Clara Marx Schwarz, 1908-1976

Clara Schwarz was, for many years, NCJW Head of the Port and Dock Committee and also a trained social worker. She is remembered just barely in written sources but was central to the work of settling displaced persons. After World War II, she was named director of the New Orleans Port and Dock Program, a citywide interdenominational effort to help Europian immigrants who came to the U.S. Schwarz oversaw the placement of the refugees that came through the Port of New Orleans. Volunteers met new immigrants at the dock and provided meals and assistance in settling in New Orleans and elsewhere. Sara Stone noted that through Schwarz’s efforts, 5,700 Jewish persons were processed through the Port in the three years of the program. Anne Levy, an educator, and activist in our online exhibition, and Anne’s sister and family were resettled through this program. In the document to the near right, Schwarz notes the difficulty during the war years of getting Jewish people out of Europe. On the far right, the Fact Sheet from 1952 on the separation of families is evocative of ongoing problems for immigrants to the US today.