Carla Koplin Cohn

Carla Koplin Cohn (born January 17, 1947) is an American former secretary who served as the personal secretary to Henry Aaron, Hall of Fame baseball player and one of the greatest players in baseball history, during his chase of Babe Ruth's home run record of 714. She was the first full-time secretary ever written into the contract of a Major League Baseball player.

Early life and education Koplin was born in 1947 to a Jewish family in Macon, Georgia. Her parents were Nora ( Coolik) and Alvin Koplin. She graduated from Miller High School for Girls and then attended the University of Georgia for two years, after which she enrolled in a secretarial school in New York City.

Career After finishing school, Koplin applied for a position with the Atlanta Braves in 1969. Dick Cecil, Vice President of the Braves, hired her to work as the assistant of the director of a new youth summer camp. She worked in an office situated in the tunnel leading to the Braves' clubhouse, which was how she met Aaron.

Koplin's primary duty was to sort through Aaron's large numbers of mail; in 1973, he received approximately 900,000 letters. She organized the mail into congratulatory notes, and another pile for fans who sent baseball cards for Aaron to autograph. She sorted out hate mail and death threats, the latter of which she would report to the FBI. Koplin herself received death threats as well: "They knew I was white, Jewish, and working for a Black man." Her daughter called Aaron "Uncle Henry".

She and Aaron remained close for the rest of his life. Aaron attended her wedding and also spoke at her daughter's wedding. Cohn attended all of Aaron's major events. When Aaron died in 2021, she was one of the few people allowed to attend his private funeral, gatherings at the time having been restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.