Interview with Joseph H. ("Peter") McGee about growing up in Charleston, his involvement with Historic Charleston Foundation, and historic preservation in Charleston. In particular, he reminisces about playing on The Battery, going to school, living conditions in Charleston, grocery stores, streetcars, and the 1938 tornado. He also discusses HCF's long-time Executive Director Frances Edmunds, HCF's Ansonborough Rehabilitation Project, and the National Trust Meeting in Charleston in 1970. Interviewed by Kitty Robinson and Jonathan Poston at the Missroon House on June 24, 2003.
Interview with Richard (Dick) Jenrette. Mr. Jenrette discusses how he discovered Charleston; his purchases of the Roper House, the Blacklock House, and others; his involvement with the rebuilding of the Mills House Hotel; and his collecting of classical homes and antiques and his foundation Classic American Homes. He also speaks at length about his tenure as an HCF Trustee; about Frances Edmunds's impact on the success of Charleston; and about how Charleston has improved over the years. Other subjects include the Charleston Place project; HCF's success in Ansonborough; his thoughts on the National Trust for Historic Preservation; Mayor Riley; and the scourge of power lines.
Interview of Evangelyon H. Rainsford, also known as Vangie Rainsford. Ms. Rainsford has lived in Charleston her entire adult life. She recounts her experience purchasing her home on Chapel Street, which she fell in love with immediately. She rehabilitated the house and decorated the interior with antiques. Ms. Rainsford has been an active neighborhood leader and has been the neighborhood president of Mazyck Wraggborough for several decades. She discusses the creation of the Garden District in the neighborhood and the establishment of the triangle park on Chapel and Elizabeth Street, including where the fountain was found. The changing character of Charleston and the neighborhood were also discussed.
Interview with William J. Murtagh (Bill Murtagh), the first Keeper of the National Register and one of the world's leading historic preservationists. In this interview he speaks about how he became the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places; his involvement with Charleston's first preservation plan and the development of what became known as the James Island Connector; his relationship with Frances Edmunds; and his vision for the future of historic preservation. Interviewed by Jonathan Poston at the Missroon House on November 8, 2005.
Mathilde Ezratty Lehem, was born in 1916 to Rachel Ezratty and Saady Ezratty, members of two separate Ezratty families who were part of the large community of Sephardic Jews living in Salonika, Greece. Mathilde talks briefly about life in the northern port city, where she and her younger brother, Alfred, lived comfortably with their parents and attended a Jewish school staffed by teachers who had been trained in France. Saady worked in insurance and Rachel's brothers sold crystal and fine fabrics. Jewish-owned shops closed on Saturdays, a practice that ended forcibly sometime after Hitler came to power in Germany. Saady took this change as a sign it was time for the family to leave Salonika. Around the mid-1930s (Mathilde admits she is not good with dates), Rachel and Saady acquired traveler's visas and, with Mathilde and Alfred, boarded a ship bound for Mandatory Palestine, where Saady's brother lived. Rachel's brothers, believing they would not come to harm, stayed in Greece. Mathilde never saw them again and assumes they, like many of Salonika's Jews, were sent to the gas chambers. Mathilde notes that living conditions in British-controlled Palestine were harsh, a stark contrast to their life in Greece. When she was about twenty, she married a man (Lehem) she had known for a month. The marriage was troubled from the start and never during the interview does Mathilde utter his first name. She moved with him to Aden, then a British colony, where he had a business. A year or two after they wed, daughter Florette was born. As fighting in nearby East Africa intensified, the Lehems decided, in 1940 or '41, to move to Shanghai, based partly on the advice of a ship captain. Another draw: Mr. Lehem's sister lived there. Mathilde recalls that in, possibly, early 1942, they were among the British and American civilians living in Shanghai who were interned in camps by the city's Japanese occupiers. She describes the living conditions where they were held for three and a half years and mentions how they and other Jewish prisoners celebrated their first Passover. The interviewee spends considerable time on health problems she experienced while in Shanghai, most while being held in the camp. She discusses her symptoms and the treatment she received, which included hospitalizations. Once freed, Mathilde sought a way to return to her parents in Palestine. She held a British passport, but passage to Palestine was denied. An American doctor who was a fellow detainee, helped her obtain a United States visa so she and Florette could seek out her paternal aunt in New York. To Mathilde's relief, her husband stayed in Shanghai. Mathilde recounts how she and Florette made their way from Shanghai to San Francisco to family in Queens. She required lengthy hospitalization once in New York. Seeing that Mathilde's illness was going to be protracted and Florette needed a parent, a member of the family tracked down Mr. Lehem and arranged for his entry to the United States, unaware that Mathilde wanted nothing to do with him. The reunited Lehem family settled in Manhattan and, after Florette was grown, Mathilde managed to escape the bad marriage. Florette married Isaac "Ike" Ryba and they later moved to Charleston, South Carolina. Mathilde followed in 1970. See Mss. 1035-056 for Mathilde's second of two interviews. For a related collection, see copies of her family photos in the Inventory of the Holocaust Archives Field Researchers Collection, Mss. 1065-049.
