June Blumenfeld Cahn (1923-2004)
A lifelong advocate of racial and criminal justice reform, Cahn was the first woman attorney to work in the Orleans Parish Legal Aid Bureau. She called for suspended sentences of first-time offenders, educational resources and psychotherapy for inmates, and housing and job transition programs. Working through the Anti-Defamation League, she helped register black voters in Bogalusa and the surrounding areas, and as president of the McMain Parent Teacher Association, she held back an organized take-over of PTAs by the White Citizens’ Council of Greater New Orleans.
June Blumenthal Cahn, far left, shown here with (left to right) Susan Hess, Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, Coretta Scott King, Sybil Morial, and Helen Kohlman, ca. 1975. Courtesy of Vivian and Richard Cahn.
June Blumenthal Cahn, right, with Congresswoman Lindy Boggs, ca. 1990. Courtesy of Vivian and Richard Cahn.
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