Jacobs Homefront

Jacobs Homefront World War II: Natick Veterans Oral History Project 

Fresh out of high school, Ruth Jacobs heard that the Boston Herald Traveler was hiring “copy girls” since so many men had gone off to war. She quickly showed her talents and was assigned to writing the obituaries of soldiers from Massachusetts. She was then assigned to interview returning veterans, and those wounded in the war. She also co-authored a piece about women returning to their homes after working while their husbands were at war. She reminisces about meeting dignitaries such as Governor Tobin, Mayor Curley, then-U.S. Representative John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill and General Eisenhower. Ms. Jacobs is a college professor, gerontologist and writer who has had veterans in her classes writing about their war experiences and she speaks of the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder. A peace activist, Ruth explains why, as a woman of Jewish heritage, she decided to become a Quaker. Her many newspaper articles can be found on microfilm copies of the Boston Herald Traveler newspaper.