Vol. 3

No. 51

In this issue...

Memoir: Joe Jacobs


Ress Cousins Club scrapbook [2022.0019]


Agudath Achim Congregation


Calendar: JGS Pittsburgh Presents: Judy Russell



Community News: The Letters, Jakob's Torah, 1950 Census, Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project

Memoirs:

Joe Jacobs

"E.T. Works," November 1982.

Gift of Joe Jacobs

Joe Jacobs woke one morning in January 1982 with a poem on his lips.


Take me back to Braddock, Pa.

Where the sky is always red

And my shirt collar gray.


Jacobs was born in the small town of Braddock in 1925. He spent his childhood at 1009 Cherry Alley before leaving Western Pennsylvania for a career as an artist and instructor. He remembered the past but was not compelled by it until that morning. His dreams opened a pathway through his memories.


First came the words, pages of verse. Jacobs was a painter, not a writer. But some memories wanted to be poems and some wanted to be images.


He obliged.


By summer, he had produced more than 50 drawings and paintings. He gave 11 to the Rauh Jewish Archives in 2001. One—a painting of the old Agudath Achim shul—can be seen in the Special Collections gallery on the fourth floor.


"My Neighborhood," March 1982.

Gift of Joe Jacobs

Old men with almost white beards

Wearing almost white shawls

With black stripes and long fringe

They kiss the old books. 

They kiss the fringe.

They chant.

They sniff snuff.

Read More
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.

New Collection:

Ress Cousins Club Scrapbook [2022.0019]

Photograph of Ress Reunion of First Cousins at the William Penn Hotel, Thanksgiving 1933. Pictured (standing, left to right) Morris Ress, Ben Paul Simon, Lil Simon, Sam Ress, Sig Ress, Stell Ress, Bernard Ress, Mildred Levin, Milton Silverman, Irwin Bernstein, Dr. Sig Shapiro, Irv Shapiro, (seated) Loretta Ress, Sylvia Ress, Helen Levin, Betty Cooper, Abe Cooper, Freida Snitz, David Snitzer, Bella Rosenzweig, Leona Silverman, Mark Levin.


—from Ress Cousins Club Scrapbook [2022.0019]

The Ress Cousins Club was one of the earliest Jewish family clubs in Western Pennsylvania. The Ress Reunion of First Cousins was initially held on Thanksgiving night 1933 at the William Penn Hotel, and the club reunited regularly over the following decades for gatherings and reunions over the following decades. These reunions often included original entertainment such as songs, plays, and other humorous tidbits written by club members


The Ress Cousins Club Scrapbook [2022.0019] includes photographs of club events as well as moments from the lives of members. It also contains documentation of club reunions, and copies of club newsletters through the years. Annotations throughout the book identify the creators of various additions and the circumstances surrounding those additions. A folder of family trees compiled before 1986 details various branches of the Ress family.

Catalog

Jewish Encyclopedia of Western Pennsylvania:

Torath Chaim Congregation

Article announcing seventh anniversary celebration of Agudath Achim Congregation.

—from Jewish Criterion, Aug. 22, 1930

Congregation Agudath Achim (Pittsburgh) was a Jewish congregation in the Herron Hill section of the upper Hill District. It was founded in 1922 under the leadership of Harry Mosenson, who was simultaneously affiliated with Shaaray Tefilah Congregation and the Beth Abraham Cemetery Association.


Congregation Agudath Achim initially met in the home of Nathan Singer at 625 Herron Ave. and at the home of Samuel Romick at 519 Herron Ave. and may have briefly rented a nickelodeon at 615 Herron Ave. The congregation eventually built a synagogue at 2919 Wylie Ave., at the corner of Granite Street and later expanded the building to include an auditorium. Congregation Agudath Achim was an Orthodox congregation for its entire existence. It initially had at least 40 members and almost one hundred children in its religious school but membership declined throughout the 1930s, as the Jewish population of the Hill District declined. The building later became the Mount Zion F.B.H. Church of God of the Americas. Presidents included Nathan Singer, Harry Mosenson, and Max Besser. Our entry for Congregation Agudath Achim includes newspaper articles, as well as a link to the only known photograph of the Agudath Achim synagogue, taken by the legendary Teenie Harris.

Learn More
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.
Calendar

January 29:

JGS-Pittsburgh Presents: Judy G. Russell

Genealogy by its very nature is collaborative. We need to work together and share information with others, both relatives and non-relatives if we’re to succeed in filling out our family trees. But doing family research doesn’t mean giving up all semblances of personal privacy, nor is it a license to invade the privacy of others-family or not. All researchers need to follow the rules, both legal and ethical, when we share genealogical information. In her talk, "Share and Share Alike: The Rules of Genealogical Privacy," Judy G. Russell will provide legal and ethical guidelines for seeking genealogical information.


The program is Sunday, Jan. 29 from 1-2:30 p.m. ET It's free for JGS-Pittsburgh members and $5 for the general public. Please register online


All attendees are encouraged to log on 30 minutes early for a virtual open house. It’s an opportunity to share genealogy stories and make new friends.


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.

Register

Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist®, is a genealogist with a law degree who provides expert guidance through the murky territory where law and family history intersect. An internationally known lecturer and award-winning writer, she holds credentials as a Certified Genealogist® and Certified Genealogical Lecturer℠ from the Board for Certification of Genealogists®.

Her blog is at www.legalgenealogist.com.

Community News

[Right] Gertrude Perles of Vienna. [Left] Hasele and Abe Levy of Pittsburgh.

—from A. Sanford Levy and Gertrude Deutsch Perles Papers [MFF 4883]

"The Letters: A Plea for Help"

In late October 1938, Abe and Hasele Levy of Pittsburgh received a letter from Gertrude Perles, a stranger in Vienna who was trying to escape the Nazis and come to the United States. “My husband and I are both Jews,” she wrote. “I am sure you know what is going on here and I need not give you a more precise explanation. It is growing worse every day. Our only hope is to emigrate to the U.S.A. Please, if you are able to send affidavits for me and my husband, for Heaven’s sake, do it, before it will be too late for us.”


Over the next few months, the Levys worked to help this Viennese couple through the challenges and pressures of the immigration process. Their correspondence is preserved in the A. Sanford Levy and Gertrude Deutsch Perles Papers [MFF 4883] held by the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center. The collection vividly shows the logistical and emotional challenges facing Jewish refugees as they navigated the immigration process.


Iris Samson of WQED recently produced a short documentary about the collection of letters titled The Letters: A Plea for Help. The moving 15-minute documentary places the eight-month correspondence into the larger context of the Anschluss, the Holocaust, and the start of World War II.

View
From the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh:
Jakob's Torah: An International Journey
In its newest digital exhibit, the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh tells the story of Jakob's Torah, which made its way from Germany to Shanghai to San Francisco and New York during and after the War before coming to Western Pennsylvania. It is now on display at the Holocaust Center's new exhibition space at the Jennie King Mellon Library on the campus of Chatham University.
Learn More
The 1950 Census
The 1950 Census is now online.

You can access the census data using the link below. As additional research tools become the coming weeks and months, we'll share them here.

If you would like help using these records, please contact the Archive.
Learn More
Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project
The home page of the new Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project website, hosted by Carnegie Mellon University Libraries. The redesigned website is launching this month.

By now, you're probably expertly zipping around the new Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project platform. But if you still need a little help navigating its features and tools, you can view a virtual training workshop at the link below. Or, you can contact the archive or call 412-454-6406 with your questions.

Learn More
Tell your friends!
[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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