Jewish Heritage Center at NEHGS

The Jewish Heritage Center at New England Historic Genealogical Society is a resource for exploring and preserving the histories of Jewish families and institutions in New England and beyond.

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“Sole Sorters” from a shoe factory in Lynn, Massachusetts. c. 1918.

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Today’s #womeninthearchiveswednesdays is Ella Davis Isaacs.

Ella Davis Isaacs was born on October 5, 1885 to Charles K. and Ida (Fletcher) Davis in Cincinnati, Ohio. She attended the University of Cincinnati, where she met her future husband, Nathan Isaacs. After graduating in 1908, she traveled with her father Charles through Europe and around the Mediterranean between 1909 and 1910. She married Nathan in 1912. In 1924, the couple moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she became active in the Jewish community. A Life Member of Hadassah, she began attending their luncheons in 1927. The New England Women’s Association of the Hebrew College was founded at her home on March 19, 1931. As such, she was an honorary Vice-President and permanent member of the Board of Directors. She was also a Life Member of the Builders of Congregation Young Israel of Brookline, Beth Israel Hospital Women’s Auxiliary, Daughters of Israel, and the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Maimonides Educational Institute. Ella died in June 1975.

Check out her finding aid at http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=1471293.

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Today’s #womeninthearchiveswednesdays is Mary Wolfman Epstein, a Boston-based singer, playwright, director, vocal teacher, and talent.

Epstein was born on August 18, 1908 in Boston, Massachusetts to Morris and Sarah (Lesberg), both immigrants from Russia. She began her career as an entertainer, musical director, and mistress of ceremonies at summer resorts in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. During the rest of the year, she worked as a secretary to talent manager Aaron Richmond, who was her own manager.

Epstein also worked with various Jewish organizations in the Boston and Brookline areas, including Congregation Kehillath Israel (KI), Brookline-Brighton-Newton Jewish Community Center (BBN JCC), and local chapters of Hadassah. For these organizations, she performed vocal shows, wrote and directed musicals, and led glee clubs and choruses. She served as the director of the KI Brotherhood’s Glee Club from 1952 to 1967 and also worked with the KI Sisterhood to write and direct musicals, which often centered on Jewish people or events.

In 1958, Epstein helped found the New England Jewish Music Forum (NEJMF), a non-profit organization dedicated to organizing and presenting performances of Jewish music in the Boston area. She served as president of the organization from 1966 to 1974 and served as a program advisor after that.

Epstein’s decades of service to the Boston Jewish community was recognized with various awards. In 1987, she was inducted into The Jewish Advocate’s “Class of Eighty-Five,” and in 1994, she received an honorary doctoral degree from Hebrew College.

Epstein passed away on March 18, 1998 at the age of 90.

Check out her finding aid at http://digifindingaids.cjh.org/?pID=3314137.

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Adolphus Strassman (alias Rich) was born March 7, 1848 in Ungvár, Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He arrived in New York with his family in 1857, and settled in Fall River, Massachusetts. 

On November 23, 1863, Strassman enrolled in the Union Army at the age of 15. He served as a Private in the 2nd Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Heavy Artillery, Company I, under Captain John D. Parker Jr. The regiment was formed on July 28, 1863 in Readville, Massachusetts; Company I was mustered on December 11, 1863. In May 1864, it moved to New Bern, North Carolina, where it remained until July 1865. 

He was present at, and documents in his diary, the Battle of Wyse Fork (South West Creek) in Kinston from March 7-10, 1865, when General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate forces blocked Major General Jacob D. Cox’s Union troops from Bern-Goldsboro Railroad, which cut off supplies to General Sherman’s troops. He served for three years and was discharged on September 3rd, 1865 in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Sometime before the 1870 census Strassman changed his surname to Rich. Following the war Rich returned to live in Fall River. Over subsequent decades he worked as a clerk, druggist, and a real estate agent. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, No. 123, in Petersburg, Tennessee; the Mount Hope Lodge in Fall River, later serving as the Worshipful Master; the Massachusetts Grand Army of the Republic, Richard Borden Post #46 in Fall River; and Mt. Vernon Lodge, Knights of Pythias. He died on November 14, 1923 at his home in Fall River and was buried at the Hungarian Union Field Cemetery in Queens, New York.

