Vol. 4

No. 16

Restaurants:

1600 Centre Ave.

The Jewish Encyclopedia:

Anathan House

Article:

"Fellow-Feeling Personalities"

Calendar:

May 21: W. Todd Knowles

June 11: Alex Calzereth

Community:

Under the Dome of Rodef Shalom

JCBA "Road-Trip"

Jewish Daily Forward exhibit

Mystery portraits

Research Tools:

Newspapers, Cemeteries, Memorial Plaques, Books, Newsletters

Restaurants:

1600 Centre Ave.

View of the front of 1600 Center Ave. showing advertisements for Coca-cola, sandwiches, and Luckies Cigarettes, January 31, 1933.

—from Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection

University of Pittsburgh Archives & Special Collections 

[715.3317952.CP] (online—Historic Pittsburgh)

Delicatessen memories in Pittsburgh often overlook the Hill District proper.

The memories most people hold of local Jewish restaurants begin after World War II, when the local Jewish population had already migrated away from the Hill District. And so while people can fondly recall the restaurants of Squirrel Hill, Oakland, downtown, and lower Fifth Avenue, fewer people have first-hand memories of the Jewish-owned restaurants that once filled the Hill District.

Centre Avenue, Wylie Avenue, and Logan Street all had Jewish restaurants. Some came and went quickly as ventures failed, turned over, or relocated. 

One example is 1600 Centre Ave. 

Advertisement for the Elizabeth Steak House at 1600 Center Ave. Copy reads “Try our Steaks, Chops, Kernutzlich, etc. —Broiled on Charcoal. We cater to Special Parties, Weddings, Etc.”

—Jewish Criterion, February 10, 1928

Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project

Abe Binstock ran a jewelry store at that location until September 1926, when he relocated across the street to 1603 Centre Ave. Binstock appears to have owned the building at 1600 Centre at the time and therefore might have rented it in October 1926 to David Goldberg, proprietor of the Original Steak House. 

Goldberg remained there two years. Elizabeth Levy Seabright took over the location in February 1928. She renamed the business the Elizabeth Steak House. Seabright had previously been a waitress at Terkel’s Restaurant and at the Regent Restaurant. On the opening night of her restaurant, she held a fundraiser for striking miners, raising some $70 from her staff and patrons.

Sam Schwartz and Dave Bernstein took over the location from Seabright in August 1929 and started Sam’s Steak House (a different operation than the Sammy's Steak House we profiled a few months ago). In 1930 or 1931, Eva and Jacob Berkowitz took over 1600 Centre and started Berkowitz Steak House. By 1933, 1600 Centre was George Stern wholesale beer and wine.

Next Week: 1603 Centre Ave.

All year, the Rauh Jewish Archives is highlighting Jewish restaurants in Western Pennsylvania. If you would like to donate a material from a Jewish restaurant, or just reminisce, contact the archive or call 412-454-6406.

Jewish Encyclopedia of Western Pennsylvania

Anathan House

Black and white photograph from dedication of the Anathan House at 1620 Murray Ave. Pictured include Dorothy Blumenthal (at lectern), Bessie Anatahn, and Dr. Solomon B. Freehof.

—from Anathan, Frank and Lehman Family Papers and Photographs [MSS 1018].

The Anathan House was a recreational center for the elderly. It was likely the first senior center in Pittsburgh and one of the first such facilities nationally. 

The National Council of Jewish Women-Pittsburgh Section started the Council Lounge for Older People in 1949 in a rented room on the second floor of 5824 Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill. By the early 1960s, the Council Lounge for Older People had outgrown its accommodations on Forbes Avenue. Bessie Anathan purchased the former Maimonides Institute building at 1620 Murray Ave. and donated the building to the NCJW-Pittsburgh Section to create the Anathan House, which was dedicated in September 1963. The new Anathan House also became the administrative home of the NCJW-Pittsburgh Section. 

Our entry for the Anathan House includes speeches and photographs from the dedication, a program describing weekly activities, and the terms of its merger.

