Wald, Lillian D. (1867-1940). American nurse and activist. Lillian D. Wald was born in Cincinnati, OH, the third of four children born to Minnie Schwarz and Max D. Wald. After moving between cities for most of her early childhood, in 1878 Wald’s family eventually settled in Rochester, NY. Wald enrolled in the New York Hospital training school’s nursing program in 1889, and two years after her graduation she began taking courses at the Women’s Medical College in New York City to become a doctor. Over the course of her life and career Wald was committed to healthcare reform and providing affordable treatment options for the many underserved Jewish immigrant communities in the Lower East Side of New York City. She founded the 265 Henry Street Nurse’s settlement, which provided accessible healthcare on a sliding fee scale and educational classes for aspiring nurses. By 1905, Henry Steet nurses were working out of eighteen district centers and treated roughly 4,500 patients in that year alone. Wald’s work as an activist and social reformer also extended to public education reform, immigrant and worker’s rights, and women’s suffrage. In a 1926 letter Cather turned down an invitation to attend a production of Dybbuk (1916) with Wald, but expressed a desire to meet her later that winter.