The Weston Family Ledger (1764-1769) contains accounts of credit and estates with numerous individuals and businesses. The ledger was also used by an unidentified author as a plantation journal and contains entries and accounts (1830-1847, 1851, 1855) pertaining to Weston family plantations. Many of the 19th century notes list food, clothing and fabric rations distributed to slaves on the plantations.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1882. The yearbook opens with an address from Mayor Courtenay followed by reports from various departments and an appendix recounting the history of Charleston.
Loosely "bound" volume titled "American Letters" consists of letters (1888-1890) of Theodore Grimke Drayton-Grimke from his siblings visiting in the United States and from some of his American cousins, with a few copies of his replies.
Romant de la Rose (or Roman de la Rose) tells the story of a lover who dreams of a beautiful rose kept captive in a castle. The allegorical poem was composed in medieval France at the height of the age of chivalry and courtly love by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. Beginning to write Roman de la Rose in the late 1230s, de Lorris left the work unfinished when he died ca. 1278. De Meun, also spelled de Meung, completed the lengthy work of poetry ca. 1270-80, building on the concept of courtly love while incorporating his own poetic style. In the story, the twenty-five-year-old narrator recounts in the first person a dreamed journey into a beautiful garden inhabited by D??duit (Pleasure) and his companions, Jeunesse (Youth), Richesse (Wealth), Liesse (Jubilation), and Beaut?? (Beauty). L'Amant (the Lover) went to select a rose blossom from the Fountain of Narcissus, when he was shot with several arrows by the God of Love, leaving him forever enamored of one specific flower. In the quest to pick the Rose (and conquer Love), the flower and its attendants represent the Lady and her sentiments while being wooed. Personified courtly ideals comprise the actors in the fable, which tells the adventures of the Lover who must avoid the traps of Male Bouche (Foul Mouth), Dangiers (Danger), and Jalousie (Jealousy) to win his lady, the Rose. Jean de Meun concludes the narrative with a bawdy account of the plucking of the Rose, achieved through deception, which is not consistent with Guillaume de Lorris' original idealized version of the quest for love. Around 300 manuscripts of the Roman de la Rose have been preserved around the world.
Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis (Use of Paris), created circa 1460s, is an example of a Book of Hours, a personal prayer book. Notably popular in medieval Europe, a Book of Hours consisted of collections of Christian prayers created to assist its owner in prayer recitation at different times, or 'hours,' of the day. The manuscripts were written in Latin as it was the language of the medieval church. Intended for individual use at home, a Book of Hours was a simplified version of the daily prayers observed by members of the clergy and monastic orders. These books were often passed down through generations of a family as an heirloom. The high cost of commissioning such a work made a Book of Hours a source of pride in addition to being a source of devotion. Commissioned versions of these books were tailored to the particular requirements of its owner, varying in content, order, and level of decoration. Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis (Use of Paris) incorporates Morae de Sancta Cruce, Horae de Sanctu Spiritu, the Passion Sequences, the Stabat Mater, and other prayers. The illuminations in this Book of Hours (26 total) are believed to be the work of four artists; influences include Master of Jean Rolin II; the Bedford Master; and the styles associated with central France, southeastern France, and Besan??on regions. This work was rebound in the 18th century. Provenance information for this work includes Francois Cesar Le Tellier, the marquis of Courtanvaux (1718-1781). Other indications of the original patron are the presence of Arnulf of Tours as fourth in the litany of martyrs, and Claude of Besan??on in the memorials.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1880. The yearbook opens with an address from Mayor Courtenay followed by reports from various departments and an appendix recounting the history of Charleston.
A commencement speech delivered by former Confederate general Edwin Warren Moïse to the graduating class of a school for girls. In the speech, he discusses gender roles and acceptable jobs for women. As career paths, he suggests women become cooks, tailors, gardeners, artists, stenographers, nurses, and doctors. He cites several notable female historical and contemporary figures as examples.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1884. The yearbook opens with an address from Mayor Courtenay followed by reports from various departments and an appendix.
A report from the mayor, city council and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina, for the year 1885. The Year Book opens with an address from Mayor Courtenay followed by reports from various departments and an appendix recounting the history of Charleston.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina, for the year 1883. The Year Book opens with an address from Mayor Courtenay followed by reports from various departments and an appendix recounting the history of Charleston.
