Sandy Baskind's "Reminiscences"
Herman Obernauer Papers
Rodef Shalom Congregation
Rauh Jewish Archives Bibliography
Name These Faces
Calendar
Community News
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Memoirs:
Sandy Baskind's "Reminiscences"
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Sandy Baskind attending a home show to educate consumers about wallpaper.
—from M.A. Baskind Company Photographs [MSP 331]
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"I’ll confess at once. I am a nostalgia freak. I don’t care what the psychologists say about that. Call me someone who always lives in the past, that never grew up, or I don’t want to face the reality of the present. Maybe so. I could care less."
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Sanford “Sandy” Baskind was a child of Squirrel Hill in the 1930s and 1940s. It was a time when the neighborhood was attracting thousands of middle-class Jewish families from the Hill District and other spots all over Allegheny County.
His father Moe and uncle Abe had immigrated to Cleveland from Lithuania as children in the 1890s. They worked in a family tobacco factory and came to Pittsburgh—home of the stogie industry—in the teens and twenties.
Abe opened a confectionary and wholesale cigar store at 1733 Penn Ave. in the Strip District and lived for a time in an apartment above it. The business district of the Strip was largely Jewish in those years, although the neighborhood was mostly Polish. Moe Baskind came a bit later. The brothers relocated to the East End. They continued to commute to the Strip District until 1928. That’s when they joined a cousin to start Peerless Wallpaper and Paint Company at 808 Fifth Avenue in Uptown. Within the next few years, Moe Baskind moved his young family to Squirrel Hill, where our story begins.
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Peerless Wallpaper and Paint Co. advertisement, March 6, 1936.
—from Jewish Criterion, Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project
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Sandy Baskind wrote “Reminiscences” in 1992. It’s a six-page tour of the Squirrel Hill business district—(he later delivered a version of the memoir in a talk for the Squirrel Hill Historical Society)—as it would have looked in 1937, when he was 12 years old and just gaining the freedom to explore.
“I’d like to have you accompany me as I walk down Memory Lane,” he writes. “Except our Memory Lanes are Forbes, Murray and Forward.”
Relying on memories (as assisted by city directories), Baskind recreates the commercial life of the neighborhood in waning years of the Great Depression: the grocers, the newsstands, the salons, the tailors and the cleaners, the corner drug stores, the movie theatre, and the two mini-golf courses. He takes great delight in sharing these memories. Sometimes he even sounds like an eager tour guide, pointing out notable details: “Before we stroll down Murray. I want you to look up and behind the store fronts. On both sides between Hobart and Douglas you’ll note houses that in earlier times fronted on Murray.”
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Baskind came from a memory-keeping family. His father Moe Baskind wrote a 22-page memoir for his children and grandchildren. He later appended a gorgeous and heartbreaking forward, where he meditated on the nature of memory and everlasting love in the face of the inevitability of passing time.
Sandy wrote several other short memoirs. The quote above comes from a paper he wrote for the 45th reunion of the Allderdice Class of 1942, recalling the night life of his teenage years. He wrote a similar paper on for his 40th wedding anniversary, recalling life in 1948.
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Moe Baskind at a company picnic, c.1950
—from M.A. Baskind Co. Photographs
[MSP 331]
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M.A. Baskind Co. store at 5750 Baum Boulevard, 1981. Note the yellow banner in the second floor window with the words, The Terrible Wallpaper—a play on the Terrible Towel.
—from M.A. Baskind Company Photographs [MSP 331]
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What differentiates Baskind from other “nostalgia freaks,” to use his phrase, is his love of records. His writing always combines memories with research.
Baskind started volunteering at the Rauh Jewish Archives around 1995. Over the next two years, he processed at least 10 collections. Processing is intricate, detailed work. You touch and review every page in a collection. The people who enjoy it have a certain mentality. They often take more pleasure from collecting and organizing information than from drawing conclusions.
What does that perspective bring to a memoir?
