Margery K. Stich, 1915-1989

As President of the Southern Interstate Regional Conference (SIR) of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Margery Stich attended President Kennedy’s White House Conference on Civil Rights in July of 1963 where over 100 national women’s organizations participated. Inspired by this meeting, Stich devised a 7-state strategy for desegregation efforts on the part of SIR. Back at home in New Orleans and interested in making government work for its people, Stich founded VIGOR (Volunteers in Government of Responsibility) that matched volunteers to city needs. She began the Answer Desk in Mayor Moon Landrieu’s administration to help residents navigate the Great Society Programs of the Johnson era. Along with Renna Godchaux and the NCJW, Stich launched a Mobile Answer Desk, a bus that went to five underserved areas in the city. Sylvia Sterne remembered going weekly to Gert Town with Flo Schornstein to connect residents to available services. The Mobile Answer Desk of Stich’s eventually moved to NCJW-supported television programs such as “Six on Your Side” and “Fox 8 Defenders.”