Jacobs, Sophia Yarnall, 1902-1993

Sophia Yarnall Jacobs, civic worker, was born in Haverford, Pennsylvania, in 1902 and was educated at the Baldwin School and at Bryn Mawr, 1919-1921 (x'21), and married Reginald Robert Jacobs in 1921 (divorced in 1937). Jacobs wrote frequently for women's magazines and the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin's woman's pages, 1932-1939. During World War II she managed the Philadelphia Orchestra Club and later was the Promotion Manager for the orchestra. After the war she served as Secretary of the United Nations Council (later the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia), and travelled to the Middle East and India under its auspices; she also ran for School Committee in 1949 but was defeated. After moving to New York, she was primarily interested in civil rights and race relations: she served on the Boards of the National Urban League and the New York Urban League. Jacobs was President of the National Council of Women 1960-1963 and travelled widely as its representative. She was board member of many organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Planned Parenthood Association of Philadelphia.

From the guide to the Papers, 1932-1975, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)