What became of Hessy Levinson Taft?

PDAZ

According to US Holocaust Memorial Museum, her family ended up in Cuba in 1942 and then made it to the US in 1949: http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/viewmedia/phi_fset.php?MediaId=1144 http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/?content=phi_refugees_visas_uu.htm There is a Professor of Chemistry, Hessy L. Taft, who is currently listed as part-time faculty at St Johns University: http://new.stjohns.edu/academics/undergraduate/liberalarts/faculty http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal;jsessionid=KpgCZfQr4NvnMML9vBtQ8Pnm7mYPPbkl01JXNYLB52Q22LR7zV4G!-1484723167?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=ERICSearchResult&_urlType=action&newSearch=true&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=au&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=%22Taft+Hessy+L.%22 Sep 11 09, 12:27 AM

PDAZ

This Hessy L. Taft wrote an article, "Becoming a Chemist in Cuba" which links her to the Hessy Levinsons Taft who emigrated to Cuba and which is one reason I think it might be the same person: http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/journal/issues/2003/Aug/abs889.html She also participated in chemistry symposium in Cuba (there is a picture of her on the following link -- it looks very similar to the photo on the Holocaust museum site -- same facial features): http://www.nesacs.org/TheNucleus/Mar03.pdf (page seven) Currently, Dr. Hessy Taft is currently in charge of "Employment and Professional Relations" for the American Chemical Society. http://newyorkacs.org/staff.html This same Hessy Taft is the Chair of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Israel Committee (same e-mail address as above), which suggests that she is Jewish... http://www.swfs.org/pdfs/SWFS%20Bulletin%20October%202008%20for%20web.pdf (page eight) Here is the death notice for Pauline Levinsons who was Hessy Levinsons Taft's mother (see the next link for the matching names) -- the funeral and burial were in the NYC area, which is where Hessy L. Taft teaches: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/16/classified/paid-notice-deaths-levinsons-pauline.html http://www.flickr.com/photos/michellesoemoe/2399711563/ I couldn't find anything definitive that stated that this Hessy L. Taft is THE Hessy Levinsons Taft, but I'm inclined to think she is for the reasons stated above. Sep 11 09, 12:28 AM

zbeckabee

Nice detective work PDAZ! WHO IS HESSY LEVINSON TAFT? -- In 1935 Hessy Levinson Taft, then six months old, appeared on the cover of the Nazi family magazine Sun in the House. Hessy was presented as the archetype of Aryan babyhood. Ironically, the baby wasn't Aryan at all. In fact, her parents were Latvian Jews. When confronted by Hessy's frightened mother, the photographer admitted that he had submitted the photograph to a beauty contest for Aryan babies, hoping to mock Nazi racial theory. He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. http://www.holocaustchronicle.org/staticpages/91.html Sep 11 09, 6:23 AM