A Cookbook Interlude: Na'Amat USA Pittsburgh Council |
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All year, we have been using this space to tell the story of Jewish clubs in Western Pennsylvania. But this week, as an after-Passover treat, we're taking a short break to return to our topic from last year: local Jewish cookbooks.
As you may have read, the Pittsburgh chapter of NA'AMAT will close on June 1 after nearly a century. The local chapter started in 1925, just months after the national organization was created. Back then, it was Pioneer Women.
Na'Amat USA Pittsburgh Council published this cookbook sometime in the mid-1980s when the group was perhaps at its greatest size and strength.
The cookbook is fairly traditional in terms of its recipes, but it does contain an uncommon detail in its presentation. There is no attribution for most of the recipes. The entire cookbook is simply credited to "The Chaverot of Pittsburgh Council," rather than to individual members within the organization.
Second, the back of the cookbook includes a selection of "Celebrity" recipes, which are attributed to presidents, first ladies, heads of state, and celebrities.
Among them is this page, which includes recipes from Katherine Hepburn, President John F. Kennedy, and NA'AMAT USA President Gloria Elbling. Elbling was a Pittsburgher. In fact, her grandfather was Jacob Radbord, the matzah inspector seen two weeks ago in the article about the Caplan Baking Co.
Elbling was one of the few local Jewish leaders who went on to lead a national organization. After she was elected, the city temporarily renamed a section of Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill in her honor. For a time, it was Elbling Avenue.
In the next issue of the newsletter, we'll return to the story of Jewish youth clubs by considering the triumphs and lasting friendships of the Aaronians.
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.
[IMAGES: Cover and interior page from Na'Amat USA Pittsburgh Council cookbook, gift of Malke Frank, 2021. Cover features a cartoon of a French chef holding a pot, drawn in a thin blue line against a white background.]
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A World Beyond: Turkish Jewish Cemeteries |
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“A World Beyond: Jewish Cemeteries in Turkey 1583-1990” is an online database of more than 61,000 Jewish tombstones in Turkey, including photographs, transcriptions, and descriptions. The result of decades of work, this incredible repository is an essential resource for researching Ottoman Jewry. The story behind the website is also an inspiring tale of scholarly persistence and a lesson about the importance of preserving primary sources.
This program will include a video presentation by Dr. Minna Rozen, followed by a question and answer session with Dr. Rozen about the project and website.
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Prof. Minna Rozen (born 1947) is an emerita of the University of Haifa. A historian of the Jewish Mediterranean diaspora in the early modern and modern eras, she initiated and carried out documentation and digitization projects of Jewish archives, cemeteries, and synagogues in Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria. The digital archive of 61,000 Jewish tombstones from Turkey which evolved from an idea of the late Professor Bernard Lewis, and commemorates him, has been uploaded on the internet by the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University, a center she was the head of in 1992-1997. She is the author of 10 books and scores of articles. Among her last publications are: A Journey Through Civilizations: Chapters in the History of Istanbul Jewry, 1453-1923 (Turnhaut: Brepols Publishers, 2015); The Mediterranean in the Seventeenth Century: Captives, Pirates, and Ransomers at the Juncture Between Religion, Politics, Economics, and Society (Palermo: New Digital Frontiers S.R.L. and Casa Editrice Mediterranea, 2016). She is presently writing a monograph on Salonikan Jewry in the interwar period.
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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Researching the History of Institutionalized People |
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For generations, various barriers have prevented researchers from accessing the historical files of institutionalized people. Learn about a multi-year effort to preserve historical records from state-run institutions in Pennsylvania, as well as the new policies that have opened these records for research.
These materials offer a rare, individual-focused approach to researching the early history of institutionalization in Pennsylvania. For genealogists, these records offer the potential for poignant insights into the lives and personal experiences of institutionalized ancestors and their families in Pennsylvania.
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[IMAGE: Black and white image of institutionalized women in the company of a nurse on a porch at Polk State Center, c. 1900s-1920s. Five younger women and three older women are dressed in winter attire, all seated, before a nurse standing in the background. One young woman is in a bed with a doll in hand and another young woman is in a wheelchair. (Polk Center (PA) Glass Plate Negatives, Record Group 23, Series 989, Pennsylvania State Archives).] |
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If you like this newsletter, why not forward it to a friend? We want to share the story of Western Pennsylvania Jewish history with as many people as possible.
If you've received this newsletter from a friend or neighbor, and you want to read more, just click on the link below to start receiving future editions.
[IMAGE: Marian Schreiber and employees at the Schreiber Trucking Company, c.1943—Schreiber Family Papers and Photographs, MSS 846.]
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The Rauh Jewish History Program & 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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