Memoir: Joseph Bennett
Foster Family
New Light Congregation
Calendar: Shaare Torah Congregation, Ethnicity on the Hill, the Downtown Shul, Family Clubs, New Frontiers in Genealogy, DNA
Community News
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Memoir:
"The Life of an Immigrant"
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Joseph Bennett, age 71
—from "The Life of an Immigrant"
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Joseph Bennett came to Pittsburgh from Sulwalk province and started out peddling matches. It was mercantilism in its most basic form: he would sell a few matches and then use the earnings to buy a few more.
He eventually oversaw one of the largest pants manufacturing firms in the city: Bennett, Hollander and Lewis, maker of Stag Trousers.
Bennett’s climb through the business world is the main story line of his 1937 memoir, “The Life of an Immigrant.” It is one of the most complete accounts of the Jewish mercantile experience in Western Pennsylvania at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.
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We watch Bennett go from peddler, to traveling salesman, to manufacturer. He describes the challenge of securing financing from partners and banks, and he explains the difficulties of acquiring increasingly larger physical spaces as his operation grows. Along the way, we encounter many well-known figures of the era, including some people we have already met this year as characters in other local memoirs, businessmen like Barnett Davis and the Habers.
Despite its scarcity of family detail, “The Life of an Immigrant” is surprisingly personal. Through the business dealings, we find the person.
One touching segment finds Bennett listing, by name, each of the Christian country people who supported him during the years he peddled on foot through Washington County, Pa. and Brooke County, W.V. “I consider them the finest people in the United States, because they are not too rich, nor too poor and of course that makes a big difference,” Bennett writes.
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Stag Trousers advertis
—from "The Life of an Immigrant"
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"Interior view of the Bennett factory at Connellsville, Pa., which manufactures Bennett trousers and has a capacity of 23,000 pairs of trousers per week."
—from "The Life of an Immigrant"
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Bennett devotes entire chapters to offenses committed against him. He often revisits his complicated dealings with his father and also the tensions in his partnership with Hollander and Lewis. These conflicts are familiar to families and business partnerships everywhere. But in Bennett's telling, the emotion underlying these conflicts becomes human and meaningful. We see the scars left as families migrate piecemeal across the ocean. We see how prejudice between Jewish groups can become a weapon during times of conflict. We see how religion can act as a constant, stabilizing force for people who have experienced rapid, tremendous change in every other area of their lives.
Those hidden forces give new meaning and depth to otherwise common pieces of wisdom, like when Bennett writes: “In the matter of making a livelihood, for example, I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing more satisfactory than to be in business for one’s self. It is better to be the owner of a peanut stand than to work for John D. Rockefeller at a salary of a thousand dollars a month. Supposing a man does get a large salary, he is still a slave to some one else. The satisfaction of knowing that you are your own boss, I found, is worth more money than you can make working for someone else.”
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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:
Foster and Mars Family Papers and Photographs [MSS 1210]
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Telegram from Mr. and Mrs. I. W. Frank to Mr. and Mrs. Horace Gallinger, offering congratulations on the marriage of Ruth Gallinger to Byron Foster, 1922.
—Foster and Mars Family Papers and Photographs [MSS 1210]
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The Foster and Mars Family Papers and Photographs [MSS 1210] documents a branch of one of the oldest Jewish families in Western Pennsylvania. Nathan Gallinger came to this region from Bavaria in the 1850s by way of Ohio. In 1922, his great-granddaughter Ruth married Byron Foster, whose family was involved in oil field supplies industry and eventually transitioned into the steel industry through the L. B. Foster Company.
The varied and multifaceted collection documents family life across four generations of the Gallinger, Foster and Mars families, as well as a small selection of materials documenting the L. B. Foster Company. Of particular interest is a scrapbook from a European voyage in late 1946 and early 1947, showing life on the continent in the immediate aftermath of World War II.
