# Representative women of New England/Lina F. Hecht

​LINA FRANK HECHT has been almost from the beginning of her residence in the city of Boston the centre of all philanthropic activity in Jewish circles.
Born in Baltimore, Md., November 27, 1848, Lina P>ank was one of eight children, four sons and four daughters—namely, Sarah, Alexander, Daniel, Lina (Mrs. Hecht), Emma, Rosa, Abraham, and William—who formed the united household of Simon and Fanny (Naumburg) Frank.
The parents, coming from Germany and building a happy and comfortable home for their children of the new world, bequeathed to them nobility of character and a gracious pres- ence, in which inheritance Lina fully partici- pated.
On January 23, 1867, she married in Balti- more Jacob H. Hecht, a promising young mer- chant. After passing a year in San Francisco, they took up their residence in Boston, where Mr. Hecht became a prominent figure in com- mercial and philanthropic life.
Together they worked not only for the up- building of the poor of their own faith, but for the betterment of their city, for State, and for country. Their names are to be found on the boards of State and city institutions and on the membership rolls of nearly every prominent charitable institution of Boston. They were blessed with cultivated and artistic appreciation. Painters and nmsicians found in them generous patrons, and, with the literary men and women of our day, often enjoyed the hospitality of their beautiful home on Commonwealth Av- enue. Not having any children of her own, Mrs. Hecht took to her own heart and hearth- stone five nieces and a nephew, who bear to-day loving testimony to her sympathetic care and wise guidance.
Of a profoundly religious nature and religious training, the holy language that makes "char- ity" synonymous with "justice" readily finds expression in Mrs. Hecht's life. AVhile very faithful to the claims of blood, here benevolence knows no limit of race, creed, or color. Her days are given up literally to the noble privilege of ministering to the needs of others.
She has been the active president of the Hebrew Women's Sewing Society since its organization. This is a society of over five hundred members, who give personal service in addition to material comfort to the hundreds of suffering poor who flock to our shores. The society aims to make its beneficiaries self-supporting, and, besides food, clothing, medicine, medical attendance, and "country weeks," has advanced capital to establish many worthy families in business.
Mrs. Hecht's fertile brain, her executive ability, and personal magnetism have all been called into play to make this society one of the most prominent women's organizations in the country, not only because of its far-reaching and helpful influence, hut by reason also of its financial standing.
Fourteen years ago, when so many strange people of strange thought and habit came to Boston, Mrs. Hecht opened a school to assimi- late and Americanize the immigrants, in order that these human beings might not become a burden upon the Commonwealth, but a part of it. In her wisdom she realized that the prog- ress of the world rests upon " the breath of the school-children," and that they in turn influ- ence the parents. The Baroness de Hirsch and Baroness Rothschild both approvetl the plan when Mrs. Hecht presented it to them in Paris in 1896, and both became generous contribu- tors. The citizens of Boston, Jew and non- Jew, recognized the civilizing and Americaniz- ing power vested in this institution, called the Hebrew Industrial School, and also became subscribers. Mr. Hecht served as treasurer, and was a liberal patron, believing that there was no better work than that of helping to make good citizens and home-makers, as the school strives to do.
In the death of her husband, February 24, 1903, Mrs. Hecht was deprived of a companion entirely at one with her in her hopes and aims, and it was a loss felt by all who came within the influence of his sweet and ​LINA F. HECHT ​kindly nature and the many benefited by his generosity.
Born in Hainstadt, grand duchy of Baden, March 15, 1834, Jacob H. Hecht was one of the eight children of Mr. and Mrs. Elias Hecht, who came to this country with their i)arents in 1848, and settled in Baltimore, Md. As noted above, the greater part of his business life was spent in Boston. He held various official positions, and was a contributing member of nearly all the charitable institutions of the city. He was president of the United Hebrew Benevolent Association of Boston, a director of the German Aid Society, the first president of the Elysium Club, and a member of the Bostonian Society and of the Boston Art Club.
In his will, dated January 30, I'Mi, Mr. Hecht made many public bequests. To show the breadth of his sympathies and the varied nature of his charities, also his confidence in his wife's judgment and in her fidelity to trusts, a few of its provisions may here be mentioned. A considerable sum, not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars, from the estate she was permitted to apply at her discretion, within a year from his death, for the benefit of worthy per- sons who were in need. Mrs. Hecht is also given the right to devote, if she sees fit, the income of fifty thousand dollars annually to the Hebrew Industrial School. Harvard College is to receive eventually the sum of ten thousand dollars as a scholarship fund, preferably for students of Hebrew parentage, and a fund of five thousand dollars to be known as the Hecht fund, the income to be applied to the Schiff Semitic Museum. Among other bequests may be named five thousand dollars each to the Massachusetts General Hospital anil A.si30ciated Charities of Boston; five hundred dollars each to the Benoth Israel Sheltering Home, the Boston Provident Association, the National Farm School, Philadelphia, and the Industrial School for Deformed and Crippled Children; three hundred dollars each to the Hebrew Ladies' Helping Hand Association, the Newsboys' Reading Room, the Charitable Burial Association, the Boston Y. M. C. A., and the Y. M. C. U.; one thousand dollars to the Boston Young Men's Hebrew Association; and two hundred dollars to the Salvation Army.
Mrs. Hecht is the honorary vice-president of the Jewish Publication Society of Philadelphia and a vice-president of the Civil Service Reform Association. She was vice- president of the National Council of Jewish Women, and is now the vice-president of the New England section of that organization. She has served for many years as a member of the board of the Women's Educational and Industrial Ihiion, a position in which her services have been greatly appreciated. Both the Hebrew Federated Charities and the Associated Charities of Boston are benefited by her active participation in their affairs. She has served on the Board of the Public Bath Department of the city.
Asitle from personal donations, Mrs. Hecht has been zealous in raising money for worthy causes, and the fairs and entertainments that she has organized have, through her own untiring efforts and the enthusiasm she has aroused in others, brought in phenomenal sums.
Unselfishness is Mrs. Hecht's most marked characteristic, and her whole life has been filled with thought and service for others. Although she forgets herself, her gracious image is enshrined in many hearts. Her friends enjoy her sympathetic temperament and graceful presence, and the poor, who are also her friends, praise her kind heart and generosity.
As the Hebrew matron of old, so "she spreadeth out wide her open palm to the poor. She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and the law of kindness is on her tongue.
"Strength and dignity are her clothing; and she smileth at the coming of the last day. Let her own works praise her in the gates."