July 30, 2023

Vol. 4, No. 31

Restaurants:

The Y Restaurant

The Jewish Encyclopedia:

Allegheny Young Men’s Sephar Club 

Family Clubs:

My-Max Family Club

Calendar:

Aug. 2: Aaronel deRoy Gruber

through Aug. 13: Green Book

Aug. 20: JGS Pittsburgh: Tyler Stump

Community:

"How We Got Here"

JCBA "Road-Trip"

Mystery portraits

Research Tools:

Newspapers, Cemeteries,

Memorial Plaques, Books,

Population Figures, Synagogues, Newsletter Archive

Restaurants:

The Y Restaurant

“Interior Views of the New Y Building.” Photographic essay of rooms in the new YM&WHA building at 315 S. Bellefield Ave. in Oakland in advance of its dedication, May 21, 1926.

—from Jewish Criterion

Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project

When the Young Men’s and Women’s Hebrew Association dedicated its new building on S. Bellefield Avenue in Oakland in May 1926, it touted the architecture, the auditorium, the educational center and library, and the gymnasium and swimming pool. At the end of this impressive list, it also casually noted, “A complete kitchen and dining room is maintained for the use of members and also for catering to affairs which may be held in the building.”

Although the Y Restaurant gets much less attention today than beloved YM&WHA initiatives like the Y Playhouse, the Y Music Society, and the Y Health Club, the second-floor dining hall was an important feature of the Oakland Y for at least 30 years. Having an in-house restaurant allowed the Y to nurture a robust programming calendar, especially the system of clubs that was so essential to the social life of the institution before World War II. 

Advertisement for the Y Restaurant under management of William B. Wiedman. Copy reads, “W. B. Wiedman… announces that beginning Friday, May 17 and every Friday thereafter, we will serve an Old Fashioned Shabbos Dinner,” May 24, 1935.

—from Jewish Criterion

Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project

The Y organized its Restaurant Committee as early as October 1927.

The committee contracted management of the kitchen and dining hall to a series of proprietors over the years, including the Habers, the Pomarlens, the Wiedmans, Abe Soltz, Jay Palley, and Olive Skarlsky. During the American involvement in World War II, the Y Restaurant was converted into the Y Canteen for servicemen training in Oakland.

In the early 1950s, the YM&WHA partnered with the local chapter of Hadassah, which oversaw the restaurant under the management of Mrs. Perry Stearn. In the late 1950s, the Y Restaurant worked with Club 315, a sporadic “night club” for Jewish teens based out of the Oakland Y.

The Y Restaurant negotiated its kosher credentials. A foundational principle of a kosher kitchen prohibits the mixing of meat and dairy. The Y Restaurant kitchen initially prepared meat dishes but converted to dairy in January 1927.

When the Y Restaurant began contracting out its kitchen to third-party management in October 1927, an article noted, “Under the new policy, the restaurant will serve milk foods as well as meat foods, and the patrons are requested to cooperate it maintaining ‘Kashruth.’” The restaurant would serve both meat and dairy but was asking patrons not to order both at once.

Despite having extensive records about the YM&WHA, we have found little documentation of the Y Restaurant aside from articles. If you have memories, photographs, or menus of the old Y Restaurant, please contact the archive.

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:

Allegheny Young Men's Sephar Club

"Israelitish Reform." Article from Pittsburgh Daily Post, Aug. 25, 1874, describing the formation of Congregation Emanuel.

—Newspapers.com

The Allegheny Young Men’s Sephar Club was created by a group of young Jewish men in Allegheny, Pa. for the purposes of acquiring a Torah scroll for Rodef Shalom Congregation.

The 16-member group presented the Torah scroll to the congregation in a ceremony on Sunday, May 27, 1860, the start of the holiday of Shavuot.

While previous Torah scrolls were known to have existed in the small Jewish community of Pittsburgh by the 1850s, the ceremony was likely the first siyum sefer Torah (ceremony marking the completion of a Torah scroll) in Western Pennsylvania.

