Dorothy Kurgans Goldberg

Dorothy Kurgans Goldberg (August 1, 1908 – February 13, 1988) was an American artist and writer.

Dorothy Kurgans Goldberg
Dorothy Kurgans Goldberg, from a 1966 publication of the US Department of State
Born	Dorothy Kurgans August 1, 1908 St. Louis, Missouri
Died	February 13, 1988 New York City
Occupation(s)	Writer, artist, human rights worker
Spouse	Arthur Goldberg

Dorothy Kurgans Goldberg with Arthur Goldberg, 1969

Early life and education

Dorothy Kurgans was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Louis and Esther Feldman Kurgans. Her father was in the garment industry.^[1] She studied art and art education at the University of Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago, and completed doctoral studies at the University of Chicago in 1932.^[2]

Career

 

Dorothy Kurgans Goldberg (in pink) stood next to President Lyndon Johnson and behind her husband, Arthur Goldberg, when he was sworn in as United States Ambassador to the United Nations in 1965; also in the photograph are Lady Bird Johnson (in a blue dress) and Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black (on the right)

Goldberg exhibited her paintings, taught art,^[3] co-founded the Associated Artists Gallery in Washington, D.C.,^[4] and supported community art programs in New York and Washington. While her husband was ambassador to the United Nations,^[5] she chose the art they displayed in the twelve-story United States Mission headquarters in New York.^[6] Books by Goldberg included The Creative Woman (1963),^[7] A Private View of Public Life (a memoir, 1975),^[8][9] Lola and the Moving Stairs (a children's book), and Sculpture in the Round (1989, poems, published posthumously).^[10]

In 1944, Goldberg testified before a congressional hearing on employment discrimination, representing the National Women's Trade Union League.^[11] While based in Washington, D.C., she founded an employment program, Widening Horizons, helped organize DC Citizens for Public Education, and was a founder of Friends of the Juvenile Court.^[2][12] She co-chaired the National School Volunteer Program,^[13][14] was co-founder of the Counselor Aide Program in DC schools,^[15] and served several terms on the President's Committee for the Handicapped.^[16] In 1970, she campaigned for her husband in his run for governor of New York.^[4][17][18]

On the international level, Goldberg represented the United States at the Belgrade Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe,^[19] and she was an observer at the Ottawa Conference on Human Rights. She received the Mary McLeod Bethune Award in 1966, from the National Council of Negro Women.^[20]

Personal life and legacy

In 1931, Dorothy Kurgans married lawyer Arthur J. Goldberg, who during their long marriage became Secretary of Labor in the Kennedy administration,^[21] an ambassador during the Johnson administration,^[22] ran for governor of New York in 1970,^[17] and served as a justice on the Supreme Court.^[23] They had two children, Barbara and Robert.^[24] Goldberg died from lung cancer in 1988, aged 79 years, in New York.^[2]

A Virginia gallery held an exhibition of Goldberg's paintings in 2001.^[25]

References

1. "Goldberg's Mother-in-Law, Mrs. Esther Kurgans, Dies". The New York Times. 1966-01-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
2. "Dorothy Kurgans Goldberg, 79; Artist, Writer and Rights Figure". The New York Times. 1988-02-14. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
3. Warren, Virginia Lee (July 30, 1965). "Mrs. Goldberg Stymied By Suite Without Attic". The New York Times. p. 28 – via ProQuest.
4. Narel, Dorothy A. (1970-10-23). "Mrs. Arthur Goldberg Holds Press Conference Here". The Kingston Daily Freeman. p. 14. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
5. "Goldberg's Wife Speaks at S.F. Meet". Oakland Tribune. 1968-06-07. p. 27. Retrieved 2022-01-26 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Teltsch, Kathleen (1966-05-22). "Goldberg Takes a Fancy to 'Pop Art' of 1790's; Sign Loaned to U.S. Mission to Hang in Meeting Room Recalls the Revolution". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
7. Goldberg, Dorothy Kurgans (1963). The creative woman. Washington: R.B. Luce. OCLC 848718.
8. Goldberg, Dorothy Kurgans (1975). A private view of a public life. New York: Charterhouse. ISBN 0-88327-047-1. OCLC 1531819.
9. Eaton, William J. (1975-11-30). "Mrs. Goldberg Has No Regrets". Arizona Daily Star. p. 85. Retrieved 2022-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Goldberg, Dorothy Kurgans (1989). Sculpture in the round: poems. Anchorage, AK: Press North. OCLC 19811212.
11. United States Congress House Committee on Labor (1944). To Prohibit Discrimination in Employment: Hearings Before the Committee on Labor, House of Representatives, Seventy-eighth Congress, Second Session, on H.R. 3986. H.R. 4004, and H.R. 4005, Bills to Prohibit Discrimination in Employment Because of Race, Creed, Color, National Origin, Or Ancestry ... U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 111–117.
12. "Mrs. Goldberg Due Tomorrow on ISU Campus". The Terre Haute Tribune. 1968-11-11. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-01-26 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Mrs. Arthur Goldberg Urges Services of More Volunteers". Job Corps Staff Newsletter. 5: 5. January 1969.
14. "Centers Make News". The Corpsman. 5: 5. May 15, 1969.
15. "Many Women Serve as DC School Aides". Department of State Newsletter: 36. September 1967.
16. "Author Dorothy K. Goldberg, Wife of Former Justice, Dies". Washington Post. February 14, 1988. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
17. Gelder, Lawrence Van (1970-06-03). "A Woman of Many Titles Joins Goldberg's Campaign". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
18. McMullan, Penelope (1970-10-23). "Behind the Public Image: The Rockefellers and the Goldbergs". Newsday (Suffolk Edition). pp. 87, 88. Retrieved 2022-01-26 – via Newspapers.com.
19. United States Congress Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (1978). The Belgrade Followup Meeting to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe: A Report and Appraisal. U.S. Government Printing Office.
20. "Get Rid of 'Black Power' Slogan: Miss Height". Jet: 10. January 5, 1967.
21. Judiciary, United States Congress Senate (1962). Nomination of Arthur J. Goldberg: Hearings...87-2...September 11, 13 1962.
22. "Goldberg Will Represent US at United Nations; Stevenson Eulogized by President, Secretary". Department of State News Letter: 10. August 1965.
23. "NCJW Sponsors Tea Honoring Guest of 'Women in Action'". The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. 1965-05-14. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-01-26 – via Newspapers.com.
24. Stebenne, David (1996-05-30). Arthur J. Goldberg: New Deal Liberal. Oxford University Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-19-536126-1 – via Newspapers.com.
25. Arbury, Steve; Goldberg, Dorothy Kurgans; Goldberg, Robert; Jones, Arthur Frederick; Flossie Martin Gallery (2001). The art of Dorothy Kurgans Goldberg: Flossie Martin Gallery, February 15-March 9, 2001. Radford, Va.: Radford University Foundation Press. OCLC 45952050.