Vol. 4

No. 26

Restaurants:

Myer's Restaurant

The Jewish Encyclopedia:

Shaare Shamayim Congregation

Family Clubs:

Klee Kousins Klub

Calendar:

July 9: Arnoud-Jan Bijsterveld

Aug. 2: Aaronel deRoy Gruber

through Aug. 13: Green Book

Community:

"How We Got Here"

Under the Dome of Rodef Shalom

JCBA "Road-Trip"

Mystery portraits

Research Tools:

Newspapers, Cemeteries,

Memorial Plaques, Books,

Population Figures, Newsletters

Restaurants:

Myer's Restaurant

Black and white photograph showing Myer's Restaurant at 912 Fifth Ave., Oct. 5, 1911.

—from Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection 

University of Pittsburgh Archives & Special Collections 

[715.112408.CP] (online—Historic Pittsburgh)

Western Pennsylvania had a vacation spot in the early 20th century that rivaled Atlantic City for the attention of local Jewish travelers. It was called Cambridge Springs. The resort town in Crawford County became a popular summertime destination after a local mineral springs was developed in the mid-1880s. Cambridge Springs eventually became home to more than 40 hotels, including many with Jewish ownership and mostly Jewish clientele.

LEFT: Advertisement for Myers Restaurant at 910 Fifth Ave., announcing opening of lunchroom at 912 Fifth Ave. April 5, 1912. RIGHT: Advertisement announcing opening of Myer’s Restaurant at 614 Penn Ave., kitchen supervised by Dina Myers, Nov. 4, 1921.

—from Jewish Criterion

Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project

Some of the Jewish hotels Cambridge Springs also had Pittsburgh operations.

Abraham and Dina Myers started Myers Restaurant on lower Fifth Avenue sometime in the first decade of the 20th century. Abraham Myers had operated Myers & Bennett with partner Morris Bennett at 931 Fifth Ave., followed by Myers & Heller with partner Morris Heller at 910 Fifth Ave. As early as 1906, Abraham and Dina Myers were operating a dining room out of neighboring buildings at 910 Fifth Ave. and 912 Fifth Ave. The operation appears to have been some combination of an inn and a restaurant or a quick lunch spot.

Following Abraham's death in 1919, Dina Myers became the sole proprietor. She relocated to 614 Penn Ave. in 1921, in partnership with Morris Sherr and with her son-in-law Jack Marks. They sold the business in 1925 to Harry Klein.

Advertisement announcing the opening of the Vienna Hotel in Cambridge Springs, Pa., under the management of Myers of 912 Fifth Ave., Feb. 19, 1915.

—from Jewish Criterion

Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project

In addition to these restaurants, the Myers were active in Cambridge Springs. Abraham Myers opened the Vienna Hotel in 1915. Dina Myers opened the Hotel Myers (formerly Hotel Wetzl) in 1919 and operated it until her death in 1926.

Next Week: Back to Fifth Avenue

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:

Shaare Shamayim Congregation

Shaare Shamayim Congregation (Gates of Heaven) was the first Jewish congregation in Western Pennsylvania. It emerged in the late 1840s from a group of recent Jewish immigrants from present-day Germany, Poland, and Lithuania. It dedicated a synagogue in August 1849 at the Vigilant Engine House on Third Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh. Shaare Shamayim Congregation survived a series of splits and mergers throughout the 1850s before merging into Rodef Shalom Congregation around 1860.

Our entry for Shaare Shamayim Congregation includes a fairly comprehensive collection of articles and other sources documenting the brief existence of the congregation.

Black and white illustration of Vigilant Engine House on Third Ave in downtown Pittsburgh.

—from Corinne Azen Krause Photographs [MSP 113]

Family Clubs:

The Klee Kousins Klub

photograph of Samuel Klee, undated.

—from Arnold Cushner Family Research Collection [2018.0146]

Samuel Klee came to the United States in 1888 from the Galitzianer town of Sanok, in present-day Poland. He settled in Carnegie, Pa. He eventually brought over his wife Sarah and their five children. Once here, they had three more children, for a total of eight. Several of his descendants remained in the region, settling in towns throughout Western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.