Baskind mostly compiles and analyzes facts. Even his memories are factual: that there was an aquarium in the window Benkovitz’s and the lending library at the Hollywood Beauty Shop, that Beth Shalom held an annual “lawn fete” carnival in the large empty lot now occupied by the Squirrel Hill Post Office.
He rarely describes how these things felt, or how they influenced him. Instead he expresses his love for Squirrel Hill by diligently writing down as many details as he can remember about it, to keep them from being forgotten.
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Next week: Annie Jacobs Davis and the beginning of Montefiore Hospital.
All year, the Rauh Jewish Archives is highlighting memoirs of Jewish life in Western Pennsylvania. If you would like to donate a memoir, or just chat about the stories you've read, contact the archive or call 412-454-6406.
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New Collection:
Herman Obernauer Papers and Photographs [MSS 1192]
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H. Obernauer & Co. letterhead, c.1900.
—from Herman Obernauer Papers and Photographs [MSS 1192]
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Herman Obernauer (1856-1947) was a wholesale liquor dealer. He came to Pittsburgh in 1880 from southern Germany and started Herman Obernauer & Company on Fifth Avenue. He sold the business in 1915, a few years before the start of Prohibition, and spent the rest of his career in real estate.
The Herman Obernauer Papers and Photographs [MSS 1192] combines two collections given to the archive, one in 2007 and one in 2018. The collection includes Obernauer’s military discharge papers (1876) and his naturalization certificate (1885), correspondence from the U.S. Patent Office (1907), a section cut from business letterhead (above), and a photograph (1919). A wallet from the Merchants Savings & Trust Co. contains three stock certificates issued between 1910 and 1928 and a cancelled check from 1907.
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Jewish Encyclopedia of Western Pennsylvania:
Rodef Shalom Congregation
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Aerial photograph showing Rodef Shalom synagogue on Fifth Avenue, undated.
—from Corinne Azen Krause Photographs [MSP 113]
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Rodef Shalom Congregation is the oldest Jewish congregation in Western Pennsylvania and the first Reform congregation established in the region. It approved its constitution and bylaws on November 9, 1856 and received its charter in 1859, but it traces its origins to Jewish communal activities emerging over the previous decade, starting with the Bes Almon Society.
Our entry for Rodef Shalom Congregation includes photographs of two of its synagogues; reproductions of its charter and early charter amendments; partial lists of its rabbis, presidents, and executive directors; and a dynamic map of its membership in 1921. It also includes a preliminary bibliography showcasing just some the considerable resources available for studying the history of the congregation, its leadership and its most active members.
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The Jewish Encyclopedia of Western Pennsylvania brings together numerous online resources into a clearinghouse for conducting research about Jewish history in this region. As we migrate information to this new website, we’ll be announcing new entries and resources in this section of the newsletter. |
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Research Tool:
Rauh Jewish Archives Bibliography (1988-2018)
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Shortly before the start of the pandemic, longtime University of Pittsburgh librarian and recent Rauh Jewish Archives volunteer Laurie Cohen was finishing work on a bibliography of all the books the Archives had acquired through 2018—its first 30 years. The bibliography currently includes nearly 350 volumes arranged by type and then by subject. It’s a great tool to use early in your research process, as you’re surveying available resources on a subject |
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Eight young women in exercise clothing, adopting fencing poses.
—from Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Photographs [MSP 308]
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The Young Men's & Women's Hebrew Association began offering fencing classes on a trial basis in 1929. The classes were hugely successful, and the Y brought them back the following year under the instruction of Joseph Masury.
Masury was an Austrian fencer who came to Pittsburgh by way of New York. This photograph shows eight students from the class of 1930-1931. While we know a little bit about the class, we know nothing about these students.
Do you recognize anyone? If so, drop us a line or call 412-454-6406.
And a big thank you to everyone who helped us put faces some of the names in the Ladies Hospital Aid Society photograph from two weeks ago.
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Calendar
Past and Present
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The 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat—known as Chamisha Asar B'Shvat or Tu B'Shvat—is the "New Year for Trees." It was initially used to date trees in Israel for the purpose of establishing tithes. In time, it became a Zionist holiday. Today many use the day to raise environmental awareness.
