Nash, Tanya Zolotoroff

Hearing. Born at Odessa in the Ukraine; her Jewish family emigrated to the U.S. in 1904. Russian was her native language, but she quickly became fluent in English, Yiddish, and American Sign Language. Met and married a rabbi, Felix Nash, who was director of the Society for the Welfare of the Jewish Deaf in New York City. After his early death, she took over leadership of the Society for the next 35 years, greatly expanding the scope of services provided by the Society. Helped plan and initiate the New York State Mental Health Services for the Deaf in 1955, and was the moving force behind the building of Tanya Towers, a 137-unit high-rise apartment building for elderly deaf people in New York that opened in 1974.