Seeing Beyond the Surface
The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, now the Heinz History Center, published a wonderful article in 1935 called "Pittsburgh Seventies." It’s a genre of writing common in the back catalog of our long-running publication: a reminiscence of old Pittsburgh. What makes this article so much better than the usual account of long-forgotten people and place names is its analysis. The author, J. Ernest Wright, deftly identifies the spirit of the city in the 1870s...

[IMAGE: Bertha Rauh portrait by Martin Leisser, 1926 (gift of Richard Rauh).]
Featured Cookbook: The Best of Beth Shalom
"The Best of Beth Shalom" is a classic in the world of local cookbooks.

The Beth Shalom Sisterhood published the book in 1982, during the presidency of Nadene Sales.

It includes features found in other Jewish cookbooks, such as an introductory essay explaining the culinary nature of Jewish holidays. It also includes some signs of its time, particularly the "conservation hints" meant to lessen kitchen energy use.

The cookbook is loaded with great recipes. But its historical importance has more to do with circumstances.

All the back issues of the cookbook were destroyed in the 1996 fire at the synagogue, prompting the Sisterhood to compile a second version. We'll look at that book in the weeks ahead.
Instead of one featured recipe, we have three. "The Best of Beth Shalom" includes a chapter on "Salads, Molds and Dressings."

Molded salads have fallen out of favor in modern kitchens, but they were once a staple in American homes.

This page of the cookbook includes three variations on the mold: one layered, one savory, and one sweet.

Perhaps an enterprising home cook could find a way to modernize this style of cooking for modern palates.
The Rauh Jewish Archives is placing a special focus on Jewish cookbooks throughout 2020. If you have an extra copy of a cookbook published by a Jewish individual or a Jewish group in Western Pennsylvania, please contact Eric Lidji at 412-454-6406 or  eslidji@heinzhistorycenter.org .
The Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives was founded in 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.
We can do it, Pittsburgh

The Heinz History Center, Fort Pitt Museum, Meadowcroft, and the Detre Library & Archives will reopen to the public on  Wednesday, July 1 .  
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.