B'nai Israel Girl Scout Troop 117 |
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[IMAGES: (Top to Bottom) Girl Scout board of examiners certificate, 1928—from Rosella Skirboll Linder Papers, MFF2041; Jewish Criterion, Oct. 23, 1931, page 22; Jewish Criterion, Oct. 4, 1935, page 20.] |
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Soon after it dedicated its synagogue on Negley Avenue in 1923, B'nai Israel Congregation in the East End began sponsoring scouting troops.
The new Men's Club was sponsoring a Cub Scout Troop and a Boy Scout Troop as early as 1925. The congregation sponsored Girl Scout Troop 117 by late 1928. News of the troop continued to appear in the Jewish Criterion until at least 1935.
The first captain of the troop was Rose Azen. The Azen family relocated to the East End around 1920 and was instrumental in securing a permanent and beautiful home for B'nai Israel. The troop captain in the mid-1930s was Rosella Skirboll, who had trained under Azen. Seen here is the certificate signed after Azen had approved Skirboll,
With the exception of "observation trips" and a hike through the relatively new "Fricks Woods," as the park was known, the activities of Troop 117 were similar to any girls' club from the time: candy sales, mother-daughter teas, card parties.
The Criterion reported on Troop 117 in its regular "Clubs" column, alongside news from the clubs of the Irene Kaufmann Settlement and YM&WHA. The Jewish population of the East End was rapidly growing in the 1920s, but the neighborhood lacked the communal infrastructure of the Hill District. Scouting seems to have provided a practical institutional framework for youth activities.
All this year, the Rauh Jewish Archives is highlighting stories of Jewish club life in Western Pennsylvania. If you would like to donate records of a local Jewish club, or just chat about clubs, contact the archive or call 412-454-6406.
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July 21: JGS Pittsburgh present Mark Halpern |
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A great many Galician researchers have acquired copies of family records from repositories in Poland and Ukraine or online images provided by the State Archive or Genealogical organizations. Over the last 20 years, the work of Jewish Records Indexing—Poland and Gesher Galicia has made these records more readily available to all Galician researchers.
In his talk "Understanding Your Galitzianer Family through Vital Records," Mark Halpern will examine these vital records and provide a strategic framework for acquiring Galician records and furthering research. He will provide a historical perspective on the regulations that governed Jewish recordkeeping. He will make sense of the regulations covering civil marriages that impacted the legitimacy and surnames of children. Close examination of sample birth, marriage, and death records will reveal the information contained in the records, identify the records having the most genealogical value, and discover surprises found in many of these records.
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While on business in Poland, Mark Halpern became interested in his roots. Now retired, Mark works with JRI–Poland, JewishGen, IAJGS, and Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia (JGASGP) helping others research their roots. Mark serves on the Board and Executive Group of JRI-Poland, is the founder of Bialystok Area Jewish Genealogy Group, is on the Advisory Board of Gesher Galicia, and is past President of JGASGP. Mark chaired the program committees for the 2009 and 2013 Conferences and served as advance coordinator for the 2018 Warsaw Conference. Mark was honored in 2018 with the IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award.
This program is made possible by support from the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation.
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July 25: "Beth Israel Center: Before Charter" |
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[IMAGES: (Left) Construction site for the Beth Israel Center synagogue on Gill Hall Road, c. 1962—from Beth Israel Center Records, MSS 1084; (Right, Top) Construction underway on the second floor addition to Temple Emanuel of the South Hills, 1960—from Temple Emanuel of the South Hills Records; (Right, Bottom) Advertisement for the Beth El Congregation Building Fund, 1959—from Beth El Congregation of the South Hills Calendar.]
Throughout the 1950s, the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West Mifflin, Pa. and the Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory in Large, Pa. attracted Jewish engineers and scientists to boroughs along Route 51 in the South Hills. They formed Beth Israel Center in 1958 and maintained it for the next 60 years.
Before it closed in 2018, Beth Israel Center donated a wonderful collection of congregational records to the Rauh Jewish Archives. Using those records, we’ll reconstruct the early years of Beth Israel Center, starting with the initial gatherings in 1957 and culminating with the incorporation of the congregation in February 1959. We’ll also look at the larger development of Jewish life in the South Hills at that time, including the arrival of Beth El Congregation to the Mt. Lebanon area and the expansion of Temple Emanuel of the South Hills.
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This program is made possible with support from Beth Israel Center. |
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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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