Sophia Monté Neuberger Loebinger (1865–1943) was a Jewish-American singer, philanthropist, women's suffrage activist, orator, writer, and newspaper editor. While often remembered as a suffragist, her brand of pro-suffrage activism adopted both the namesake and political outlook of the British-derived suffragette movement. Like her British predecessors, Loebinger's activism employed more radical and militant tactics than the adjacent American suffragists. Such radicalism made waves in the media both locally and nationally, and helped galvanize a public politics of protest for the American suffrage movement. She was a founding member of the Progressive Woman Suffrage Union and served as both editor and a regular contributor to its newspaper, The American Suffragette.
Biography
Early life Sophia was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 28, 1865,"Sophia Monté Loebinger." National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 447; Volume #: Roll 447 – June 7, 1895 – June 13, 1895. to Jewish immigrant parents, Jacob and Rosalie (Roldene) Neuberger."Jacob Neuberger." Year: 1880; Census Place: New York City, New York, New York; Roll: 898; Page: 660D; Enumeration District: 644. Born in Germany, her father arrived in the Port of New York on December 23, 1851"Jacob Neuberger." Year: 1851; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820–1897; Line: 9; List Number: 1797. before making his way to Chicago where he met Danish-born Rosalie Stein. The two were married in Cook County, Illinois in 1858."Rosalie Stein." Illinois, U.S., Marriage Index, 1860–1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. While the Neubergers were not a wealthy family, a New York Tribune article from 1920 notes that Jacob Neuberger had associations with Albert Paine, who served as the mayor of New York during the civil war and was a close friend and client of Abraham Lincoln.
After Sophia's birth in 1865, Rosalie had six more children between the 1860s and 1870s, respectively named Isaac, David, Silas, Louis, Minnette (Minnie), and Freedrieka. Sophia and David remained very close throughout her life.
As the eldest of her siblings, Sophia spent her earliest years in Chicago before moving with her family to New York City in the late 1860s."Jacob Neuberger." Year: 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Upon their arrival, Sophia’s family lived in what was then Manhattan's Nineteenth Ward, between the areas known today as Lenox Hill and Midtown East, before relocating to East 122nd Street in the late 1870s, in what is now East Harlem. At the time of their residence, elevated trains ("els") were just being extended to the area, making it a sight of rapid development. As a result, by the mid-1880s, the streets of Sophia's neighbourhood would have been lined with tightly-packed tenement buildings, built to house large populations of low-income German, Irish, and Jewish immigrants.
Education In the early 1870s, Sophia attended New York City's Grammar school No. 53, located at Seventy-Ninth Street and Third Avenue, just south of the newly-constructed Central Park."Sophie Newburger." Year: 1870; Census Place: New York Ward 19 District 10, New York, New York; Roll: M593_1003; Page: 325A; Family History Library Film: 552502. Though there is no record of what conditions were like during Sophia's time as a student, New York Times articles from the 1880s reveal that the school suffered immensely from poor funding and unsanitary conditions. It was not uncommon for classrooms to hold fifty pupils at once, oftentimes having just one window to let in fresh air. Overheating was such a problem that, in an 1883 article, it is reported that one of the teachers fainted in front of her students, causing an hour-long frenzy. Given that Sophia became an advocate for improved education funding and conditions for both students and teachers, it is likely that she endured similarly unfavourable classroom settings during her time as a student.
Despite these conditions, Sophia graduated with first-class honours in 1874, achieving an 85 percent average and being awarded a silver medal in German. It was also during this time that she began honing the performance skills for which she would receive great acclaim in the following decade. Already a recognized singing talent, she, along with classmate Rachel Frohman, was chosen to represent her school by performing a duet of Vincenzo Gabussi's "The Fisherman" at their graduation ceremony.
After finishing grade school, Sophia went on to attend New York's The Normal College where she received the modern equivalent of a high school education, as well as training that enabled her to become a school teacher. Following her education, she briefly taught in the boys' department of Grammar School No. 70 on East 122nd Street.
Singing career Prior to her career as a philanthropist and activist, Sophia (still Neuberger at the time) received high praise as an operatic soprano. Before making her professional stage debut, it was Sophia's intention to move abroad for her musical study and training. In support of this desire, a charitable concert was held at Steinway Hall in April 1881, the proceeds of which were to go towards financing Sophia's international education. Singing to an audience of her friends, Sophia received resounding applause with one newspaper outlet writing that "concerts of this kind require no critical comment." Despite the success of this event, an October spotlight printed in The Musical Courier revealed that Sophia would remain in New York for her formal stage training, placing herself under the direction of retired opera singer, Adelina Murio-Celli d'Elpeux.
