Dolly Cohen was active in Cincinnati social, cultural and philanthropic circles. She was the wife of A.B. Cohen, president of the U.S. Shoe Co. Born Dolly Lurie in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, she met her husband, A.B. Cohen, in the lobby of a Pittsburgh hotel. She was working for the Red Cross selling anti-tuberculosis stamps. He was a young shoe salesman. They were married in 1920 and lived in Boston until 1926, when Cohen joined what would become the U.S. Shoe Corporation with headquarters in Cincinnati.
Mrs. Cohen was involved with The Greater Cincinnati Chapter Auxiliary of the Muscular Dystrophy Association of America, the Magnetic Springs Polio Clinic, the Sister Kenny Polio Foundation, the Music Drama Guild, Stage, Inc., the U.S. Army Band project, the Orphans' Mother and Dad Club, CARE in Cincinnati, the Symphony Orchestra Women's Committee, the United Fine Arts Fund, and many other organizations. She was a campaign display chairman for the Cancer Crusade of the Hamilton County Chapter of the American Cancer Society. She served on the board of the Camp Fire Girls, the Wise Temple Sisterhood, the Los Angeles Sanitarium, and the Jewish Consumptive Relief. She was the founder of Orphans' Day in Ohio. She was chairman of MEDICO, an organization that supported volunteer medical workers in developing countries. Mrs. Cohen served as a member of the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped during the Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administration. To the University of Cincinnati, Dolly Cohen gifted funds for an annual teaching award.
Mrs. Cohen received numerous honors during her lifetime. She was named a Kentucky Colonel and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Cincinnati. She died in 1970 of cancer. Her husband had passed in 1960. They had one son, Ralph Irwin Cohen.
From the guide to the Dolly Cohen scrapbooks, 1938-1970, (University of Cincinnati, Archives and Rare Books Library)
