Szold was born in the United States in 1860.  Her father was a Reform Rabbi.  She was an important teacher, helping to teach Jews from Russia how to read and write English, as well as editing books for the Jewish Publication Society of America.  For six months in 1909-1910, she visited The Land of Israel (then called Palestine) with her mother .  When she was there, she saw how badly Jews there needed basic medical care (like medicine, help for new born babies, etc.).

On Purim in 1912, she helped to found the National Women's Zionist Organization, also known as Hadassah.  Hadassah became the largest Zionist organization in the entire world.   http://www.hadassah.org/about/orgfrm2.htm

In 1920, Szold moved to the Land of Israel.  She lived in Jerusalem.  She continued to work with Hadassah.  In 1927, she was the first woman ever elected to the Zionist Congress's Executive Board.

In 1934, she began to work on another project that was near and dear to Hadassah- Youth Aliyah.  Youth Aliyah not only helped Jewish children escape from Europe, they helped settle them in the Land of Israel by giving them schooling, teaching them skills, and other things to help them feel at home.

Henrietta Szold passed away in 1945.  But her work lives on in Jewish communities and hospitals throughout Israel.