Mrs. I. Lowenberg

Mrs. I. Lowenberg (née, Bettie Lilienfeld; December 11, 1845 – December 1924) was an American author, clubwoman,[1] reformer, and socialite. Born in Alabama and educated in Missouri, she removed to San Francisco, California in 1860 and spent the rest of her life there.[2] Lowenberg was the founder of San Francisco's Philomath Club, the first club in the world composed of Jewish women with a regularly adopted constitution.[3] Her essays focused on various topics, especially on peace and arbitration. All three of her novels advocated for various types of reform.[4]

Mrs. I. Lowenberg
(1903)
(1903)
BornBettie Lilienfeld
December 11, 1845
Prairie Bluff, Alabama, U.S.
DiedDecember 30/31 1924
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation
  • author
  • clubwoman
  • reformer
  • socialite
Genrenovels
Subjectsocial reform
Notable worksThe Voices
Spouse
Isidore Lowenberg
​
​
(m. 1862; died 1919)​
Children2

Early life and education

Bettie Lilienfeld was born December 11, 1845, in Prairie Bluff, Alabama,[2] near Mobile. Her parents, William and Pauline (Levy) Lilienfeld,[1] had immigrated from Prussia and Germany.[4] Bettie's siblings were Jane, Anice, Emma, and Alfred.[5]

She received her education at the convent of St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church, Cape Girardeau, Missouri.[1]

Career
(1912)

Lowenberg was very active in women's club work. Subsequent to her visit to the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago, 1893), where she attended the Parliament of the World's Religions's Jewish Women's Congress, Lowenberg established the Philomath Club, a Jewish women's literary association.[2] She assisted in organizing the California State Federation of Women's Clubs (est. 1900) and was the first recording secretary and subsequently, president of the San Francisco district of that federation (1902). She served as president of the auxiliary board of the California Prison Commission; president, Pacific Coast Women's Press Association (1912–14); president, Laurel Hall Club;[1] and president, San Francisco Maternity.[6]

During the Spanish–American War, Lowenberg was the chair of the hospital commission of the American Red Cross, and a member of the executive committee of the ARC's San Francisco Chapter.[1] She also served as distributing manager of the Manila Library Association, which organized for the comfort and accommodation of the army in the Philippines during the Spanish–American War.[7]

Lowenberg was a member of the Local Section of the Home Advisory Board for the International Conference of Women Workers to Promote Permanent Peace (San Francisco, 1915).[8] At the Panama–Pacific International Exposition (San Francisco, 1915), she was the First vice-president of the Authors' Congress, and Second vice-president of the exposition's Women's Board. During World War I, she served as Vice-regent of the California Preparedness Chapter of the Women's Naval Service, Inc. She was also a member of the State Commission on Marriage and Divorce,[1] and the Board of National Arbitration and Peace Committee.

Lowenberg contributed short stories to various magazines.[1] She also wrote speeches and plays,[4] as well as essays on various topics, especially on peace and arbitration.[6] The first of her three novels, The Irresistible Current (1908),[9] was a plea for universal religion.[6] A Nation's Crime (1910)[10] served as a plea for uniform divorce laws.[6]

The voices (1920)

The last of her novels, The Voices (1920),[11] contained much matter on the necessity of political reforms. Described as a novel for the 1920 United States presidential election, it revolves around a present-day Joan, not of Arc, but of one who listened to small voices within and became, in consequence, a leader in industrial and political happenings. A university graduate, the heroine secured a position in an iron and steel plant and took part in the questions which arose there between capital and labor. Romance and love-interest are also a part of the story which introduces personalities on both sides of the issues of industry.[12] "Equal rights to all — unions and non-unions, organized and unorganized labor", declares the heroine, her intelligence stimulated by the mystic voices that speak to her from out the impalpable air.[13]

Many years of her life were spent in the interests of others. Two endowment funds at the San Francisco Nursery for Homeless Children, and many gifts to women's clubs and other charities, both public and private, were among her philanthropy.[14]

Personal life

On October 12, 1862, she married Isidore Lowenberg (1835–1919) of Prussia,[1] a prominent civic leader. The couple had two children,[2] Albert (1864–1948) and Ruby (1872–1962).[5]

Lowenberg was a member of San Francisco's Congregation Emanu-El.[15] For a number of years, she served as vice-president of Temple Emanu-El kindergarten school, as well as vice-president of the local Council of Jewish Women.[6]

She lived for several years at the city's Clift Hotel,[1] where she died in December 1924.[lower-alpha 1] Her scrapbooks and other materials are held by the Bancroft Library, at the University of California, Berkeley.[16]

Selected works
  • The Irresistible Current (1908)
  • A Nation's Crime (1910)
  • The Voices (1920)

Notes
  1. According to familysearch.org, Lowenberg died December 30, 1924,[5] while according to her obituary in the Oakland Tribune, she died December 31.[14]

References
  1. Who's who in American Jewry. Vol. 1. Jewish Biographical Bureau. 1927. p. 403. OCLC 1001898903. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. Brauner, David, ed. (7 June 2015). Edinburgh Companion to Modern Jewish Fiction. Edinburgh University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7486-4616-6. OCLC 1090481270.
  3. Voorsanger, A. W. (1916). "The Philomath Club, A Review by Mrs. I. Lowenberg". Western Jewry: An Account of the Achievements of the Jews and Judaism in California, Including Eulogies and Biographies. "The Jews in California," by Martin A. Meyer. Emanu-el. pp. 57–58. OCLC 1018092845. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. "This is (Not) What a Jewish Feminist Looks Like: San Francisco Women's Clubs and Jewish Literary History". blogs.brandeis.edu. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  5. "Bettie Lilienfeld 1845–1924". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  6. Voorsanger, A. W. (1916). Western Jewry: An Account of the Achievements of the Jews and Judaism in California, Including Eulogies and Biographies. "The Jews in California," by Martin A. Meyer. Emanu-el. pp. 208–09. OCLC 1018092845. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. Adler, Cyrus; Singer, Isidore, eds. (1907). The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Vol. 3. Funk & Wagnalls. p. 513. OCLC 3624632. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. Davidson, Marie Hicks (May 1915). "To Promote Permanent Peace". Table Talk. Arthur H. Crist Company. 30 (5): 270–75. OCLC 1715377. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. Lowenberg, Mrs. I. (1908). The Irresistible Current. Broadway publishing Company. OCLC 2925734. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. Lowenberg, Mrs. I. (1910). A Nation's Crime: A Novel. Neale Publishing Company. OCLC 13819674. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. Lowenberg, Bettie (1920). The Voices. H. Wagner publishing. OCLC 14526619. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  12. "Fiction". The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer. Vol. 53, no. 9. Excelsior Publishing House. 1920. p. 457. OCLC 9959778. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. ""The Voices", A Book of Knowledge as Well as Romance". The Overland Monthly. Samuel Carson. LXXV (4): 337–38. April 1919. OCLC 4894800. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. "Club Women Mourn Mrs. Lowenberg Loss". Oakland Tribune. 1 January 1925. p. 10. Retrieved 31 May 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  15. Wolf, Emma (2002). Cantalupo, Barbara (ed.). Other Things Being Equal. Wayne State University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-8143-3022-7. OCLC 1114452274.
  16. "Bettie Lowenberg scrapbooks and other materials, approximately 1908–1923". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
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