This is a timeline of women hazzans (also called cantors) worldwide.
1884: Julie Rosewald, called "Cantor Soprano" by her congregation, became America's first female cantor, serving San Francisco's Temple Emanu-El from 1884 until 1893, although she was not ordained.[1][2] She was born in Germany.[3]
1955: Betty Robbins, born in Greece, became the first female cantor to serve in the twentieth century in America (although she was not ordained) when she was hired at Temple Avodah in Oceanside, New York.[4]
Mid-1950s: Esther Ghan Firestone became the first female cantor in Canada, although she was not ordained.[5][6]
1978: Linda Rich became the first female cantor to sing in a Conservative synagogue (specifically Temple Beth Zion in Los Angeles) in 1978, although she was not ordained until 1996 when she finally received her ordination of "Hazzan Minister" from the "Jewish Theological Seminary" in New York.[11][12]
1982: Women Cantors Network, an international outreach support group for female cantors, which works for the nationwide recognition and employment of qualified female cantors, was founded in 1982 by cantor Deborah Katchko-Zimmerman, who was the granddaughter of a prominent cantor (Adolph Katchko), and who was trained privately by her father, also a cantor.[14][15][16]
1990: The Cantors Assembly, an international professional organization of cantors associated with Conservative Judaism, began allowing women to join.[17]
2001: Deborah Davis became the first cantor of either sex (and therefore, since she was female, the first female cantor) in Humanistic Judaism; however, Humanistic Judaism has since stopped graduating cantors.[30]
2013: Nancy Abramson became the first female president of the Cantors Assembly, an international professional organization of cantors associated with Conservative Judaism.[41][42]
Romeo Edmead (April 5, 2010). "When do you Reveal?". Matildaziegler.com;Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
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