Lizzie Black Kander

Lizzie Black Kander (1858–1940) was a progressive reformer and the founder of a settlement house in Milwaukee, where she originated The Settlement Cookbook.

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Black was born on May 28, 1858 to John and Mary (Perles) Black, both of English and Bavarian descent. The Black family had previously lived in Green Bay, Wisconsin before their 1844 move to the South Side of Milwaukee. John Black opened a dry goods store to support the family. At this time, the Blacks were one of over two hundred German-Jewish families who lived as merchants in the Milwaukee area. Kander’s parents were founding members of the Reform temple Temple Emanu-El and believed in reconciling religion with the progressive ideas of the age. At a young age, Kander was taught from her mother that “home reigned supreme.” This concept would carry throughout all of her progressive work.

She attended and graduated valedictorian from Milwaukee East High School. In her valedictorian speech, she “spoke of the need to restore economic individualism and political democracy to American cities”. She believed that “social decay could not be entirely blamed on the effects of rapid industrialization, urbanization, or capitalism, but from the general wiliness of women to escape personal responsibility”. Although Kander had progressive ideas, she did not agree with the women’s suffrage movement. It had become an unproductive distraction. Like other female reformers of her time, Kander believed in “municipal housekeeping”. Women could use their natural housekeeping ability to manage the larger home of the city. An increasing belief the center of home life was responsible for the moral tone of the community.

Soon after her graduation, she joined the Ladies Relief Sewing Society. This became the foundation of her future reform work. She met Simon Kander, a native of Baltimore who had moved to Milwaukee in 1868, through their mutual interest in public school reform. Black and Kander were married on May 17, 1881; the couple never had children.

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