Memoir: Harry Gordon
Beth Abraham Cemetery Association (pictured)
Cneseth Israel Congregation
Calendar: Adam Brown on DNA
Community News: Jakob's Torah, 1950 Census, Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project
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Beth Jacob Congregation synagogue, East Liverpool, Ohio, c. 1919
—Jewish Criterion, March 31, 1919
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The date printed on the first page of Harry Gordon’s memoir is Nov. 19, 1974, but the 70-page account actually covers events through Dec. 1, 1975.
Gordon’s life is typical of his era. He was raised in Vilna and came to the United States as a young man. He made his way to East Liverpool, Ohio, where he had family. He started looking for a way to make a living. He worked briefly as a junk peddler and later as a stogie roller before finding someone in town to train him as a tailor. He opened a tailor shop. He rode waves of success and setback. One year he had to hire additional employees to help meet demand. Another year he had to file for bankruptcy protection.
What makes the memoir special is the telling. Gordon writes in a clipped, direct style, and he spells many words phonetically, as best he can. His perspective is often a combination of gratitude and sorrow, both hard won.
“When busness gets better profit increases. I paid my bills. I worked very hard. Used to get up 330 in the morning to go to Pittsburgh produce market for vegetabels. Come back with a heavy load about 10 A.M. and unload. Abe was already a good help. Becky and Ida was making the orders. I had to cut the meets [sic] and deliver the orders. We all worked hard. When the children grew they begin to have dates. Our house was a gathering spot for the boyes and girls. It was freilach in the house but not in my heart.”
We follow Gordon through his courtship and marriage and the beginnings of his family—children and grandchildren. His first wife dies relatively young of illness, and Gordon spends the next decades focused on work and family.
Late in life, though, he unexpectedly falls in love again. “Mollie hipnoticed me from the first handshake. We had dinner, went out for a walk. It pulled me to be neer her. We walked holding hands… The nite was a sleepless nite. I dreemed about her.” They marry and spend many happy years together.
Gordon starts writing his memoir a few years after her death. Writing must have been a comfort because when he reaches the present, he keeps writing. The memoir becomes a diary. Every few days, he makes a brief record: who he saw, what he ate, how he spent his hours, what he remembered.
Veterans Day that year reminds him of contracting the flu back in 1918 and how the local nuns saved his life. “It is memories of 55 years ago. Since then I lived tru a hectick life. Thanks God I am living. It is a happy day for me.”
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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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New Collection:
Beth Abraham Cemetery Association Records [MSS 333]
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Death record for Isaac Torbin listing his name in English and Hebrew, address, date and location of birth, date and location of death, and parents' names and birthplaces.
—from Beth Abraham Cemetery Association Records [MSS 333]
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Beth Abraham started as a congregation for Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire and evolved over several decades into a cemetery association serving the entire Jewish community. Today, it is the third largest Jewish cemetery in Western Pennsylvania, sprawling across several acres of two-dip hillside in the Carrick neighborhood at the southern tip of Pittsburgh. The Jewish Cemetery & Burial Association currently manages the cemetery.
The Rauh Jewish Archives received the records of the cemetery in three accessions between 1994 and 2010 and recently reprocessed the entire collection to make it easier to use. The Beth Abraham Cemetery Association Records [MSS 333] includes organizational minutes from 1941 to 1981, a daybook covering financial transactions in the 1940s, and death records from 1930 to 1996, as well as an assortment of maps, photographs, governance documents, and ephemera from a century of cemetery activity.
The death records are a valuable resource for researching family history. In many cases, the records include the English name, Hebrew name, birth date and location, death date and location, and the names of parents for the deceased. In some cases, the records even list the birthplaces of the parents.
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Jewish Encyclopedia of Western Pennsylvania:
Cneseth Israel Congregation
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The former Cneseth Israel synagogue at 1112 N. Negley Ave. in the East End.
—from Gerald Sapir Papers and Photographs [MSS 775]
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Cneseth Israel Congregation was founded in December 1903 by a contingent from Ohel Jacob Congregation, which later became New Light Congregation. Like those congregations, Cneseth Israel was initially associated with Jewish immigrants from Romania. It was known as “the little Romanian shul.”
Cneseth Israel rented meeting space at various locations throughout the Hill District until 1910, when it purchased a former Mormon church on Miller Street for $5,600 and converted the building into a synagogue. The congregation dedicated a new synagogue in 1946 at a converted house at 1112 N. Negley Ave. in the East End. The congregation remained on Negley Avenue until 1978, when it formally merged with nearby Adath Jeshurun Congregation.
Our entry for Cneseth Israel includes photographs of its two synagogues, a copy of its bylaws, and records from its cemetery and gemilas chesed society.
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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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July 31
JGS Pittsburgh Presents: Adam Brown
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The Avotaynu DNA Study is an ongoing worldwide academic collaboration of scientists, historians, genealogists and community leaders utilizing DNA to illuminate the origins and migrations of the Jewish people. Under the guidance of the Technion, the Avotaynu DNA Study has more than 8,000 participants representing all known Jewish communities from China to Curacao. Adam Brown is Project Administrator of the study. In his talk, “The Genetic Origins and Migrations of the Jewish People," he will answer DNA questions and explain how the Avotaynu study can help you understand your family origins.
This is a virtual program. It will be recorded, and the recording will be made available for JGS-Pittsburgh members who are current on their dues.
This program is possible through the support of the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation.
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Adam Brown is a frequent lecturer on genealogical subjects at genealogical conferences all over the world. In addition to administering the Avotaynu DNA study, he is the Managing Editor of AvotaynuOnline.com. He was National Chair of the IAJGS 2017 conference in Orlando. A strategic planner by profession, he has led numerous boards and commissions on municipal planning and finance, Jewish education, and scientific research in Israel.
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From the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh:
Jakob's Torah: An International Journey
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In its newest digital exhibit, the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh tells the story of Jakob's Torah, which made its way from Germany to Shanghai to San Francisco and New York during and after the War before coming to Western Pennsylvania. It is now on display at the Holocaust Center's new exhibition space at the Jennie King Mellon Library on the campus of Chatham University. |
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The 1950 Census is now online.
You can access the census data using the link below. As additional research tools become the coming weeks and months, we'll share them here.
If you would like help using these records, please contact the Archive.
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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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