Above is an invitation to a "Chamisho Osor B'Shvat Celebration" hosted by the Zionist Youth Council of Pittsburgh. It comes from the Meyer Fogel Papers [2016.0049]. Fogel was a leader in Zionist youth activities in the city.
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January 19
JGS Presents: Dick Goldman
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For many of us, our family names are clues to our ancestors’ careers, personalities, characteristics, towns of origin or religious practices. Learn why, how and when we received our last names and what they can reveal.
“A Rose by Any Other Name” is the first in a series of programs about Jewish surnames presented by JGS-Pittsburgh over the coming months.
This is a virtual program. It will be recorded, and the recording will be made available for JGS-Pittsburgh members who are current on their dues.
This program is possible through the support of the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation.
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Dick Goldman is Vice President and Membership Chair for the International Association of Jewish Genealogy Societies (IAJGS). He is responsible for programming at the Jewish Heritage Club in Valencia Lakes (Boynton Beach, FL) and is president of the community’s Genealogy group. He served as president of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Maryland for a number of years, and has lectured widely and frequently. Dick and his wife Roz relocated to Florida in 2018. Since March 2020 he has offered programs using ZOOM, and he has been seen and heard by groups locally and throughout the country.
Dick is the retired General Manager of the Pearlstone Conference & Retreat Center in Baltimore (Jewish Federation) and was Director of Jewish Life and Camping Services at its JCC. He was the founding director of Youth Activities for Women’s American ORT, led multiple trips to Israel, and is an award winning Jewish educator. After retirement he served as adjunct faculty at CCBC in Maryland teaching genealogy, and he continued to lecture on Jewish topics for numerous organizations. His graduate work took place at Hebrew Union College-JIR in New York City. During his 20-year ‘secular’ career he was the founder and president of two high-tech companies. Dick and Roz have two children and five grandchildren.
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January 20
Treasures in the Archives
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The annual Treasures in the Archives, now in its 8th year, is a chance to dig deep into some of the most interesting collections at the Heinz History Center.
This year, Rauh Jewish Archives Archivist Catelyn Cocuzzi will review the Aaronel deRoy Gruber Papers and Photographs, and Rauh Jewish Archives Director Eric Lidji will give a glimpse at the Dr. Cyril Wecht Papers.
Attendees to this free virtual program will also see the newly processed records of Shadyside Hospital and records of beloved Oakland icon Gus Miller.
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Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project update |
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The home page of the new Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project website, hosted by Carnegie Mellon University Libraries. The redesigned website is launching this month. |
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The Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project is likely the most widely used resource for conducting research about Jewish history in this region.
Launched in 2007, and expanded over a period of years, it now includes digital reproductions of four English-language Jewish newspapers—The Jewish Criterion, The American Jewish Outlook, the Jewish Chronicle, and the Y Weekly. These searchable issues begin in 1895 and continue through 2010, creating an invaluable tool for studying Jewish history and Jewish genealogy.
Carnegie Mellon University Libraries created the website, using materials and resources from the Rauh Jewish Archives, Rodef Shalom Congregation, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.
CMU recently moved the Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project to a different online platform. As with any change, this one will require people to learn a new system: the site will look a little different and will act a little different than the one we have become accustomed to using for many years.
The new system will be an improvement in some ways. But as with any change, it will also create new quirks and shortcomings to navigate.
At this early stage in the transition, CMU is asking for help. They want you to try out the new site and to let them know what you think about it.
These transitions can be exciting, and they can also be frustrating. The Rauh Jewish Archives is currently learning the new system, in order to help researchers make the switch over the coming months. We are always available to help you troubleshoot problems, and we hope to provide training workshops in the near future. You can contact the archive or call 412-454-6406.
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[IMAGE: Marian Schreiber and employees at the Schreiber Trucking Company, c.1943—from Schreiber Family Papers and Photographs, MSS 846.]
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The Rauh Jewish Archives was founded on November 1, 1988 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. |
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Plan a Visit
Senator John Heinz History Center
1212 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222
412-454-6000
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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.
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