Emma Messing

(Oct. 29, 1872–April 21, 1950). Emma Messing was a vaudeville actress, a stenographer, and a pioneering figure in American diplomacy as one of an early cohort of women to enter the US diplomatic service. From 1921 to 1939, she broke barriers for women in foreign service while serving as a secretary under five ambassadors at the US Embassy in Berlin, Germany. 

Born into a Jewish family in Indianapolis, Messing was the daughter of German-speaking immigrants Rabbi Mayer Messing of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation and Riekchen “Ricca” Messing. She graduated from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis and worked in the entertainment industry, performing in Vaudeville, which helped her develop strong communication skills. She also worked as a stenographer for the Indiana State Senate in the late 1890s and early 1900s. At one point, Messing was engaged to Indianapolis businessman Carl Fisher, who helped to create the Indianapolis 500-mile-race. Their engagement ended amicably in 1909.  

From late July 1921 to September 1939, Messing worked as a secretary at the US Embassy in Berlin, serving under five US ambassadors. During this tumultuous period in German history, Messing witnessed the fall of the Weimar Republic, the economic hardships of post – World War I Germany, and the rise of Adolf Hitler. During the mid-1930s, some US diplomatic leaders in Berlin, including Ambassador William Dodd, became wary about the presence of Messing and other Jewish staff members, fearing that their presence complicated embassy dealings with Hitler’s government. Meanwhile, Messing dedicated herself to supporting local inhabitants targeted by the Nazis, raising funds to support Jewish residents facing economic hardship and assisting imperiled individuals seeking to escape the regime. 

The growing tension between the United States and Nazi Germany, and expanding Nazi repression of Jews and political dissenters, made Messing’s time in Germany increasingly dangerous. She was evacuated to Stockholm, Sweden, after Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. She remained at the US legation in Stockholm until the end of the Russo-Finnish War in March 1940 to assist with the influx of Americans escaping from Poland, Finland, and Norway. Later that year, she decided to end her work with the foreign service. Her circuitous journey back to the United States took her through Stockholm, Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon, where she boarded the S.S. Excalibur and arrived in New York on December 18, 1940.  In the years following her return to Indianapolis, Messing frequently spoke about her personal experiences and warned people in Indiana about the threat posed by Nazism’s rise. In a notable speech at the city’s Columbia Club, given just a month before the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Messing addressed the dangers of Nazi aggression in Europe and its implications for the United States.  

Later in life, Messing resumed participating in many of the civic and charitable activities that had occupied her early life. She recommitted herself to various nonprofit Jewish organizations in Indianapolis, including the Borinstein Home for the Aged, the National Jewish Council of Women, and Hadassah. A former foreign-service colleague, Lilly Timm, became her housemate and accompanied her on trips to visit family. Messing is buried at the Indianapolis Hebrew Cemetery.

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