Doris Kaplan was born on May 5, 1921 in New Brunswick New Jersey. At 6 months old she moved with her family to Brooklyn, New York where she spent most of her childhood. In 1931 her family relocated to Birobidzhan, which was located in the far east of the Soviet Union. Her father stayed in Birobidzhan to work on in the town and she and her mother moved to Khabarovsk where Doris went to school. She cites the 2 years she spent as Birobidzhan as solidifying her political beliefs; the country was dedicated to its children and she loved that about the Soviet Union. Back in the United States she spent her summers at radical camps and during the year she participated in many youth groups among them, the American Student Union was where she met her husband, Marty. They settled in Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of Philadelphia where they raised their two kids for a few years.

 

At the height of the McCarthy era Doris and her family  moved to Fountainville to run a chicken farm.  Her activism shifted during her time at the farm; she joined the League of Women Voters and helped run Henry Wallace’s campaign, but focused most of her time on her tending to the farm and raising her children. When she moved back to Philadelphia into West Mount Airy years later, she became involved with the Sholom Aleichem Club,  becoming treasurer. She is still active in groups and holds on to her left-wing beliefs which she has passed on to her two daughters and her grandson.

 

- Compiled by Elizabeth Janczewski