Archives West Finding Aid

Mrs. Helen Birkman Blumenthal was born in September 1892. Her father came to Seattle in 1880 via the Baron de Hirsch Black Hills Settlement and was persuaded by the Bottstein family to set up a clothing business in Pioneer Square. Her mother came to Seattle from Germany some years later. Mrs. Blumenthal attended a religious school and was confirmed in 1906. She received her education at the Rainier grammer school and Broadway High School. After graduating in 1910, she joined her friend Edith Rosenberg at Benjamin School in New York, a finishing school for girls. Returning to Seattle in 1912, she began teaching Sunday School. In the winter of 1912, she went to Los Angeles to visit a friend and met Stanley Blumenthal at a party given by B'nai B'rith. They returned to Seattle and were married by Rabbi Koch at Temple De Hirsch. Later, Mrs. Blumenthal became active in the Temple Sisterhood and through that group she became interested in the Jewish Literature for the Blind. She learned Braille and transcribed children's stories. There is a room named after Mrs. Blumenthal at the Community House for the Blind in honor of her work.