Lillie Shultz (1904 – April 14, 1981)[1] was a journalist, a writer, an administrator for the American Jewish Congress,[2] communal worker[1] and activist against discrimination.[3]
Lillie (Lillian[4]) Shultz (also spelled Schultz[5][6][7]) served from 1933 to 1944, as chief administrative officer and director of publicity at the American Jewish Congress.[2] She was the only woman on the staff. She served on the governing council, was an editor of the Congress Bulletin; an active member of a committee dealing with the 1936 Olympics.
Schultz advocated against oppression and discrimination, and was instrumental in establishing a commission to investigate economic discrimination against Jews in the United States[3] 1933–1944.[1]
Shultz was a leading member of the Jewish Agency for Palestine in 1947[8] in the negotiations leading to the United Nations recommendation for the partition of Palestine and was a close colleague and co-worker with the Jewish Agency delegation to the UN.[9] She lobbied against nuclear proliferation.[2]
Shultz was born in 1904, in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. After her graduation,[2] and her first job as a journalist was with the Philadelphia Jewish World, editing the English-language section.[1]
In an article entitled “Why I Was Jealous: A Sukkoth Memory,” she elaborated about her love of Jewish culture and recalled her grandfather's prayer and longing that have inspired her, her activism.[3]
Shultz was a staff member in the early 1930s[1] of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,[9] before[3] working for the American Jewish Congress. From 1944 to 1955, she was also director of the Nation Associates,[2][10][11] publishers of Nation magazine, as well as a member of its editorial staff.[9]