127 "Missing McKeesport" Oral Histories Now Online
The Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives has added 127 oral histories from the documentary "Missing McKeesport" to its website  Generation to Generation .

Filmmaker Sam Zolten created "Missing McKeesport" as a tribute to his hometown. At its peak, the Jewish community of McKeesport had more than 5,000 people, at least five synagogues, and many thriving Jewish institutions.
After completing the documentary, Zolten donated his research files and raw footage to the RJHPA. Zolten always intended for the unedited interviews to be available to the public, especially those who called McKeesport home and their descendants. Working together, Zolten and the RJHPA have uploaded his unedited interviews to the  Generation to Generation website for public view.

The "Missing McKeesport" oral history collection is a rich and varied account of this beloved Jewish community through the voices of its members. 
"For You Were Strangers" Exhibit Opens Feb. 9
A new original exhibit created by the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh uses materials from the RJHPA to tell the story of Jewish immigration to Pittsburgh.

"For You Were Strangers: Jewish Immigration to Pittsburgh, 1880-1990" dives into the history of Jewish immigrants in Pittsburgh. The exhibit considers the geopolitical upheavals that drove Jewish immigration to this region, and the changes in United States immigration policy in the 19th and 20th centuries. It examines local attitudes toward Jewish immigrants and the institutions created as thousands of recent arrivals became basis of our present-day society.

RJHPA Director Eric Lidji will deliver remarks at an opening reception for the exhibit on Feb. 9 at 11 a.m. at the Holocaust Center (826 Hazelwood Ave.).

To register online, visit the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh .

[IMAGE: First Hebrew Austrian Beneficial Society application (undated), Machsikei Hadas Papers and Photographs , MSS 145]
Featured Cookbook: The Happy Cooker
Cookbooks collect recipes. They also collect history.
 
Take "The Happy Cooker," donated by Congregation Beth Shalom, courtesy of Audrey Glickman. The North Hills Jewish Community Center and the North Hills Group of Hadassah jointly published this cookbook in 1975.
 
The North Hills Jewish Community Center was the original name of Temple Ohav Shalom in Allison Park. It was founded in 1968, by recent Jewish arrivals to the suburbs.
The forward notes that the Jewish community of the North Hills hailed "from many parts of the country, with national origin tracing back to many parts of the world." The cookbook helped this disparate group "gather together."

Recipes range from traditional Jewish fare, to Sicilian-inspired dishes, to Southern dishes. Each chapter begins with a text from the Torah or Talmud. Throughout the cookbook are tips called "Hints from the Happy Cooker" and little aphorisms, such as "A raisin is a grape that’s had too many worries."

The cookbook is dedicated to "all of the patient, understanding husbands."

The RJHPA is placing a special focus on cookbooks in 2020. If you have a cookbook published by a Jewish person or group in Western Pennsylvania, please contact Eric Lidji at eslidji@heinzhistorycenter.org or 412-454-6406.
The Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives was founded in 1989 to collect, preserve, and make accessible the documentary history of Jews and Jewish communities of Western Pennsylvania.You can help the RJHPA continue its work by making a donation that will directly support the work being done in Western Pa.
Plan a Visit

Senator John Heinz History Center
1212 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, PA,15222
412-454-6000

A proud affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the  Senator John Heinz History Center  is the largest history museum in Pennsylvania and presents American history with a Western Pennsylvania connection.