Sometime before May 1957, the children and grandchildren of Samuel and Sarah Klee started the Klee Kousins Klub, according to notices in the Jewish Criterion. The latest known notice was published in May 1960.

Known surnames in the Klee Kousins Klub include Baskin, Berman/Burman, Chaban, Glantz, Katz, Klahr, Klee, Krause, Slifkin, Weiss, and Zemon/Zeman.

Members of the Klee Kousins Klub lived in the city of Pittsburgh as well as several small towns throughout the region, including Bridgeville, Canonsburg, Carnegie, Monessen, Steubenville, and Washington. Known meeting places include 1223 Raven Dr. (Edith and Jerry Baskin residence); 739 Brady Ave., Steubenville, Oh. (Philip Burman residence); Mineral Beach; Monessen (Ted and Fern Krause residence); Canonsburg (Zelig and Irene Klahr residence); Carnegie (Bella and Sara Klee residence); Ahavath Achim Congregation, Carnegie; Ankara Supper Club; 2314 Lambeth Dr., Bridgeville, Pa. (Stanley and Florence Slifkin residence); Carnegie (Helen Weiss residence); 5506 Fifth Ave. (Sidney and Elaine Weiss residence); Sanford Weiss residence; Jerry Baskin residence; Washington (Sam Katz residence); Holiday House; Ogleby Park; Carnegie Park, Carnegie; 118 Lee St., Carnegie (Leonard and Anne Zemon residence); 210 Broadway St., Carnegie (Helen and Sidney Weiss residence).

While no known archival records exist specifically for the Klee Kousins Klub, the Arnold Cushner Family Research Collection [2018.0146] contains extensive genealogical documentation about many of the families included in the club. If you have additional information about the Klee Kousins Klub or its families and members, please email the archive or call 412-454-6406.

July 9:

JGS-Pittsburgh presents:

"Stumbling Stones, Commemoration, and Family History"

with Arnoud-Jan Bijsterveld

Searching for the history of his house, Arnoud-Jan Bijsterveld stumbled upon the dramatic history of a Jewish family and a son who was murdered in Auschwitz. With the help of surviving relatives and by doing archival research, Bijsterveld was able to reconstruct the family’s past, while reconnecting scattered family members at the same time. As a result, they were able to place a stumbling stone, create a documentary film, and write a book.

In this talk, Bijsterveld will sketch the wider context of the changes in the Dutch memory culture of World War II and the Holocaust. This can be characterized as a transformation of remembrance to a more individual approach, doing justice to the agency of the people involved as well as to the nuance and paradoxes that come with every family history. The stumbling stones are a case in point, as these exemplify this transformation.

Recently, the focus has shifted from a single narrative on the Holocaust in the Netherlands to multiple narratives. Research on life and family histories is essential to further this approach. This asks of the (family) historian to strike a balance between personal involvement and professional attitude.

The program is Sunday, July 9 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET. This is a virtual program, occurring exclusively online. The program will be recorded, and the recording will be made available to current JGS-Pittsburgh members.

“Stumbling Stones, Commemoration, and Family History” is a collaboration between the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center. Please register online. 

This virtual program is free for JGS-Pittsburgh members and $5 for the general public. To become a member of the JGS-Pittsburgh and to receive a free membership code for this program, please visit its website.

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

Arnoud-Jan Bijsterveld (1962) was trained as a medieval historian and is professor at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He studied at the Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen (1980-1986) and graduated at the University of Amsterdam (1987). In 1993, he received his PhD (cum laude) at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. For research and teaching, he was affiliated with the Université de Liège (1988-1989), Princeton University (1994-1995), the Max-Planck-Institut für Geschichte in Göttingen (1997), the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (1998-1999 and 2006), Venice International University (2011), and the Humboldt Universität Berlin (2018). 