"Fellow-Feeling Personalities"

A decade before one of the most heartbreaking letters ever published in the local Jewish press, a poster appeared in the Hill District with 12 faces—at least 10 of them smiling.

The smiling faces belong to the boys of the Cong. Oher Chodesh choir. In robes and shawls, with prayer books in hand, they surround Cantor David Messeroff, who is not smiling but is not stern either. His face expresses a quiet, humble, reserved dignity...

Poster advertising upcoming High Holiday services at New Light Congregation, led by Cantor David Messeroff. [1999.0046]

May 21:

JGS-Pittsburgh presents:

"Using FamilySearch for Jewish Research"

with W. Todd Knowles

Billions of family records. Where do you start?

FamilySearch is an international, nonprofit dedicated to helping all people discover their family story. It is one of the largest genealogical websites online and grows larger every day. Learn how to make the most of the FamilySearch collection, with a special focus on locating Jewish ancestors among the records.

The program is Sunday, May 21 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET. This is a virutal program, occurring only online. “Using FamilySearch for Jewish Research with W. Todd Knowles” is a collaboration between the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center. Please register online. The program is free for JGS-Pittsburgh members and $5 for the general public. To become a member of the JGS-Pittsburgh and receive a free membership code for this program, please visit its website.

This program will be recorded and made available to current JGS-Pittsburgh members. Those who attend in person are encouraged to stick around after the program for refreshments and a meet-and-greet with JGS members.

This program is possible through the support of the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation.

W. Todd Knowles, AG, is a Deputy Chief Genealogical Officer at FamilySearch, where he has been for almost 25 years. Soon after being introduce to family history at the age of 12, he discovered his Jewish roots. The journey to find these Polish Jews led to the Knowles Collection, six databases containing the records of almost 1.5 million people. His blog about the collection can be found at knowlescollection.blogspot.com.

June 11:

JGS-Pittsburgh presents:

"Mapping Your Family History"

with Alex Calzereth

Create maps with your own data on Google MyMaps.

This presentation will teach you how to create a custom map, import location data associated with family history events or source records and then customize the appearance of that data on the map. Custom maps can be used in many ways, including visually conveying family migration patterns, showing the location of regional cemeteries, or which towns hold certain vital records. Resulting maps can also be imported into Google Earth.

The program is Sunday, June 11 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET. This is a virutal program, occurring only online. “Mapping Your Family History with Alex Calzereth” is a collaboration between the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center. Please register online. The program is free for JGS-Pittsburgh members and $5 for the general public. To become a member of the JGS-Pittsburgh and receive a free membership code for this program, please visit its website.

This program will be recorded and made available to current JGS-Pittsburgh members. Those who attend in person are encouraged to stick around after the program for refreshments and a meet-and-greet with JGS members.

This program is possible through the support of the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation.

Alex Calzareth is a genealogist focusing on Southwest Germany, the Czech Republic and Southern Italy who began researching his family roots twenty-five years ago. He is a board member for Reclaim The Records and the Jewish Genealogy Society of Long Island, serving as JGSLI’s webmaster. Alex is also the JewishGen Research Director for Germany. He lives in New York City and works as a CPA.

Community

From NEXT Pittsburgh

"What's Under the Dome at Rodef Shalom?"

NEXT Pittsburgh's Boaz Frankel visits with archivist Martha Berg to discover the secrets of Rodef Shalom Congregation's historic Fifth Avenue synagogue.

From the Jewish Cemetery & Burial Association

"Road Trip: The Jewish Cemeteries of Western Pennsylvania"

The Jewish Cemetery and Burial Association of Greater Pittsburgh has released a new documentary showcasing Jewish cemeteries in Western Pennsylvania.

“Road Trip: The Jewish Cemeteries of Western Pennsylvania” is a one-hour tour of the many cemetery properties overseen by the JCBA, as well as an overview of the organization’s ongoing work to care for these sacred burial grounds. The video is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate these special Jewish cultural sites in our region. The video includes many historic photographs and documents from the collections of the Rauh Jewish Archives. 