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Today’s #womeninthearchiveswednesdays is the Women’s Palestine Agricultural Association.

The Women's Palestine Agricultural Association, the Palagrass, was a Boston area women's organization committed to the development of agriculture and vocational causes for girls in Palestine/Israel. The group began around 1929 following a visit to Boston by Rahel Ben Zvi, which inspired several local women to take up the cause on behalf of the women of Palestine.

The group took on a number of projects to ensure the advancement of the region's agriculture, often working in cooperation with Rahel Ben Zvi and the programs and schools she personally supported. Their activities included raising funds for the Girls Farm School in Talipot, Jerusalem, the Hannah Chizik House in Tel Aviv, and the Agricultural School in Hadera. Their donations helped allow these programs to be instituted, maintained, and operated independently, providing agricultural and vocational opportunities to girls and refugee children. The Palagrass and its sister organizations viewed the development and advancement of women and agriculture as key to the success of a Jewish state.

Check out the finding aid for their collection at http://digifindingaids.cjh.org/?pID=364701.

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Today’s #womeninthearchiveswednesdays is Romayne Goldberg.

Romayne and her husband Harold were one of the most active couples involved in Jewish-related organizations in the Greater Boston area. Romayne was president of the Boston chapter of Hadassah from 1948-1951. During her stint as chief executive, Romayne helped raise money and promote awareness of Israel among Jewish women in America. A graduate of Wellesley College, Mrs. Goldberg was also president of the Combined Jewish Appeal and of the Brandeis National Women's Committee.

Check out the finding aid for her collection at http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=349818.

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Happy Halloween!

From the Arthur Obermayer Papers

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Today’s #womeninthearchiveswednesdays is Celia Sterman.

Celia Sterman (née Kredenser) was born in 1889 in Ukraine. In 1916, she and her husband Oscar immigrated to the United States and settled in Brookline, Massachusetts, where they raised three daughters (Ida, Mildred, and Natalie). The Stermans were involved in philanthropic Zionist activities, donating funds for the construction of several buildings in Beersheba and Eilat, Israel, including a library, sports center, youth center, as well as provided funding for the addition of the Electro Mechanic Department to the Max Pine Trade Center. In 1960, Celia and Oscar traveled to Israel to oversee construction and attend the opening ceremonies for their buildings, during which time they met with a number of important individuals including future Prime Minister of Israel Golda Meir, President of Israel Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, and Mayor of Beersheba David Tuviahu. Celia died on July 24, 1974.

Check out the finding aid for her collection at http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=556363.

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Chag Sameach! Wishing everyone a joyful Sukkot!

From the Records of Kehillath Israel.

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Today’s #womeninthearchiveswednesdays is Gussie Wyner.

Gertrude (Gussie) Edelman Wyner (1870-1949) was born in Minsk, Russia to Rabbi Abraham and Esther (Plotkins) Edelman. In the 1880s the Edelman family immigrated to New York where young Gussie eventually managed a home-based garment manufacturing business. Gussie married George Wyner in New York on August 27, 1891 and had five children with him.

While raising her children, Gussie Wyner became involved in the Boston Jewish community through the women's Zionist movement where she was an early officer of the Boston chapter of Hadassah. Through her connection to this local organization, Gussie became active in raising funds for the first Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem and as a result, developed a friendship with its leader, Henrietta Szold. She was also an officer of the Women's Auxiliary of the Beth Israel Hospital of Boston (BI). Both George and Gussie were part of the founding group for the BI Hospital. In 1927, she became treasurer of the Women's Auxiliary at the Beth Israel where she proposed the creation of the new concept of the Life Membership Fund, a concept now used by many charitable organizations throughout the United States.