After completing her training, Sophia made a name for herself in the entertainment world, being chosen to accompany the renowned violinist Camilla Urso on an extended concert tour in 1883. Their tour was heavily advertised in newspapers at the time, and stopped in a variety of cities including Philadelphia and Freeport, Illinois. She made her official New York stage debut on December 11, 1884, in a revival performance of "Der Bettlestudent" at the Thalia Theatre. Though critics report that both Sophia's singing and acting that night suffered from a palpable nervousness, the performance was received favourably overall.
Sophia continued to perform throughout the mid-1880s, singing at a number of prestigious theatres including the Lexington Avenue Opera House before gaining high acclaim in the European operatic circuit where she performed under the stage name Mlle. Monté. Her talent was so highly regarded that, on September 24, 1886, she was chosen to be the lead soprano in an operatic performance put on by the city of Metz in honour of the Crown Prince Frederick William’s visit. According to critics, the performance, in particular Sophia's singing, was met with great applause.
Sophia retired from the professional stage in the late 1880s, returning to New York where she became popular among certain elite social circles after her marriage to Hugo Loebinger in 1889. Despite her professional retirement, her talents were so favoured among these circles that her friends started a musical and literary club in her honour, the entertainments of which frequently featured Sophia's singing. Although this club flourished for some time, it disbanded after many of its core members left the city. Despite the club's disbandment, a small number of remaining members felt disinclined to give up the pleasures of these gatherings altogether, requesting that Sophia keep up the regular meetings. While she was apprehensive about this request, she eventually acceded, under the condition that the small number of remaining club members join her in creating a new organization that was both social and charitable. This condition led to the founding of the Monté Relief Society in 1893.
Marriage and children Upon her return to New Tork, Sophia met Bavarian-born Baron Hugo Julius Loebinger, a reputedly well-to-do physician who had received honors in Berlin, Paris, and several American cities. The two were married in Manhattan on November 27, 1889, making Sophia a baroness."Sophie J Newburger." Ancestry.com. New York City, U.S., Extracted Marriage Index, 1866–1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014."Dr. Hugo Julius Loebinger." New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Birth Certificates Once married, the Loebingers moved to a more affluent Jewish neighbourhood in Manhattan, where they lived at 32 Edgecombe Avenue in one of New York's trademark brownstones located on the border of St. Nicholas Park. They welcomed their first and only child, Julia (Jewel) Inez Loebinger, into the world on October 20, 1891."Julia Inez Loebinger." New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Birth Certificates; Borough: Manhattan; Year: 1891. Like her mother, Jewel had a talent for music, becoming a noted cellist and student of Max Gegna following her education at Washington Irving High School. Tragically, Jewel died of bronchial pneumonia in 1920, leaving behind her husband of merely three years, Nicholas Rippen, and their fifteen-month-old daughter, Jacquelin.
The Monté Relief Society In January 1893, Sophia (now a married woman and mother) turned her musical prowess into a vehicle for giving back when she, along with sixteen fellow Jewish women, co-founded the Monté Relief Society: a charitable organization dedicated to feeding and clothing New York's sick and poor. With Loebinger serving as president, the Monté Relief Society began its work with fierce precision and organization, dedicating the first three months of its existence to bolstering its reputation among New York's charitable circuit, raising funds, and planning out the precise modes of aiding and alleviating distress that the society would employ once it became operational.
Composed of women between the ages of 18 and 45, the Monté Relief Society's principal aim was to "promote benevolence and charity, by relieving the sick and the distressed to the best of their ability and the extent of their funds." Their relief efforts focused primarily around distributing food and clothing to those in need, as well as providing monetary aid and, on occasion, helping those fit for employment find and secure work opportunities. Although no preference was given to particular districts or creeds, the charity's weekly ministrations were frequented by the sweatshop workers living in the overcrowded tenement walk-ups of the Lower East Side. Like the well-organized groundwork that went into the society upon its inception, each case was assessed and investigated on an individual basis to ensure none but deserving families received aid. As a result of this organized leadership, much of which depended on Loebinger, membership in the society grew so rapidly that it had to relocate to a larger meeting space within its first year. In just two years, the society went from 17 to 500 members, all dedicated to helping hundreds of families in need.
Suffrage activism
The Progressive Woman Suffrage Union