Jewish Heritage Collection: Oral history interview with Gerald Wolpe

Click Here to Read the Embedded Transcript

Click Here to Read the Transcript

Title:

Jewish Heritage Collection: Oral history interview with Gerald Wolpe

Date:

1999

Interviewer:

Rosengarten, Dale, 1948-

Interviewee:

Wolpe, Gerald, 1927-2009

Description:

Rabbi Gerald Isaac Wolpe, a descendant of Polish and Lithuanian Jews, grew up an only child in Roxbury, Massachusetts, surrounded by extended family. After graduating from rabbinical school in 1953, he served as a chaplain in the United States Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune. Two years later, his civilian career was launched in Charleston, South Carolina, where he led the Conservative Synagogue Emanu-El until 1958. The rabbi discusses far-ranging topics including the Jewish businessmen of Charleston, his view of what fueled the Conservative movement, how he balanced his personal beliefs about segregation with the concerns of his southern congregants, the making of Porgy and Bess, and how South Carolina Representative L. Mendel Rivers got his name. After serving Temple Beth El in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for eleven years, Wolpe moved to Har Zion in Philadelphia, where he led the congregation for three decades before retiring.

Collection Title:

Jewish Heritage Collection Oral Histories

Contributing Institution:

College of Charleston Libraries

Media Type:

Oral Histories

Personal or Corporate Subject:

Wolpe, Gerald Isaac, 1927-2009 -- Interviews
Kaplan, Mordecai Menahem, 1881-1983
Waring, Julius Waties, 1880-1968
Rivers, L. Mendel (Lucius Mendel), 1905-1970

Topical Subject:

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), Jews -- South Carolina -- Interviews, Jewish merchants -- South Carolina -- Charleston –- History, World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews, Segregation -- South Carolina -- Charleston -- History, African Americans -- Relations with Jews, Synagogue Emanu-El (Charleston, S.C.), Rabbis -- South Carolina -- Charleston -- Interviews, and Charleston (S.C.) -- Race relations -- History

Geographic Subject:

Lowcountry

S.C. County:

Charleston County (S.C.)

Shelving Locator:

MSS 1035-231

Date Digital:

2011-8

Digitization Specifications:

Mp3 derivative audio created with Audacity software. Archival masters are wav files.

Internet Media Type:

application/pdf;audio/mpeg

Copyright Status Statement:

Digital resource copyright 2011, The College of Charleston. All rights reserved. For more information contact The College of Charleston Library, Charleston, SC 29424.

Admin ID:

220785