October 15, 2023

Vol. 4, No. 42

Galitzianer Days

Restaurants:

Larry Maloney's Stage Door Saloon

Jewish Encyclopedia:

Knights of Pythias

Article:

Galitzianers in Canonsburg



Calendar:

Oct. 18: JGS Presents:

Jennifer Mendelshon

through Nov. 21: Violins of Hope

Community:

SHHS archives

"How We Got Here"

JCBA "Road-Trip"

Mystery portraits

Research Tools:

Newspapers, Cemeteries,

Memorial Plaques, Books,

Population Figures, Synagogues, Newsletter Archive,

Shul Records America

Galitzianer Days

Thank you to everyone who visited the Heinz History Center last week for Galitzianer Days, hosted by the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives. It was exciting to see families with two and sometimes even three generations sitting around the big tables of the reading room, finding their ancestors in the Machsikei Hadas records. It was also wonderful that so many people took advantage of the opportunity to get one-on-one research assistance from Jewish Genealogy Society President Steve Jaron. We are grateful to everyone who helped expand our knowledge about the local Galitzianer community. We plan to update our records accordingly.

For those who were unable to attend, you can find our research guide to local Galitzianer community on the Jewish Encyclopedia of Western Pennsylvania. (Or you can get one of the last remainder print editions!)

We’re already planning the next program in this series. If there is a particular genealogical subject that you would like to see featured in the future, please let us know.

Restaurants:

Larry Maloney's Stage Door Saloon

Advertisement for "Larry's Stage Door" opposite the Nixon Theatre—October 21, 1966.

—from Jewish Chronicle

Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project

Lawrence J. Maloney was assistant superintendent of police in Pittsburgh until the mid-1960s, when he was indicted for tax evasion. He was also well known for his involvement with the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. His career was fascinating but lies beyond the scope of this newsletter—except in one regard. 

Even though Maloney was acquitted for tax evasion, he admitted under oath to gambling and was dismissed from the police force. In figuring out what to do next, Maloney started a restaurant—a kosher-style restaurant. Larry Maloney’s Stage Door Saloon was located at 966 Liberty Ave. The rear entrance onto Ogle Way was directly across from the lobby of the Nixon Theater, explaining the name. “Oy Vey! Maloney’s Going Kosher,” read a headline in the Pittsburgh Press on Aug. 30, 1966. Asked about it, Maloney said at the time “That might sound odd, but I’ve been eating Kosher food for years and I like it.”

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Irish and Jewish populations of Pittsburgh lived in close proximity downtown and in the lower Hill District. The Hill was largely an Irish neighborhood when Jewish immigrants first arrived there in the 1880s and 1890s. This proximity created many opportunities for comingling. The famed Coffey Club basketball team was named for John Coffey, an Irishman in the Hill District who was a wholesale newspaper dealer and employed many Jewish kids in the neighborhood as paperboys. Mayor David L. Lawrence famously went to Goldstein’s Restaurant almost nightly. Gene Kelly’s grandfather William Curran briefly ran a saloon on Wylie Avenue.

Putting sociology aside, Maloney’s affinity for Jewish cuisine may have had a more immediate explanation. His wife, Nelsie Americus Maloney, was Jewish. She ran the kitchen of their restaurant, while he managed the business.

A year later, they put the restaurant up for sale. Maloney claimed it was profitable but said, “I’ve found out I’m not a restaurant man—I’m a policeman.”

Local historian David S. Rotenstein has told pieces of Maloney’s story as part of his ongoing exploration of organized crime in Western Pennsylvania. 

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:

Knights of Pythias

Black and white photograph of Knights of Pythias gathering in Pittsburgh, mostly like Madoc Lodge 229 or Leader Lodge 342—undated.

—from Arnold Cushner Research Collection [MSS 1114]

The Knights of Pythias is an international fraternal order that was active in Western Pennsylvania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The nonsectarian order attracted many Jewish supporters, leading to several local lodges with mostly Jewish membership. These included Mt. Sinai Lodge 480, Banner Lodge 399, Hesperus Lodge 57, Madoc Lodge 229 and Leader Lodge 342. Over time, several of these lodges consolidated through mergers.

Our entry for the Knights of Pythias includes photographs, bulletins, and certificates from local Jewish lodges, particularly the Banner and Leader lodges. 