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Jewish Encyclopedia of Western Pennsylvania:
New Light Congregation
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Photograph from "The 25th anniversary banquet of Congregation Oher Chodosh Anshe Romanian," likely held in the basement of the congregation's synagogue on Roberts Street in the Hill District. Original image broken into three parts.
—New Light Congregation Records [MSS 1230]
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New Light Congregation emerged from a wave of Romanian Jewish immigration to Pittsburgh in the 1890s, the result of increased antisemitism in Romania. It built a synagogue on Roberts Street in the Hill District, where it remained until 1955. A few years later, it relocated to Squirrel Hill, dedicating a new synagogue on Beechwood Blvd. and transitioning into a Conservative congregation with a full-time rabbi, a Sisterhood, and a Men's Club. |
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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 3:
Shir Hadash:
Renewal and Transition at Shaare Torah
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The head rabbis of Shaare Torah Congregation (Left to Right) Rabbi Moshe Shimon Sivitz (1890-1936), Rabbi Baruch A. Poupko (1942-1995), Rabbi Daniel Wasserman (1995-2022).
—Corinne Azen Krause Photographs [MSP 113]; Jewish Criterion Jan. 8, 1943; Jewish Chronicle Aug. 22, 1996
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RESCHEDULED from June 23
In the coming weeks, Shaare Torah Congregation will say goodbye to Rabbi Daniel Wasserman and Rebbetzin Judy Wasserman after 27 years and install Rabbi Yitzchak Genack as its new senior rabbi. As part of the historic change, the congregation is looking back at its previous moment of rabbinic transition.
In their talk "Shir Hadash: Renewal and Transition at Shaare Torah," Linda Tashbook and Eric Lidji will present an overview of the early years of the tenures of the three senior rabbis of the congregation: Rabbi Moshe Shimon Sivitz, Rabbi Baruch A. Poupko, and Rabbi Daniel Wasserman, as well as the contributions of Rabbi Moshe Kletenik and Rabbi Eliezer Shushterman.
The multimedia presentation will consider the founding of the congregation in the late 19th century, its move to Squirrel Hill in the late 1940s, and its evolution into the diverse, modern congregation it became in the 21st century.
The program will take place at Shaare Torah Congregation, 2319 Murray Avenue, tonight, Sunday, July 3, at 7:30 p.m. It will be followed by refreshments and by Rabbi Wasserman's final address to the congregation.
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July 5:
Ethnic Jewish Organizations of the Hill District
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The former Anshe Lubovitz synagogue at 110 Erin Street in the Hill District.
—Corinne Azen Krause Photographs [MSP 113]
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As part of New Light Congregation's summer lecture series "Pittsburgh Is Our Home," the Rauh Jewish Archives will be looking at the ethnic origins of the former Jewish organizations in the Hill District more than a century ago.
The Jewish congregations and landsmenshaftn (fraternal organizations) that organized in the Hill District throughout the late 19th and early 20th century had strong ethnic identities. They often represented countries in Europe and sometimes even specific regions or towns. By the start of World War II, that ethnic identity had faded somewhat in favor of other markers of identity.
In a hybrid talk on Tuesday, July 5 at 7 p.m. at Congregation Beth Shalom, the Rauh Jewish Archives will provide an overview of this early era in local Jewish history with a special focus on the facets of Ukrainian Jewry.
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July 10:
The Downtown Shul: A Hidden Gem
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Groundbreaking for Beth Hamedrash Hagodol's Colwell Street synagogue.
—Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob Records [MSS 438]
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The sanctuary of the Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob synagogue—lovingly known as “The Downtown Shul”—is one of the under-appreciated architectural gems of Pittsburgh. Although the current building is relatively new, the sanctuary integrates elements from two earlier versions of the synagogue, each demolished during urban renewal activities.
The new sanctuary elegantly preserves the legacy of Jewish life at the intersection of Downtown and Uptown with the Lower Hill District, an area once home to tens of thousands of Jewish people, dozens of Jewish congregations, and hundreds of Jewish organizations, clubs, and businesses.
