To Life Annual Benefit

Jeffrey K. Cohen, MD

Jeffrey K. Cohen, MD is the President of Allegheny General Hospital, the hospital that treated the gunman from the Tree of Life synagogue shooting that occurred in Pittsburgh this October. Dr. Cohen’s actions exemplified true leadership, the leadership of compassion and humanity. He and his team demonstrated to the world what it means to be an Upstander.

Dr. Cohen is a member of the Tree of Life congregation and lives across the street from the Temple. The Saturday morning of the shooting, he was working at home and offered his assistance to law enforcement, EMS, and other first responders on the scene when the incident unfolded. He personally knew many of those who lost their lives or were wounded in the assault that day.

The tragic shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue was a horrible attack on humanity and could not be ignored by The Florida Holocaust Museum. One of the primary lessons of the Holocaust is that people cannot remain silent when they are confronted by hatred and prejudice.

Bill Graham

Iconic concert promoter Bill Graham is the subject of the current exhibition at The Florida Holocaust Museum Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution. Bill Graham is recognized as one of the most influential concert promoters in history and launched the careers of countless rock & roll legends in the 1960s at his famed Fillmore Auditorium.

Graham conceived rock & roll as a powerful force for supporting humanitarian causes and was instrumental in the production of milestone benefit concerts such as Live Aid (1985) and Human Rights Now! (1988). As a promoter and manager, he worked with iconic artists including the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Fleetwood Mac, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Doors, and the Rolling Stones.

Bill Graham’s sons, David and Alex, will be accepting the award on his behalf. David and Alex Graham are committed to properly memorializing the legacy of their father. Both longtime board members of the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation, the two brothers organized the family archive that would go on to form the basis of the exhibition Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution.

Photo Credit: Rock promoter Bill Graham onstage with audience visible, at Fillmore East. (Photo by John Olson/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)