Fannie Appel Rones shares her memories of growing up on St. Philip Street in Charleston, South Carolina, between the world wars. The neighborhood was diverse—home to blacks, whites, Catholics, Jews, Greeks, and Italians. Fannie talks about her parents, Abraham and Ida Goldberg Appel (Ubfal), emigrants from Kaluszyn, Poland, and recalls stories her mother told her about the Old Country. She discusses the differences between Charleston’s “uptown” and “downtown” Jews and the Orthodox synagogues, Brith Sholom and Beth Israel. Fannie also relates her experiences as a member of Charleston’s Conservative synagogue, Emanu-El, and Reform temple, Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim.
Hyman Lipsitz is joined in this interview by his wife, Helene Jacobson Lipsitz, and his cousin Edward "Mickey" Lipson and his wife, Celia Pinosky Lipson. Born in 1913, Hyman was raised with his sister, Ethel, and brother, Joseph, in Beaufort, South Carolina. They lived over their downtown store with their parents, Bertha Rubin and Max Saul Lipsitz, who were immigrants from Latvia and Lithuania, respectively. Max had relatives all over the South, but followed a brother to Beaufort when he was in his teens. Hyman remembers a Reverend Rubinstein acting at some point as the cantor for Beth Israel, Beaufort's Jewish congregation. He also recalls Rabbi Jacob Raisin, of Charleston's Reform congregation K. K. Beth Elohim, traveling to neighboring Parris Island to lead services for the marine recruits on some Sunday mornings, and then to Beaufort's Beth Israel for afternoon services. Mickey Lipson, one of eight children born to Helen Lipsitz and Moses Lipsitz (they were first cousins), was born in Beaufort in 1921. Moses died when Mickey was five years old, and the family moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1929. Mickey joined his sister Freda and her husband, Sam Novit, in Walterboro, South Carolina, in 1936, and there he met Celia, a Charleston, South Carolina, native, at a wedding. They married in 1947 and lived in Walterboro a year before moving to Beaufort where they opened a shoe store. The Lipsons talk briefly about their shoe business, which was initially located downtown and later moved to Beaufort Plaza. The cousins discuss the Jewish merchants who were killed while working in their stores in rural areas around Beaufort, including Mickey's grandfather Aaron Lipsitz of Burton, South Carolina. The interviewees describe another tragedy: the death of Mickey's sister Rosalie Lipsitz Zalin of Belton, South Carolina, who was killed in 1937 when she was hit by a car. Note: Some members of the Lipsitz family went by the surnames Lipson or Lipton. For related oral histories, see interviews with Lucille and Joseph Lipsitz, Mss. 1035-093; Sandra and Morey Lipton, Mss. 1035-181; and Joseph Lipton, Mss. 1035-156 and -447; and the panel discussion "Growing Up Jewish in Beaufort," Mss 1035-204. For related collections, see Beth Israel congregation records, 1905-1961, Mss. 1076, and the Lipsitz family papers, 1876-1953, Mss. 1102, in Special Collections.
