Carolyn Anspacher (1907–1975)

Carolyn Anspacher, born in San Francisco, was a third-generation Californian whose great-grandfather Samuel Hirshberg was one of Oakland's early Jewish settlers. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was president of the Mask and Dagger Dramatics Honor Society. Ms. Anspacher was a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1933 to her death in 1979, and during her career covered many major stories, including the murder trial of Angela Davis, and the kidnapping and trial of Patty Hearst. She later published a book called The Trial of Patty Hearst (1976) and wrote a previous book called The Trial of Dr. de Kaplany (1965). Ms. Anspacher received many awards for her journalism. She was a lifelong friend of Virginia and Ansel Adams; in about 1932, Adams took a classical photo portrait of her that was called "The Great Stone Face" by some. In 1928, she had a starring role in the first English translation of The Dybbuk, a Yiddish play by S. Ansky about Jewish folklore.