Jillian Riseman chose Ruth Handler for her National History Day entry by looking through the pages of the newest Women’s League publication, With Strength & Splendor: Jewish Women as Agents of Change. Jillian chose Handler after her mother Lisa Riseman, sisterhood president of Temple Beth Emunah, in Brockton, MA and a member of the Women’s League board of directors, brought the book home from the Women’s League convention last November. Handler, founder of Mattel toys and “Barbie’s Mom”, was a marketing genius who, after her psychologically debilitating radical mastectomy, went on to form Nearly Me, a company that produced comfortable and realistic-looking breast prosthesis.

 

We are delighted to add that the Women's League publication, by Director of Education Lisa Kogen, will be on display at the National History Day competition in June as Jillian placed second in the state competition winning her a spot in the national competition.

 

To quote her mother, Lisa, “Thank you Women's League for creating such a wonderful volume of inspiration in which we and our children can find value in the Jewish women of the past and present.”