Year Honored: 1983
Birth: 1880 - 1976
Born in: Russia
Biography
Called the “most important Jewish woman in Delaware history,” by the Jewish Federation of Delaware, Sallie Topkis Ginns certainly worked to earn the title. After immigrating from Russia at age two, Ginns spent the majority of her life residing in Wilmington. She founded several programs in the city, including the National Council of Jewish Women, Temple Beth Emeth, and the Young Men and Women’s Hebrew Association. As a member of those groups, Ginns led efforts to provide educational assistance, Americanization programs for immigrants, and community support.
Ginns was a strong supporter of the suffrage movement. She was a member of the National Women’s Party, a militant group organized by Alice Paul. Ginns served as the organization’s treasurer for 8 years. A frequent picketer in Washington D.C, Ginns’ husband was supportive of her efforts until members of her group began getting arrested. He extracted a promise from Ginns that she would be done picketing at the White House. “Soon after,” Ginns remarked, “I joined a march to Washington and carrying the familiar gold and purple banner of the suffrage movement, I was assigned to picket the capital. Of course, I carried out my assignment. After all, I had promised my husband, Jim, not to harass the White House. He hadn’t said anything about the Capitol.”
Ginns was also a Board Member of the Woods Haven School for Girls for 24 years and received both the Clara Barton Medal and Lammot du Pont Memorial Award for more than 50 years’ service as a Red Cross Volunteer. They also honored her with a life membership to the Red Cross of Delaware’s Board of Directors. In her eulogy, Rabbi Herbert E. Drooz, said of Ginns, “it is difficult to think of an organization with sound purpose of justice, love, and compassion that did not win her devoted support.”
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Sources and Additional Readings
A guide to the archives - jhsdelaware.org. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2021, from http://www.jhsdelaware.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/guide.pdf
Richards, R. H. (1955, January 1). Ginns, Sallie T. Topkis (Mrs. James N. Ginns). UDSpace Home. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/20107
Sallie Topkis Ginns obituary, 9/25/1976. Newspapers.com. (1976, September 25). Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28028528/sallie-topkis-ginns-obituary-9251976/
- Collections: 1983, Delaware Suffragists