Rose Yospe Mark, the youngest of five, was born in 1927 in Baltimore, Maryland, to Lithuanian immigrants Frieda Miller and Morris Yospe. She grew up in "the Jewish neighborhood, right near the Lloyd Street Synagogue." Rose shares her memories of her parents and describes her mother's family and childhood. Rose was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home, and the family went to shul on the holidays. Rose wasn't taught the significance of the specific practices, such as fasting, but her parents did make clear the importance of their Jewish identity. Rose discusses how she and her husband, Ernest Mark of Beaufort, South Carolina, met and became engaged. They married in 1944 while he was in the army. They settled in Beaufort in December 1945, after he was discharged. Rose notes that she loved the southern landscape "right away." The city girl in her appreciated the wide open spaces, clean air, and green flora. The interviewee relates stories of Ernest's childhood and his parents, Lena Mae and Joseph Mark. Joseph, a Russian immigrant, followed a sister to Beaufort in 1904, and established a store in neighboring Burton. The family ultimately moved to downtown Beaufort and operated grocery and liquor stores. Rose and Ernest opened a furniture store in 1946, also in downtown Beaufort. Rose recalls shifting the business from credit to cash, a move necessitated by competition from discount stores. The couple raised four children: Barbara, Janet, Larry, and Michael. Rose describes Larry's start in the furniture business. Unlike his parents, he discounted his merchandise, and he was so successful, Rose and Ernest sold their store and joined him. She talks about the African Americans who worked for the Marks, three of whom are featured on a mural Columbia artist Ralph Waldrop painted on the side of their building. When Rose came to Beaufort, Beth Israel Congregation was Conservative. While that was an adjustment for her, she was pleased with the sense of intimacy she felt when synagogue members met for celebrations such as community seders and Chanukah parties. Rose considers the changes in the congregation over the decades since she moved to Beaufort. At the time of the interview, their traditions were "Conservative bordering on Reform," but, Rose says, if they have to become Reform to get people in, they will. In 1996, when, Mark was nominated as the first female president of the congregation, Beth Israel had twenty-five member-families. She reports that they have had a hard time finding people who want to join and attend weekly services, though a large number of people come out of the woodwork for the community Passover Seders and High Holiday services. She remarks that Reform Congregation Beth Yam in Hilton Head Island, between Beaufort and Savannah, Georgia, is growing, largely due to retirees moving to the area. "We're not getting that in Beaufort." Rose reflects on why three of her children married out of the faith. She remembers Joe Young of Beaufort, who moved his family to Jacksonville, Florida, because he was concerned that his children "weren't exposed to very many Jewish people." The interviewee talks about her good friend Harvey Tattelbaum, who was interim rabbi at Beth Israel while serving as chaplain at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, from 1960 to 1962.
Joseph "Joe" Lipton was born in 1923 to Helen Stern (Sterenzys) and Samuel Lipton. Helen followed her brother Gabriel Stern to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1919, escaping a marriage her parents had arranged for her in Poland. In 1912, Sam emigrated from Lithuania and settled in Beaufort, South Carolina, where he had relatives in the Lipsitz and Lipson families. He opened a small store in Grays Hill, South Carolina, just outside of Beaufort, and when America entered World War I, he enlisted in the army. In 1920, Sam took over the cobbler shop from the Young family at the United States Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island. Joe describes his parents' personalities and growing up in Beaufort in the 1920s and '30s. The Lipton family, which included Joe's younger brother, Morey, were members of Beth Israel. They attended High Holiday services and sometimes went to shul on Friday nights. Nevertheless, Joe considers his parents, who were raised in Orthodox Judaism, to have been secular Jews. He responds to a question asking what made them secular: "What keeps the Jew a Jew? . . . Antisemitism keeps them a Jew. . . . When you let them out and let them enter society, they take every advantage of it." The interviewee recalls accompanying his mother and brother on a trip to Poland in 1930 where they visited Helen's family in Kielce. Joe makes note of two Sterenzys cousins, Ben and his sister Zosia, who survived the Holocaust and immigrated to the United States after World War II. Also present during the interview are Joe's wife, Nancy, and her daughter, Victoria Navarro. See also Joe's 2016 interview with Lilly Stern Filler, Mss. 1035-447. For related oral histories, see the 1998 panel discussion "Growing Up Jewish in Beaufort," Mss. 1035-204; the 1999 panel discussion "Growing Up Jewish in Small Town South Carolina," Mss. 1035-209; and interviews with Morey Lipton, Mss. 1035-181; Hyman Lipsitz, et al, Mss. 1035-080; and Joseph Lipsitz, Mss. 1035-093. For a related collection see the Helen Stern Lipton papers, Mss. 1065-012, in the Holocaust Archives, Special Collections, College of Charleston.
In the second of two interviews, Mathilde Ezratty Lehem revisits in a bit more detail a topic covered in her first interview. She describes the assistance she and her fellow inmates received from American soldiers after World War II ended. Mathilde and her family were held in an internment camp set up by the Japanese for British and American civilians living in Shanghai. They learned from the Americans that there were gas chambers in Japanese-occupied China, but no gas. The interviewee tells anecdotes about growing up in Salonika, Greece, including some specifics about the Ezratty family's eating habits and the languages they spoke. While she says she did not experience any antisemitism, she relates a story about a Greek child refusing to eat matzoh because he believed it was made with Christ's blood. The Ezrattys were Sephardic Jews whose ancestors had lived in Greece for many generations. Nevertheless, Mathilde seems to suggest that they did not identify as Greek. Mathilde talks about her volunteer work preparing bodies for burial as a member of the chevra kadisha in Charleston, South Carolina, and discusses burial and mourning customs she learned from her elders in Greece. After moving to Charleston, she took a job in a bank, but was let go after requesting time off for the Jewish holidays. She then worked as a dressmaker, using the sewing skills she acquired as a young girl. See Mss. 1035-051 for Mathilde's first interview. For a related collection, see copies of her family photos in the Inventory of the Holocaust Archives Field Researchers Collection, Mss. 1065-049.