Article:

Following the Majority

Black and white photograph showing students and teachers of the Sunday School of Tree of Life Congregation in Canonsburg—1917.

—Finkel Family Collection [2001.0254].

Tree of Life Congregation in Canonsburg had a “no dirty laundry” rule.

According to its bylaws, “Any member having a complaint against another Brother, shall not bring charges before a squire until he brings same before the Congregation who shall try to make a settlement.” The president would appoint a committee to consider the case. The parties would agree to abide by the decision of the committee or face the threat of a fine. The case would be recorded in the minutes.

Oct. 18:

JGS Pittsburgh Presents: Jennifer Mendelsohn

DNA has the potential to be an essential and exciting genealogical tool. But many Eastern European Jewish testers find their DNA results completely overwhelming and unnavigable. In her talk “No, You Don’t Really Have 7900 4th Cousins," Jennifer Mendelsohn will help those with Ashkenazi heritage learn how to make sense of their DNA results. She’ll cover the basics of DNA testing, including why our match lists are so large (hello, endogamy!), why all our matches seem to match each other (endogamy, again!), and how to spot the meaningful matches and separate them from the faux ones. Using real-life examples of DNA success, you’ll learn techniques that will help you work effectively with DNA to expand your Ashkenazi family tree.

The program is Wednesday, Oct. 18, from 7:30-9 p.m. This is an online program, occurring exclusively on Zoom. The program will be recorded, and the recording will be made available to current JGS-Pittsburgh members. 

"No, You Don’t Really Have 7900 4th Cousins" is a collaboration between the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives.

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.

Jennifer Mendelsohn is a sought-after genealogist who specializes in helping Eastern European Jewish families shattered by the Holocaust reclaim their history. Her journey began in 2013, when she reunited her husband’s grandmother—a Polish Holocaust survivor who had lost her entire immediate family and most of her extended family—with three living first cousins she had never known. Since then she has worked on scores of cases, solving complex family mysteries using a blend of traditional and genetic genealogy. Her sleuthing was featured in the 2019 bestseller “Inheritance” by Dani Shapiro. In 2022, she co-founded the DNA Reunion Project at the Center for Jewish History, which seeks to promote DNA testing as a tool for helping Holocaust survivors find family.

Mendelsohn is also known for the innovative use of genealogy as a tool for activism. She created the viral hashtag #resistancegenealogy, which uses genealogical and historical records to fight disinformation and honor America’s immigrant past. The project received international media attention, including being featured on CNN.com, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Yahoo News.

A native Long Islander now based in Baltimore, Mendelsohn serves on the board of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Maryland and is the administrator of Facebook’s Jewish Genetic Genealogy group, with over 10,000 members worldwide.

Prior to her work as a genealogist, Jennifer spent many years as a freelance journalist. Her work has appeared in countless publications including People, Slate, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, Time, and Tablet. In addition, she is the author of a children’s book and helped fashion guru Carson Kressley pen his New York Times best-selling mens’ style manual “Off the Cuff.”

through Nov. 21:

Violins of Hope

Violins of Hope is a community project of educational and cultural programs surrounding stringed instruments played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust. The central exhibit at the Posner Center at Carnegie Mellon University relates remarkable stories of these instruments and musicians. Each surviving instrument has a unique and inspiring story that connects both young and old to the history of the Holocaust in a deeply emotional, personal, and relatable way. Paralleling lessons of the past to present day issues is key to creating a future where diversity, equality, and inclusion are valued.

Community

Squirrel Hill Historical Society Archives

Squirrel Hill Historical Society has added a collection of 60 historic images of Squirrel Hill to the Historic Pittsburgh website. The collection contains selected images from three organizations: the Squirrel Hill Historical Society, Squirrel Hill Urban  Coalition, and Mary S. Brown Memorial-Ames United Methodist Church. The photographs document many aspects of life in Squirrel Hill, including many beloved businesses from the 1990s that no longer exist.

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 2,700 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 90 locations from 2 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.

Shul Records America

Online finding aid from JewishGen listing congregational archival collections held at publicly accessible repositories across the United States. Includes 63 listings from the Rauh Jewish Archives, as well as other repositories with Western Pennsylvania congregational records.

The Rauh Jewish Archives was founded on November 1, 1988 to collect and preserve the documentary history of Jewish life in Western Pennsylvania and to make it available to the world through research assistance, programing, exhibits, publications, and partnerships.

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