Zena Posever Collected Papers

Zena Goldin Posever was born on January 17, 1911 in Korop, Ukraine near Kiev. In 1915 Zena and her mother and sister emigrated to the United States to join her father in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While in grade school, a teacher noticed Zena's artistic talent and gave her the opportunity for special instruction. After graduating from the Normal Art Course at the Philadelphia High School for Girls in 1928, Zena received a scholarship to the Moore Institute of Arts and Sciences. Not interested in a commercial path, she soon left and became active in the labor movement. In the 1930s she resumed her art training, including study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1938-1942) and abroad on a Fellowship. For most of her career, she was established in Miami Beach, Florida, where she created artwork (both painting and sculpting), taught classes, and engaged in the civil rights and peace movements. She founded Artists Speak for Peace in South Florida in 1983 and organized their exhibitions in Greater Miami. In the mid-1980s, she advocated for the U.S. postal stamp honoring Paul Robeson. Posever was a close friend of Edith Villastrigo, whose work in Women Strike for Peace she greatly admired. Posever was a life-long member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She died in 2012.