Here, in July 1931, Gussie is turning the first shovel of soil for a new maintenance building and power plant at Beth Israel Hospital.

Check out the finding aid for her collection at http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=640230

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Today’s #womeninthearchiveswednesdays is Jean Scheinfeldt.

Jean Scheinfeldt was born on October 9, 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts. Jean grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts and graduated from Brookline High School on June 11, 1942. Jean pursued a career in nursing and served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps from 1951 to 1953. In 1958, she graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Boston College and earned her Master of Science in Nursing in Child Psychiatry from Boston University in 1962. After her schooling, Jean held a number of positions throughout her career, including Instructor in Nursing at Boston University’s Graduate School of Nursing and director of the Opening Doors for Women in Need (ODWIN) program, encouraging minority students to pursue nursing careers. She also held positions as a juvenile parole agent in Massachusetts’ Division of Youth Services, a psychiatric nurse in Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, and finished her career as a school nurse in Boston. An active professional and community member, she was elected to the Executive Board of the Boston Teachers Union and was involved in numerous organizations.

Check out her finding aid at http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=3487809

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Ella (Davis) Isaacs, far right, with her classmates at the University of Cincinnati, c. 1907.

From the Davis-Isaacs Family Papers.

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Today’s #womeninthearchiveswednesdays is Evelyn Roskin (née Borofky).

Evelyn Roskin (1903-1967) was a Boston-born singer and pianist, who gained a following in Boston as a soloist and accompanist on the WNAC radio channel. Roskin was the organist at Temple Israel in Boston, and, in 1947, became Musical Director and organist at Temple Sinai in Brookline. She served in this position until her death in 1967. Her collection includes reel-to-reel audio recordings, photographs, correspondence, and materials related to her work at Temple Sinai.

Check out the finding aid for her collection at http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=365383.

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George Clint Frank enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps on July 15, 1943 and attended bombardier school in San Angelo, Texas. Following his graduation he was assigned to the 826th Bombardment Squadron, 484th Bombardment Group.

The 826th was trained for combat with the B-24 Liberator aircraft and was deployed first to Torretto Airfield in Southern Italy, and then to Casablanca, Morocco. From Italy, the unit undertook long-range strategic bombardment missions across Europe. After the German surrender, the 826th was reassigned to North Africa to help move personnel and equipment out of Europe for its eventual return to the United States. Frank achieved the rank of First Lieutenant before his discharge on October 14, 1945.

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Today is World Rhino Day. It is a day to celebrate the world's rhinos and raise awareness to the threats of poaching and habitat loss they face.

Here are some photos from the Papers of Stanley and Mary Ann Snider.

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Wednesdays is now #womeninthearchiveswednesdays! Every Wednesday we will highlight women’s voices in our archival collections.

Today’s #womeninthearchiveswednesdays is lawyer, judge and suffragist Jennie Loitman Barron.

Barron (1891-1969) was born in Boston and earned a law degree and a master of law from Boston University. She was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1914, established her own law practice, and later opened Barron and Barron, a joint practice with her husband Samuel Barron. In 1934, she was appointed assistant attorney general of Massachusetts and was the first woman to try a major criminal case in the state. In 1937, she became the first woman to serve as a full-time justice in Massachusetts when she was named associate justice of the Boston Municipal Court, and in 1959, she was the first woman to be appointed justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court.

Check out the finding aid for her collection at http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=365366.

Here, on March 27, 1960, Barron (right) is presented with an award from the American Jewish Literary Foundation by Caroline K. Simon, who also was an accomplished lawyer and who served as Secretary of State of New York.

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Morton Shanok served as assistant army chaplain during World War II and was instrumental in organizing a safe refuge for Jewish orphans in France. 

These photographs are of some of the Jewish orphans at Chateau de Mehoncourt in Le Mans, France c.1945. Through the Jewish Distribution Committee (JDC), Cantor Morton Shanok helped organize their safe refuge in France, and ultimately arrange for them to be brought to Israel.

From the Papers of Cantor Morton Shanok.