WHC is pleased to welcome author Christopher Gorham to wrap up our 2023-2024 Amram Scholar Series on Sunday, May 5, at 10:30 am at Temple.

This program is free and open to the entire community, but RSVP is required. There will also be a free bagel & coffee brunch at 9:30 am before the event, sponsored by the Dr. Allan and Katherine Schwartzberg Jewish Studies Endowment Fund.

RSVP HERE

This lecture is also presented in partnership with the Jewish Book Council, and is sponsored by the Dr. Allan and Katherine Schwartzberg Jewish Studies Endowment Fund.

About the Book:

As Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s special envoy to Europe in World War II she went where the president couldn’t go. She was among the first Allied women to enter a liberated concentration camp, and stood in the Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s mountain retreat, days after its capture. She guided the direction of the G.I. Bill of Rights and the Manhattan Project. Though Anna Rosenberg emerged from modest immigrant beginnings, equipped with only a high school education, she was the real power behind national policies critical to America winning the war and prospering afterward. Astonishingly, her story remains largely forgotten.

With a disarming mix of charm and Tammany-hewn toughness, Rosenberg began her career in public relations in 1920s Manhattan. She became friends with Eleanor Roosevelt, who recommended Anna to her husband, who was then running for Governor of New York. As FDR’s unofficial adviser, Rosenberg soon wielded enormous influence—no less potent for being subtle. Roosevelt dubbed her “my Mrs. Fix-It.” Her extraordinary career continued after his death.

By 1950, she was tapped to become the assistant secretary of defense—the highest position ever held by a woman in the US military—prompting Senator Joe McCarthy to wage an unsuccessful smear campaign against her. In 1962, she organized John F. Kennedy’s infamous birthday gala, sitting beside him while Marilyn Monroe sang. Until the end of her life, Rosenberg fought tirelessly for causes from racial integration to women’s equality to national health care.

More than the story of one remarkable woman, The Confidante explores who gets to be at the forefront of history, and why. Though she was not quite a hidden figure, Rosenberg’s position as “the power behind,” combined with her status as an immigrant and a Jewish woman, served to diminish her importance. In this inspiring, impeccably researched, and revelatory book, Gorham at last affords Anna Rosenberg the recognition she so richly deserves.

Click her to purchase this book through WHC’s Mitzvah Mall

About the Author:

Christo­pher C. Gorham is a lawyer and teacher of mod­ern Amer­i­can his­to­ry at West­ford Acad­e­my, out­side Boston. He has degrees in his­to­ry from Tufts Uni­ver­si­ty and the Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan, where he stud­ied under leg­endary labor his­to­ri­an Sid­ney Fine. He has a J.D., sum­ma cum laude, from Syra­cuse Uni­ver­si­ty Col­lege of Law, where he served on the edi­to­r­i­al staff of the Syra­cuse Law Review. His writ­ing has appeared in The Wash­ing­ton Post and online journals.