Jennifer Meeropol is the granddaughter of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and the daughter of RFC Founder, Robert Meeropol. Jenn became the Executive Director of the RFC on September 1, 2013. Prior posts on this page were written by Robert (unless otherwise noted), and represent his opinions, which are not necessarily shared by the RFC.
In late June, when the staff sat down to write the articles for the RFC fall newsletter, we saw so many reasons to anticipate a brighter fall and winter and, hopefully, a continual decline in COVID transmission and an ever increasing sense that it would be safe to bring our community back together in person. Infection rates were dropping, vaccination rates were rising, and in the Western Mass community around the RFC office, there was a gradual return to something approaching a pre-COVID “normal.”
On August 26th, the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. hosted a virtual event with Historian and Curator Andrew Hammond in conversation with Anne Sebba, the author of "Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy." Rosenberg son Michael Meeropol participated in the Q&A section of the program.
“Reconnecting, and an offer of support,” read the subject line of the innocuous email in my inbox. When I opened it, I found a lovely note from one of the earliest RFC beneficiaries whom we had lost touch with over the years. She was interested in reconnecting, and exploring ways of supporting the RFC.
About nine months ago I joined the staff at the Rosenberg Fund for Children as the new Granting Coordinator. Hearing the stories of the repression these incredible individuals have faced due to their activism, and the impact it has had on their children, made me even more grateful to be in the position to support them in whatever ways I can.
I watched over the weekend, as I imagine many of you did as well, as the US left Afghanistan, leaving behind chaos, devastation and despair. Rachel, the RFC’s new communications manager, contacted me Monday morning to suggest we postpone a scheduled “feel good” social media post in light of the grim developments.
She emailed me again the next morning with the following idea: