Shifra Goldman | |
---|---|
Born | Shifra Meyerowitz July 18, 1926 |
Died | July 11, 2011
Los Angeles, California | (aged 84)
Nationality | American |
Alma mater |
University of California, Los Angeles; California State University, Los Angeles |
Occupation | art historian |
Spouse | John Garcia |
Shifra Goldman (née Meyerowitz; July 18, 1926 – September 11, 2011) was an American art historian, feminist, and activist. [1] She had a probing intellect and a sense of "brutal" honesty. [2] She also had an "encyclopedic" knowledge of art history and a passion for Chicana/o art. [3]
Goldman grew up in New York City and moved to Los Angeles after World War II. [2] Her parents, a trade unionist mother and a political activist father came from Poland and Russia and both exposed Goldman to art and politics at an early age. [4]
Goldman went to the High School of Music and Art in New York. When her family moved to Los Angeles, Goldman enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). [4] During her time there, she became involved in civil rights. She took part in the student boycott against barbers in Westwood who would not cut the hair of Black veterans. [4] Goldman did not finish her degree at this time; instead she chose to dedicate herself to civil rights for Mexican-Americans. [5] She lived in East Los Angeles, where she learned to speak Spanish and in 1952 married John Garcia. [5]
Her marriage to Garcia lasted a short time and later she had another brief marriage. [5] For some time, Goldman worked in a factory [5] and then as a bookkeeper to support herself and her son, Eric Garcia. [4] During this time, she continued to be a civil rights activist and was subpoenaed to appear at the panel of the House Un-American Activities Committee where she did not answer any of their questions. [5]
In the 1960s she returned to UCLA to complete her B.A. in art. [4] Goldman received a M.A. in art history from California State University, Los Angeles (1966)and returned to UCLA to get her PhD in art history in 1977. [4] When Goldman chose her doctoral topic for her PhD, she had to wait several years for a faculty member to approve her choice of modern Mexican Art. [4]
She taught at Santa Ana College, until 1992. [5]
She helped save the "America Tropical" mural, by David Alfaro Siqueiros. [6]
Goldman had an impressive collection of archival material relating to art and artists which she donated to the California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives at UC Santa Barbara. [5]
She died in Los Angeles from Alzheimer's disease. [5]
"I was never in the mainstream, never in all my life. I was born on the margins, lived on the margins, and have always sympathized with the margins. They make a lot more sense to me than the mainstream." [4]