Solomon, Hannah Greenebaum

Solomon, Hannah Greenebaum (1858–1942) clubwoman, social reformer; born in Chicago. Daughter of a prosperous hardware merchant, she studied piano, beginning with Carl Wolfsohn in 1873. After marrying in 1879, she devoted herself to many social, cultural, and service clubs. In 1890 she organized the Jewish Women's Congress, which became the National Council of Jewish Women; she was its president until 1905 (and then honorary president for life). Increasingly active in welfare and social reform, she established in 1897 the Bureau of Personal Service to help new Jewish immigrants, often working with Jane Addams. She also played an active role in reviving the Illinois Industrial School for Girls. In 1904 she joined Susan B. Anthony and May Wright Sewall as delegates to the International Council for Women in Berlin. She continued to work for civic reform in Chicago, even investigating the city's waste disposal system. She retired in the 1920s and gave her final years to travel, music, and the arts.