Memoirs: William Stark
Aaronel deRoy Gruber Papers
Tree of Life Congregation
Sivitz Family Cousins Club
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Memoirs:
William Stark: "Share My Dreams"
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Penn Overall Supply Co. advertisement.
—Jewish Chronicle, March 8, 1962, p171
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William Stark was one of those people whose obituary spills forth with a cascade of organizational affiliations: United Jewish Federation, Montefiore Hospital, Point Park University, Civic Light Opera, Bidwell Training Center.
What do those affiliations really mean? What does "affiliation" entail?
In his 2000 memoir “Share My Dreams,” Stark describes a life in communal philanthropy—how one comes to it and what it looks like.
The 74-page memoir is roughly divided into two parts. The first 10 chapters describe his family history and his personal experiences coming up in Braddock, Swissvale, and the Hill District in the 1920s and 1930s.
His parents Sidney and Sadie Stark were Jewish socialists and labor activists who were also successful in business and influential in communal affairs. Stark describes how this upbringing influenced his approach to education, business, religion, culture, and the hard but exciting work of moving from youth into adulthood.
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The second half of the book is one long chapter titled, “Repairing the World, Tikkun Olam.” In a series of small profiles, Stark describes his work with more than two-dozen local communal agencies: everything from big, well-known organizations like the United Way and the United Jewish Federation to creative but short-lived undertakings like “Super-Cheep,” a low-cost bag-it-yourself grocery store that was a forerunner to Aldi.
Stark's descriptions are often surprisingly candid. He explains how major non-profits selected board members in those years, how boards raised funds, and why organizations sometimes eliminated programs that seemed to be successful. Through these accounts, Stark presents a philosophy of communal work. He appreciates resourcefulness and experimentation, and he opposes anyone overly burdens a good idea—people he calls “bottom-liners.”
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William Stark with University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Wesley Posvar at the 50th reunion for the Class of 1938.
—William Stark Photographs [MSQ 292]
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Next week: The poetry-memoir of Freda LaVictoire
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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Schematic for "Hollow Cube," c.1980
—Aaronel deRoy Gruber Papers and Photographs [MSS 335]
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Aaronel deRoy Gruber was an internationally recognized artist based in Pittsburgh her entire career. She started as a painter and became a sculptor, jewelry maker, and photographer. She was a pioneer in the use of plexiglass, and among the first local artists to document abandoned industrial sites.
The Aaronel deRoy Gruber Papers and Photographs documents her career, as well as the respective and combined lives of the DeRoy and Gruber families. It contains extensive correspondence, files of past exhibits, exhibition programs, contracts and associations, artist’s statements, artwork slides, correspondence, publicity, biographies and curricula. Our entry includes video of Project Archivist Catelyn Coccuzi’s recent talk on the collection.
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Jewish Encyclopedia of Western Pennsylvania:
Tree of Life Congregation (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
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Photograph of the 1901 confirmation class of Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh. Shows four girls and three boys in formal wear.
—Corinne Azen Krause Photographs [MSP 113]
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Tree of Life Congregation was the first Conservative congregation in Western Pennsylvania. It was founded in June 1864 by a coalition of Posner, Lithuanian, Dutch and traditional Germans who left Rodef Shalom Congregation after that congregation took its first step toward liberalization: trading the traditional Minhag Ashkenaz prayer book for Rabbi Isaac Meyer Wise’s new English prayer book: Minhag America. Over the next few decades, Tree of Life gradually liberalized its practices, becoming one of the founding congregations of the Jewish Theological Seminary and the wider Conservative movement.
Tree of Life started downtown, relocated to Crafts Avenue in Oakland in 1907 and relocated to Wilkins Avenue in Squirrel Hill in the late 1940s. Its rabbis, officers, and members contributed to a wide-range of communal ventures.
Our entry for Tree of Life includes an extensive bibliography, links to publications, a selection of records, and a dynamic map of its membership in 1900 and 1921, showing the migration of members in the early 20th century.
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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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Family Club
Sivitz Family Cousins' Club
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Sivitz Family Cousins' Club note
—Jewish Criterion, May 29, 1959, p26
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The Sivitz Family Cousins Club began meeting as early as December 1957 and was still meeting in January 1960, according to notices in local Jewish papers.
Surnames in the club include Elinoff, Eskovitz, Goldberg, Keilly, Leff, Margolis, Markley, Monsein, and Sperling. The club usually met at Shaaray Tefillah Congregation on Bartlett Street in Squirrel Hill—also known as The Russian Shul. It held special events at the Holiday House and at Cappy’s Restaurant.
No known archival records exist for the club. If you have information about the Sivitz Family Cousins Club, please email the archive or call 412-454-6406.
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February 15
Black and Jewish Histories of the Hill District
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Rescheduled from January: Repair the World is hosting a panel on the overlapping and diverging Black and Jewish histories of the Hill District.
The Rauh Jewish Archives will join ACH Clear Pathways Director Tyian Battle, Multimedia Producer Njaimeh Njie, and Hill District community leader Terri Baltimore to communal institutions, partnerships and tensions, migration, arts and culture, racial justice uprisings, and more. The panel will be moderated by BOOM Concepts Co-Founder D.S. Kinsel.
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Dor Hadash calling for Bat Mitzvah photographs |
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Congregation Dor Hadash is asking the community for photographs of bat mitzvah celebrations past and present. The materials will be used as part of an upcoming celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first bat mitzvah in 1922.
The centennial weekend on March 19-20 will include speakers, workshops, and chances for people to share their personal experiences. To contribute or to learn more, contact the congregation at batmitzvah100@dorhadash.net.
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Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project |
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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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By now, you're probably expertly zipping around the new Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project platform. But if you still need a little help navigating the features and tools of the website, the Rauh Jewish Archives recently contributed a brief explanatory article to the Jewish Chronicle. It provides some basic tips and techniques for conducting research using the new site.
We plan to provide a live virtual training workshop in the near future to review the website and its functionalities. Until then, we are here to help you troubleshoot problems. 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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