY<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The extensive photo collection in the Hadassah Archives on Long-term Deposit at the American Jewish
\nHistorical Society, I-578<\/a> features photographs of Halprin\u2014engaged in discussion with
\nPresident Eisenhower, exchanging pleasantries with President Truman, sneering
\nat David Ben-Gurion, shaking hands with Golda Meir and taking tea with Shimon
\nPeres. Many photos show her addressing almost exclusively male audiences. The
\nvast majority of her photographs, taken over the decades, share one distinct
\nfeature\u2014in nearly all of them, Rose Halprin is seen wearing an elaborately
\nfashionable hat. In fact, she wears a different hat in every photo. She wears
\nhats of various fashions and styles, shapes and colors, from classically chic
\nto mildly bizarre. \u00a0Indeed, Rose Halprin’s hats collection, rumored to
\nhave numbered in the hundreds, is the stuff of legends and anecdotes.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n
\n

Rose Halprin in a meeting with President Dwight D. Eisenhower,
\ncirca early 1950s. Hadassah Archives on Long-term Deposit at the American
\nJewish Historical Society, I-578, RG 18\u2014Photographs; Box 173; Folder 4;<\/i> American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Menachem Begin famously said to
\nHalprin: "When the British put a price on my head, you were deciding which
\nhat to put on yours.” The Prime Minister of Israel may have been misled by
\nHalprin’s glamour, audacity and impeccable composure, but the documents found
\nin RG 13\u2014Executive Functions Records in the
\nHadassah Archives <\/a>reveal that she was
\nnever one to dodge bullets or limit her leadership functions to cocktail
\nparties with politicians and celebrities. In fact, her remarkable achievements
\nand life-long attachment to principles came with a heavy price of hard and
\noften dangerous work.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Rose Halprin mapping new projects, undated. Hadassah Archives on
\nLong-term Deposit at the American Jewish Historical Society, I-578, RG
\n18\u2014Photographs;<\/i> Box 173; Folder 4;<\/i> American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

After her first term as national
\npresident of Hadassah, she moved to Palestine to serve as a liaison to the
\nHadassah Medical Organization, in the midst of anti-Jewish riots by Arabs in
\nHebron and other areas. She came ready to help the victims of violence and to
\ncourageously and staunchly advocate for cooperation between Jews and Arabs. She
\ntraveled to Berlin in 1935 and 1938 on Youth Aliyah missions to rescue Jewish
\nchildren from the tightening deadly grip of the Nazi regime. As the second-term
\nnational president of Hadassah, she faced the horror of the Hadassah medical
\nconvoy massacre and was there to set up five temporary hospital locations after
\nthe Mount Scopus complex had to be evacuated.<\/p>\n

In October of 1972, a direct attempt on
\nher life was made by the militants of the Palestine Liberation Organization,
\nwho mailed a letter bomb to her apartment in New York City. Fortunately, the
\nbomb failed to detonate.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n
\n

Rose Halprin with Prime Minister of Israel Golda Meir, undated.
\nHadassah Archives on Long-term Deposit at the American Jewish Historical
\nSociety, I-578, RG 18\u2014Photographs;<\/i> Box 173; Folder 4;<\/i> American Jewish Historical
\nSociety, New York, NY<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The PLO was not the only organization
\nthat viewed Halprin as an enemy. In 1973, the Central Studio for Documentary
\nFilm in Moscow, USSR produced a documentary film titled \u201cThe Hidden and the
\nObvious: The Goals and the Deeds of Zionism\u201d\u2014a work of anti-Zionist propaganda
\nwith vehemently anti-Semitic rhetoric and visuals not unlike those of the V\u00f6lkischer
\nBeobachter. <\/i>A sequence of the film presented by the narrator as an
\nillustration of the \u201csinister Zionists infiltrating the American government\u201d
\nprominently featured an image of Rose Halprin meeting Dwight Eisenhower. She is
\nsporting an elegant beige hat with a short veil, adorned with a long pheasant
\nfeather.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n
\n

Rose Halprin in a meeting with Prime Minister of Israel David
\nBen-Gurion (seated to her right), circa early 1960s. Hadassah Archives on
\nLong-term Deposit at the American Jewish Historical Society, I-578, RG
\n18\u2014Photographs;<\/i> Box 173; Folder 4;<\/i> American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Halprin\u2019s deeds are reflected in the
\nvast photograph collection and many other record groups in the Hadassah
\nArchives, which can be accessed in the reading room at the Center for Jewish
\nHistory.<\/p>\n

From 2015-2016, Center archivists processed the
\nHadassah Archives on Long-Term Deposit at the American Jewish Historical
\nSociety (AJHS) thanks to the generous support of the Leon Levy Foundation. The
\nHadassah Archives measures over 1,500 linear feet and is one of the most
\nfrequently used collections at AJHS. <\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0Andrey Filimonov is an Archivist at the Center
\nfor Jewish History.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

#Out of the Archives By Andrey Filimonov \u00a0"Rose Halprin’s joie de vivre was reflected in her love of the arts and of people. The resplendence and distinctiveness of her hats was proverbial, but beneath that varied headgear was a Yiddisher kop\u2014a brilliant, analytical Jewish mind\u2014together with a warm and sensitive Jewish heart.“ – Rabbi Israel Goldstein Rose Halprin in 1948; Hadassah Archives on Long-term…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,75,185,82,201,207,205,208,206,203,204,209,9,38,202,91],"class_list":["post-1290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-post","tag-ajhs-collections","tag-american-jewish-historical-society","tag-american-jewish-historical-society-collections","tag-andrey-filimonov","tag-collection-services","tag-david-ben-gurion","tag-dwight-d-eisenhower","tag-fashion","tag-golda-meir","tag-hadassah","tag-harry-s-truman","tag-hats","tag-jewish-history","tag-out-of-the-archives","tag-rose-halprin","tag-zionism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}