In this presentation for Doors Open Pittsburgh, Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob Congregation President Ira Frank and Rauh Jewish Archives Director Eric Lidji will use historic materials to unveil the 150-year history of this sanctuary.
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July 12:
The Family Clubs of Squirrel Hill
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The members of the KA-EL Family Society at an unidentified gathering. Some of the faces were removed to be used in other purposes, and handwritten names fill the resulting holes.
—from Katz and Elinoff Papers and Photographs [MSS 1130]
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Family clubs were a defining feature of the Ashkenazi Jewish experience in the United States in the 20th century. These clubs had members, officers, dues, meetings, minutes, newsletters, reunions, and programs. What made them different from any other club was their membership: everyone was related.
In this program for the Squirrel Hill Historical Society, the Rauh Jewish Archives will use a newly created database of more than 110 clubs from Western Pennsylvania to consider the history and culture of the dozens of Jewish family clubs based throughout the Squirrel Hill area in the 20th century.
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July 20:
The Story of Our Lives: Why Tell Family Stories
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Whether you’re a seasoned genealogist or simply the keeper of your family stories, the Heinz History Center’s new programming series, “The Story of Our Lives,” promises to open your eyes to new ways of thinking about who you are, why your family matters, and how the work of family storytelling is essential. For the first installment, "Why Tell Family Stories," Dr. Robyn Fivush, a nationally renowned scientist, and Njaimeh Njie, one of Pittsburgh’s most engaging artists and multimedia producers, will discuss the many ways that telling family stories can positively impact people, families, and society.
This hybrid program will take place on Tuesday, July 20 at 7 p.m. at the Heinz History Center. Attendees can participate either online or in person.
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Dr. Robyn Fivush is a professor of psychology who studies the role of reminiscing and sharing family stories in the development of emotionally resilient children. For decades, Fivush and her Emory University colleagues have compiled data on the benefits of family stories on child wellbeing.
Njaimeh Njie is an artist and multimedia producer who uses images and documents of family and neighborhood history to honor everyday experiences and spark visual gateways into the past. In discussing their work, Fivush and Njie will offer insights into the many ways that telling family stories can positively impact people and society at large.
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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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Now Open:
“Pittsburgh’s John Kane:
The Life & Art of an American Workman”
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"Crossing the Junction," John Kane |
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The Carnegie Institute surprised the art world in 1927 when it accepted a painting called “Scene from the Scottish Highlands” into its annual International Exhibition of Paintings. The exhibit, now called the Carnegie International, was one of the longest-running and most important surveys of American contemporary painting, a showcase of world-famous painters.
The artist was John Kane, a 67-year-old immigrant laborer in Pittsburgh with no formal art training but an artistic eye and approach all his own. Through the exposure from the exhibit, Kane gained international recognition in the final years of his life. Today, his work can be found in some of the most prestigious art museums in America, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and The Art Institute of Chicago.
The local art world has revisited Kane many times since his death in 1934, but there has never been a thorough historical examination of his life. The new Heinz History Center exhibit “Pittsburgh’s John Kane: The Life & Art of an American Workman” is the first to consider how Kane’s life and world influenced his art. Grounded in scholarship from Louise Lippincott and Maxwell King's new book “American Workman: The Life and Art of John Kane,” the exhibit asks: How did an immigrant worker roaming around Western Pennsylvania at the turn of the century become an artist of national acclaim?
“Pittsburgh’s John Kane” includes 37 paintings by Kane from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Carnegie Museum of Art, American Folk Art Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, the Phillips Collection, and others collections. The exhibit also includes rarely seen archival objects, including a collection of silver gelatin photographs Kane took as painting studies. An immersive walk-through of Kane’s final painting—“Crossing the Junction”—will allow visitors to travel through a Pittsburgh landscape as Kane did and explore his artistic process.
The exhibit is now open and runs through the rest of the year.
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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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