Jacob Klee purchased a “silk velvet” mantle from Frankfort-on-Maine for the scroll. Mrs. Joseph Meyers acquired a gilt crown . Fanny Rosenbach of the Hebrew Ladies Aid Society made a damask parochet (curtain) to cover the Torah ark.

Rev. William Armhold led the service. The ceremony began at the home of Joseph Meyers with readings and continued with a procession to the Rodef Shalom Congregation synagogue. The ceremony included a talk in German by Rev. Armhold and a talk in English by Josiah Cohen. The club also arranged for a ball on Monday, May 28, 1860. Our entry for the Allegheny Young Men’s Sephar Club includes a bibliography of knownnewspaper citations.

Family Clubs:

My Max Family Club

Notice of the My-Max Family Club, Nov. 3, 1961.

—from Jewish Criterion

Pittsburgh Jewish newspaper Project

Max Steinberg was a barber in the Hill District and later at 1917 Murray Ave. He died in June 1959 and was survived by his wife Esther Steinberg and four daughters Sylvia Carson, Shirley Kramer, Sema Rae Rosenzweig, and Anita Sherman. In the summer of 1961, they started the My-Max Family Club.

Known surnames in the My-Max Family Club include Carson, Feinberg/Fineberg, Hellman, Kann, Kramer, Mondell, Rosenzweig, Schwartz, Sherman, and Steinberg. Known meeting places include: 4032 Windsor St. (Irv Kramer residence); 5869 Marlborough St. (Rose Mondell residence); 711 Montclair St. (Esther Steinberg residence); 5539 Pocusset St. (Kit and Sylvia Carson residence); 44 Ruthfred Dr., Upper St. Clair (Sandor Sherman residence); 5627 Beacon St. (Ben Feinberg residence); 811 N. Highland Ave. (Bernard Hellman residence); 5645 Munhall Rd. (Gertrude Fineberg residence); and the Sidney Rosenzweig residence. The club also held special occasions at the Holiday House, Old McDonald's Farm, and Cabana Beach in Bridgeville.

No known archival material exists for the club. If you have information about the club or its members, please email the archive or call 412-454-6406.

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.

August 20:

JGS-Pittsburgh presents:

"Researching Institutionalized Family Members

at the Pennsylvania State Archives"

with Tyler Stump

Color photograph of archivist Tyler Stump discussing a document with a patron.

Since the early 19th century, Pennsylvania has operated nearly 50 different state institutions for people with intellectual and mental disabilities. Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians lived in these institutions. Today, the Pennsylvania State Archives holds the historical records created by these institutions, which are invaluable resources for researchers and genealogists.

Join archivist Tyler Stump to explore this important part of Pennsylvania’s history and to learn about the information in the archives’ collections.

The program is Sunday, Aug. 20, from 1-3 p.m. at the Library & Archives reading room on the sixth floor of the Heinz History Center with a virtual option for those who wish to attend remotely. The program will be recorded, and the recording will be made available to current JGS-Pittsburgh members.

"Researching Institutionalized Family Members at the Pennsylvania State Archives" is a collaboration between the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center.

Please register online. This 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.

Tyler Stump has been an archivist at the Pennsylvania State Archives since 2016. He helps collect and preserve records from state-run institutions such as asylums, prisons, and hospitals as well as many other government offices around the state. Tyler has degrees in history and library science from the University of Maryland. Though he grew up in Baltimore, Tyler has deep roots in Pennsylvania, mostly around York County, that go back to the 18th century. He currently lives in Camp Hill, PA, with his wife Andra who is also an archivist.

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 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.

Synagogues

A database of buildings throughout Western Pennsylvania known to have hosted Jewish worship services. Includes links to photographs and citations with original source material. Database currently includes 57 locations from 18 institutions

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.