Jody Cohen Press

Author

Julie M. Luker, Concordia University, St. PaulFollow

Files

Interviewee

Jody Cohen Press

Interviewer

Cole Steinberg

Transcriber

Landmark Associates

Generation

Baby Boom Generation (1946-1964)

Neighborhood

Multiple Saint Paul

Document Type

Oral History

Date of Interview

7-7-2022

Keywords

Multiple, Macalester-Groveland, Highland Park, Saint Paul, 1958

Disciplines

Oral History | Psychology

Abstract

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Jody Anne Cohen Press is a white female born on August 8, 1958. She is one of two siblings. Her father worked as a sales manager in the liquor industry. Her mother worked for the State of Minnesota until she became a stay-at-home parent. She grew up Jewish. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Press starts by mentioning which external and immediate family members she interacted with the most as she was growing up, noting her relationship with her maternal grandmother, as well as her cousins and parents. She briefly discusses how her, and her brother were not forced to do household chores. She mentions how they were a middle-class family, and how her father was good at his job. She goes on to talk about her religious upbringing, and how she was raised in a conservative Jewish family, and keeps to her customs to this day, as well as her involvement with her synagogue, in which she's on the board of directors. Press talks about how she spent a lot of her childhood at Edgecumbe Playground, and how she was in the tumbling sport until the sixth grade and won some medals. She describes what her home looked like, detailing the bookcases and China cabinets that they had. She discusses how her family knew everybody in the neighborhood, and how they would look after some of the neighbors. She mentions the value of being respectful and nice to others, the golden rule, as well as following what their faith said. Press mentions some of the leisure activities that her family did, such as backyard barbecuing, going boating on the St. Croix, stay at Lake Itasca. She goes on to describe what she did during her leisure time, which was participating in activities such as tetherball, going to the playground, being hide and seek, riding bikes, as well as playing with barbies and an easy bake oven. She talks about the entertainment that she enjoyed, like That Girl, American Bandstand, and the Beatles. She continues by describing some of the teachers that she has, as well as what her student body looked like, and how her school was pretty integrated for both race and students with disabilities. Press ends the interview by describing the local issues affecting the neighborhood, such as the Vietnam War, Democratic Convention in Chicago, and Woodstock. She also talks about how they would occasionally take trips to see the fallout shelter in grade school, as well as all of the vaccines that she needed to take.

Copyright

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced without the written permission of Concordia University Library or Julie Luker, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, St. Paul.

Recommended Citation

Luker, Julie M., "Jody Cohen Press" (2022). Saint Paul and Surrounding Area. 21.
https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/tc-ohp_interviews_stp/21