Jacqueline Levine lent her voice to a stunning array of social justice causes, from civil rights to ending hunger to women’s leadership in the Jewish community. Levine began her political activism in 1954, when she joined the American Jewish Congress in protesting Joseph McCarthy. She then turned her focus to civil rights, participating in the March on Washington in 1963 and the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. Levine joined the AJC’s peace marches to protest the Vietnam War, and from 1971–1975 she served as national president of the AJC’s Women’s Division. In 1969 she became national president of the Council of Jewish Federations Women’s Division and made an impassioned speech to CJF leadership asking why so few Jewish organizations welcomed women in leadership positions. In 1980, she became the first female national chair of the AJC’s governing council. From 1986–1987 Levine served as national chair of the Mobilization for Soviet Jewry, bringing 250,000 Jews to Washington to protest Soviet policies. She was a founding member of both the Jewish Fund for Justice and MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, and served on the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
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Jewish Women's Archive. "Jacqueline Levine ." (Viewed on March 1, 2015) <http://jwa.org/people/levine-jacqueline>.