Mary Jane Werthan Collection

Mary Jane Werthan (1907-2000), daughter of David and Tessie Blum Lowenheim, was born on 30 September 1907 in Nashville, Tennessee. After receiving her BA from Vanderbilt University in 1929, she worked as a reporter for The Tennessean. In 1932, she married Albert Werthan. She completed her MA in social work in 1934 and became a founding member of the Children’s Bureau in 1943. She served as Vice-President of the National Conference on Social Welfare during the 1960s and became the first female member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust in 1964. Werthan served as Nashville president of the National Council of Jewish Women, chaired the Women’s Division of the Jewish Welfare Fund, and served on the board of the Jewish Community Council. She was also a charter member of the board of directors of Planned Parenthood, a founding board member of the Public Television Council, a founding officer and board member of the Nashville Symphony Guild, the first president of the Friends of Cheekwood, and a lifetime board member of the Tennessee Botanical Gardens and Fine Arts Center. The Werthans endowed the Mary Jane Werthan Chair in Judaic and Biblical Studies at Vanderbilt, the May and Morris Werthan Scholarship at the Vanderbilt Divinity School, the Werthan Chair in the Vanderbilt School of Medicine, and the Mary Jane and Albert Werthan Visiting Lectureship in Dermatology. Werthan died in Nashville, Tennessee on 15 August 2000.