Since 1999, he has held the funded chair for the Regional History and Ethnology of Brabant at Tilburg University. As member of the Department of Sociology and professor in the University College Tilburg, he teaches on nationalism and regionalism in Europe, regional history, medieval history, the philosophy of history and memory, and the representation of traumatic histories (Public and Applied History). Under his supervision, 23 PhD students have completed their PhD so far. At the moment, he supervises three PhDs working on Holocaust and World War II history. Since 2011, he has been involved in the placing of stumbling stones (Stolpersteine) in his hometown Tilburg.

He published widely on the medieval history of the Low Countries and on the interplay between history, cultural heritage, and (regional) identity. Since 2011, he focuses on the history and the memory culture of the Holocaust. In 2012, he was involved in the making of the documentary film Here was Bertram: In search for a lost life. In 2016, he published House of Memories: Uncovering the Past of a Dutch Jewish Family (Hilversum: Verloren), which appeared in Dutch as Ons huis. Op zoek naar een Joodse familie in Tilburg in 2020.

August 2:

A Celebration of Aaronel deRoy Gruber

The Irving and Aaronel deRoy Gruber Foundation recently donated the kinetic outdoor sculpture Alumascape III to the Westmoreland Museum of Ar in Greensburg, Pa.

In celebration of the donation, the foundation’s Executive Director Brittany Reilly will speak about the life and work of artist Aaronel deRoy Gruber at the museum on Wednesday, Aug. 2 at 3 p.m. You can learn more about the sculpture at the museums' website, and you can research Aaronel's life in the Aaronel deRoy Gruber Papers [MSS 335] at the Rauh Jewish Archives.

Alumascape III, photographed by Walt Seng, 1980.

—from The Irving & Aaronel deRoy Gruber Foundation Archives.

through August 13:

The Negro Motorist Green Book

“The Negro Motorist Green Book” was a travel guide listing restaurants, gas stations, department stores, and other businesses that welcomed Black travelers. In an era of Jim Crow laws and “sundown towns,” the Green Book offered critical, life-saving information and sanctuary for Black individuals and families traveling the country. Harlem postman Victor Green started the publication in 1936, based in part on a similar volume published in Yiddish for Jewish travelers. The Green Book continued annually through 1967.

The new exhibit “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” on display in the McGuinn Gallery of the Heinz History Center through Aug. 13, tells the story of this landmark publication and its impact on the nation’s rising Black middle class in the middle 20th century. The exhibit also reveals the world of the Green Book in Pittsburgh with artifacts from hotels, jazz clubs, restaurants, and more than 30 local businesses listed in the Green Book, including the Terrace Hall Hotel, Harlem Casino Dance Hall, and Palace Hotel. The exhibit features images from the Melvin Seidenberg Photographs at the Rauh Jewish Archives and the Charles “Teenie” Harris Archive at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Community

From the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh

"How We Got Here"

Each family is unique. 

Each family has its own traditions, its own spirit, and its own dynamics. 

Despite all these differences, every Jewish family in Western Pennsylvania has at least one thing in common: They all have a story about how they got here.

Perhaps your family sailed in steerage across the Atlanti in the 19th century.

Or perhaps your family drove the Pennsylvania Turnpike in a station wagon in the 1960s to work for the universities and hospitals during Renaissance.

Or perhaps your arrival into one of the many Jewish communities of Western Pennsylvania involves marriage, or conversion, or a surprising DNA discovery.

Each of these stories is special, and each contributes to the larger story of our community. To collect and honor these origin stories, the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh is launching a new initiative called “How We Got Here.” To participate, just write a short account explaining how you or your ancestors came to settle in Western Pennsylvania. All stories are welcome.

Stories will be eligible for inclusion in the JGS-Pittsburgh’s monthly newsletter Z’chor and also for preservation in the Rauh Jewish Archives. For more information about this initiative, or to contribute, contact Eric Lidji.

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 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 more than 2,000 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.

Jewish Population Estimates

Looking to figure out how many Jews lived in a certain part of Western Pennsylvania at a certain moment in time? This bibliography includes more than 30 estimates of the Jewish population of Pittsburgh and small-towns throughout the region, conducted between 1852 and 2017.

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.