Lucy Kramer Cohen

Lucy Kramer grew up when women were seeking new roles. She educated herself for a career in mathematics or anthropology. In the Great Depression of the 1930's Lucy and her husband Felix Cohen fought for New Deal reforms and Native American rights, so that Indians could control their lives and lands. Lucy Kramer was born to Aaron and Annie Frankel K... ramer at 191 Rockaway Avenue, in a newly developing area of Brooklyn. Lucy was the second of five children. Lucy's father and aunt named her after the the French revolutionary and reformer Louise Michel. Lucy wrote that her given name was Louisa Clemence Michel Demahis Kramer, although she was always called Lucy. Felix Solomon Cohen was born to Morris Raphael and Mary Ryshpan Cohen in Manhattan; the first of three children, Felix grew up in Yonkers. Lucy attended Public School 144 in Brownsville, Brooklyn. She graduated from grade 8 as valedictorian. She admired and formed lasting friendships with some of her teachers. Miss Angela Sweeney, fifth grade, was, she said, my special crush. Her 8th grade teacher, Miss Hall, an African-American, was voted best teacher in the city, she recalled. Vernon E. Duroe, her 7th grade and Latin teacher, a well-known amateur photographer, took the photographs of Lucy at about age 17 in frilled collar, that appear in the video. Lucy attended Erasmus Hall High School at Flatbush and Church Avenues. At this long-established academic school she studied Latin, Greek and mathematics. The family moved from 1484 St. Marks Avenue to 36 Chester Avenue about 1920. At Barnard College, Lucy studied mathematics and anthropology, as well as Latin, Greek and economics. She worked as a research assistant for Professor Franz Boas during the school year. Study and work with Boas gave her the opportunity to meet Native Americans, like Ella Deloria, and to learn about their societies. She visited the local Hillel to learn about her Jewish heritage and attended meetings and joined groups, like the League for Industrial Democracy, to study and work for ...Read More