From the Jewish Studies Program

PRESSED: Images from the Jewish Daily Forward

Detail from front page of Jewish Daily Forward, including photograph showing President and First Lady Kennedy, 1960.

Founded in 1897 on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the Jewish Daily Forward became the most widely read Jewish news source anywhere. By the 1920s, this Yiddish-language daily had more readers than the New York Times. With rigorous reporting, incisive editorials and powerful commentary, the Forward chronicled the events that affected immigrants eager to earn their place in American life. This was the paper read by congregants from its neighborhood’s many synagogues, by families squeezing into tenement apartments, by sweatshop workers and pushcart vendors. Its articles were debated on park benches and at local haunts like the Garden Cafeteria and the Royal Café, its discarded pages then used to wrap fish for Friday night Sabbath eve dinners. The Forward’s ideals have been held dear for generations of readers, not just on the Lower East Side but across the country and around the world.

The new exhibit Pressed at Hillman Library on the University of Pittsburgh campus looks into the vast Forward archive to present a selection of metal plates used to print photographs in the paper from the 1920s to the 1960s. These plates are accompanied by prints made just for this exhibition. These prints have rendered the images with greater clarity than they had as dotted, halftone prints in the newspaper. The Forward pages on which some of these images appeared are also displayed. These pages are enlarged and reproduced from microfilm and photographs because printed copies of the newspaper have not been preserved at the Forward or in any other archive, although they occasionally pop up at auction or in private collections. Together these images of strikes and activists, Yiddish theater stars and baseball players, daily life and historic moments, present the depth and breadth of this singular publication, its audience and Jewish life in America and around the world.

Pressed is organized by the Forward in collaboration with the Museum at Eldridge Street, and hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Library System and the Jewish Studies program. It will remain on display through April 2023.

As part of the exhibit, the Rauh Jewish Archives has created a display surveying the history of local Yiddish newspapers in Pittsburgh. The display includes enlarged reproductions of pages and advertisements from The Volksfreund, the Jewish Indicator, and the regional office of the Forward.

From Rodef Shalom Congregation

A mystery in primary colors

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle reports on an effort by Rodef Shalom Congregation to identify two people from a pair of mid-19th century portraits in the congregation's holdings. Do you recognize these two people?

Research Tools

The Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project contains digitized, searchable copies of four local English-language Jewish newspapers between 1895 and 2010. It is a valuable tool for researching almost any topic about Jewish history in Western Pennsylvania. For a primer on using the website, watch our video.

Western Pennsylvania Jewish Cemetery Project

The Rauh Jewish Archives launched the Western Pennsylvania Jewish Cemetery Project in 1998 to preserve burial records from Jewish cemeteries across the region. Over a period of fifteen years, the information was compiled into a searchable, online database containing approximately 50,000 burial records from 78 Jewish cemeteries throughout the region.

Western Pennsylvania Yahrzeit Plaques Project

The Rauh Jewish Archives launched the Western Pennsylvania Yahrzeit Plaques Project in 2020. The goal was to create a comprehensive collection of burial records from memorial boards at synagogues across the region. Volunteers are currently transcribing these boards and records are being added monthly to our online database. The database currently contains almost 400 listings.

Rauh Jewish Archives Bibliography

University of Pittsburgh librarian and Rauh Jewish Archives volunteer Laurie Cohen created this comprehensive bibliography of the Rauh Jewish Archives library holdings from 1988 through 2018. It lists nearly 350 volumes arranged by type and then by subject. This a great tool to use early in your research process, as you’re surveying available resources on a given subject.

Rauh Jewish Archives Newsletter

The Rauh Jewish Archives has been publishing a weekly newsletter since 2020. The newsletter contains a variety of articles about local Jewish history, including much original research not found anywhere else. You can find and read every issue—more than 150!— in our new index.