MEMOIRIST: JUDITH GROSSMAN TAYLOR (1936- )
INTERVIEWER: ANN H. SCHOENBERG
DATES: MARCH 10, 2003
AUGUST 5, 2003
LOCATION: ATLANTA, GEORGIA
ID#: 10716
NUMBER OF PAGES: 99
Transcript (PDF)
BIOGRAPHY:
Judith Grossman Taylor was born in 1936 in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents were Sid and Sylvia Edison Grossman. Her family was ardent Zionists and she is related to Robert and Bert Travis, both very active in the Zionist Organization of America. Her father’s family hailed from the Russia/Lithuania although her mother was born in the United States. He father owned a fur dyeing business called Central Fury Dye in Manhattan in New York City. Judith spent her summers on a farm in the country or at camp. Judith attended Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts at the age of 16. After college she went to work as a secretary in a public relations firm on Madison Avenue.
She met her husband, Mark Taylor, on one of her many trips to Atlanta to visit her relatives, the Travises. They began dating and were married in 1957. She and Mark have three children: Charles, Kenneth and Elaine who are also active in the Jewish and civic community. Mark, together with his father Charles, was in real estate development. The Taylors are art collectors and have donated works of art to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
Judith has been active in Hadassah, Brandeis Women’s Committee, United Way, National Council of Jewish Women, the Bicentennial Commission, HOPE [Help our Public Schools], Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, Child Advocacy Coalition, Leadership Atlanta, League of Women Voters, Atlanta Women’s Foundation, and the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum.
SCOPE OF INTERVIEW:
Judith recalls her family and childhood in Brooklyn, New York including her family’s Zionism, their use of the Yiddish language, attending Zionist summer camps, and her remarkable paternal grandparents, who became proud Americans. She remembers attending Brandeis University at age 15, which at the time was so new it was not accredited, but it was “a Jewish school” to which her parents “could feel comfortable about sending this young light of their lives away at the tender age of 15.” Judith recalls how she majored in psychology and took classes from Abraham Maslow. She enjoyed an active social life.
Judith spoke about her regular trips to Atlanta to visit the Robert and Bert Travis (her aunt and uncle), both ardent Zionists. During one such trip she met Mark Taylor and recalls the pitfalls of how they eventually began dating and were finally married in 1957. Judith recalls moving to Atlanta where she was exposed to a very different Jewish and social milieu that she had in New York. She describes joining Hadassah and getting involved with Hadassah Education Day, when she produced Janice Rothschild’s one act play with two black actors—only to find out later that that just wasn’t done in Atlanta.
Judith spoke of the myriad of activities and organizations she has been involved in over the years in both the Jewish and general community and the many prominent leaders in the Atlanta community including Shirley Franklin and Johnnetta Cole. She recalls her involvement with Hadassah, Brandeis Women’s Committee, United Way, National Council of Jewish Women, the Bicentennial Commission, HOPE [Help our Public Schools], Leadership Atlanta, League of Women Voters, and the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum over the years.
Judith describes in detail her in-laws, Esther and Herbert Taylor, and she and Mark’s children (Charles [Chuck], Kenneth and Elaine), their childhood, education, social activities, achievements, Jewish involvement, marriages, children and their accomplishments.
Judith also discusses she and her husband, Mark’s, interest in art collecting and their involvement with the art world including the High Museum of Art.
KEYWORDS:
Abram, Bernard
Art collecting
Asher, Barbara Miller
Atlanta, Georgia—Growth
Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA)
Atlanta Community Foundation
Atlanta Women’s Fundation
Baker and bakeries
Bar mitzvah
Berit milah
Bicentennial Commission
Blumberg, Janice Oettenger Rothschild
Bowling
B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO)
Brandeis University—Waltham, Massachusetts
Brandeis University—National Women’s Committee
Bris
Brooklyn, New York
Busbee, George (Governor)
Camps, summer
Carter, James Earl (Jimmy) (President)
Central Fur Dye—New York City, New York
Child Advocacy Coalition
Circumcision
Criminal Justice Coordinating Council
Cole, Johnnetta
Congregation Ahavath Achim—Atlanta, Georgia
Congregation Shearith Israel—Atlanta, Georgia
Cornell University—Ithaca, New York
Council for Children
Council for Judaism
Coverdell, Paul (Senator)
Diabetes
Discrimination
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
Federal Emergency Management Assistance (FEMA)
Frances Travel—Atlanta, Georgia
Franklin, Shirley
Friedman, Benny
Fur industry and trade
Grossman, Sylvia Edison
Grossman, Sid
Hadassah
Hadassah education day
Halutzim (pioneer)
Harlem (New York City)
Harris, Joe Frank (Governor)
Hebrew language
High Museum of Art—Atlanta, Georgia
Immigration
Israel
Jewish Family Services
Judaism, Reconstructionist
Judaism, Reform
Judaism—Customs and practices
Kahn, Louis
Kashrut
Kosher
Kranz, Phillip (Rabbi)
Leadership Atlanta
Lithuania
Louis Kahn Home—Atlanta, Georgia
Lovett School—Atlanta, Georgia
Maddox, Lester (Governor)
Manhattan (New York City)
Marx, David (Rabbi)
Metropolitan Foundation
National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)
Ofyn Pripetshik
Organization for Rehabilitation through Training (ORT)
Palestine
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)
Passover
Planned Parenthood
Plaza Drugs—Atlanta, Georgia
Private schools
Public schools
Public schools, prayer
Racism
Real estate development
Seders
Sisterhoods
Stein, Jules
Sunday school, Jewish
Taylor, Charles (son)
Taylor, Charles (paternal grandfather)
Taylor, Esther Kahn
Taylor, Herbert
Taylor, Kenneth
Taylor, Mark
Taylor Bakery—Atlanta, Georgia
Temple—Atlanta, Georgia
Temple Beth El—Atlanta, Georgia
Temple Sinai—Atlanta, Georgia
Travel agencies
Travis, Bert
Travis, Robert
United Service Organization (USO)
United Way
Williamsburg, New York
Wine
World War, 1914-1918
World War, 1939-1945
Yiddish language
Yiddishkeit
Zionism
Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)