NA'AMAT USA Pittsburgh Council

1925 - 2021

BiographyThe Organization for Pioneer Women in Palestine was founded in New York City in 1925 by Rahel Yanai Ben Zvi to train Jewish women for agricultural work. The Pioneer Women Pittsburgh Council was founded the same year. It initially met at the Zionist Institute on Centre Avenue in the Hill District. It later relocated to the Labor Zionist Educational Center building on Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill. Local leader Gloria Elbling rose through the ranks to become national president of the group in the 1980s.

As membership in the organization grew locally, Pioneer Women created a local chapters, including Chapter 1, Dvorah, Kinnereth, Hanita, Hadera, Ness Ziona, Golda Meyerson, Ain Karem, Medina, Kadimah, Shalom, Sabra, Aliyah, and L’Chaim. The Pittsburgh Council formally closed in 2021.

In the early 1980s, Pioneer Women became NA’AMAT, a Hebrew acronym for an acronym for “working and volunteering women.” Over the course of the late 20th century, NA’AMAT began to provide a broader range of services to women and children, including vocational training, domestic violence shelters, daycare centers, free legal counsel for working women, and scholarship programs.