Hadassah was founded in New York in 1912 by Henrietta Szold, a Jewish scholar, editor, and Zionist. The organization grew out of a meeting of twelve members of the Daughters of Zion Study Circle on the Jewish holiday of Purim, and quickly expanded into a nationwide organization. The major projects of Hadassah were medical and educational aid to Palestine and subsequently to the Jewish state of Israel. The Youth Aliyah program, initiated by Szold in 1934, expanded the organization's work to include the rescue and transportation of children to Palestine from Germany and other Nazi-controlled parts of Europe.
Shortly after Szold founded Hadassah in New York, six young Minneapolis Jewish women pledged themselves to raise funds for war relief and medical equipment and personnel in Palestine. The group, initially called the "Self-Denial Club," wasn't officially chartered as the Minneapolis Chapter of Hadassah until 1924.
The late 1940s saw further organizational development with the creation of the Upper Midwest Region. The group concept, in which women of similar age ranges and interests within a chapter affiliated, also developed during this period. The Minneapolis Chapter initially formed three groups, Herzl, Szold, and Brandeis. Groups continued to form and dissolve as the interests and backgrounds of Hadassah women changed throughout the years. In 1991 members of both the St. Paul and Minneapolis Chapters formed Hadassah's first joint group, the Twin Cities Career Women's Network, later renamed D'vorah.
From the guide to the Organizational records of the Minneapolis Chapter and Upper Midwest Region., 1948-1996., (Minnesota Historical Society)