Meeting minutes volume kept by the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Board of Trustees, 1897-1909. The entries in this volume concern all discussions regarding synagogue business, finances, memberships, the "Ottolengui Fund," the management of several real estate assets, the installation of electric lights in the synagogue, and the decision to discuss a reverend's conduct with him.
Meeting minutes volume kept by the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Board of Trustees, 1909-1916. The entries in this volume concern all discussions regarding synagogue business, finances, memberships, and its search for a new minister. It also mentions replacing the cemetery fence with help from the "ladies."
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the three years spanning 1949, 1950, and 1951. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, R. Goodwyn Rhett, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1947. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, E. Edward Wehman, Jr., followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1946. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, E. Edward Wehman,??Jr., followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1945. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, E. Edward Wehman, Jr., followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1944. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, E. Edward Wehman, Jr., followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1948. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, William McG. Morrison, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1943. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, Henry Lockwood, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina, for the year 1887. The Year Book opens with an address from Mayor Courtenay followed by reports from various departments and an appendix.
A report from the mayor, city council and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina, for the year 1890. The Year Book opens with an address from Mayor Bryan followed by reports from various departments.
Program for the Tenth Anniversary Banquet of the Charleston Chapter of Aleph Zadik Aleph. The program includes a list of officers and directors, a schedule of events, and a list of sponsors. The program notes a Benediction by Rabbi Jacob S. Raisin.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1942. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, Henry W. Lockwood, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1941. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, Henry W. Lockwood, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1940. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, Henry W. Lockwood, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1937. ??The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, Burnet R. Maybank, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1930. ??The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, Thomas P. Stoney, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the years 1932-1935. ??The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, Burnet R. Maybank, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1936. ??The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, Burnet R. Maybank, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1911. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, R. Goodwyn Rhett, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1938. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, Henry W. Lockwood, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1912. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, John P. Grace, followed by reports from various departments
A handwritten letter from Frederick Garrissen of Germany to Charleston merchant William Stephen requesting that Stephen ship goods to Europe, as supplies were limited due to war.
A collection consisting of two letters discussing smallpox vaccinations sent from Dr. John Vaughan of Philadelphia to Dr. Philip Tidyman of Charleston, S.C. The letters are dated December 11, 1801 and April 7, 1802 and the latter contains a sketch of a water filtration system.
A report from the mayor, city council and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina, for the year 1899. The Year Book opens with an address from Mayor Smyth followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1905. The Year Book opens with an address from city mayor, R. Goodwyn Rhett, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1907. The Year Book opens with an address from Mayor Rhett followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina, for the year 1898. The Year Book opens with an address from Mayor Smyth followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1900. The yearbook opens with an address from Mayor Smyth followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1902. The 1902 Year Book opens with an address from Charleston City's mayor, J. Adger Smyth, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1903. The Year Book opens with an address from Mayor J. Adger Smyth followed by reports from various departments. Pages 8-9, 126-127, and 132-133 are missing.
This memorial photograph album documents the funeral of Moshe Yidel Gelbart. Gelbart died of appendicitis on February 25, 1935, in Mogielnica, Poland. The album, made of fabric and paper, contains black and white photographs that chronicle Gelbart's funeral procession, his casket, mourners, and gravesite, including an image of Gelbart with his wife and son eight days before his death. The cover of this book pictures a broken candle and a broken tree, symbolic of a life cut short. Each page includes decorative labels in Hebrew. This album was given to one of his two brothers, George Goldberg or Israel Geldbart, in South Carolina.
This memorial photograph album documents the funeral of Moshe Yidel Gelbart. Gelbart died of appendicitis on February 25, 1935, in Mogielnica, Poland. The album, made of fabric and paper, contains black and white photographs that chronicle Gelbart's funeral procession, his casket, mourners, and gravesite, including an image of Gelbart with his wife and son eight days before his death. The cover of this book pictures a broken candle and a broken tree, symbolic of a life cut short. Each page includes decorative labels in Hebrew. This album was given to one of his two brothers, George Goldberg or Israel Geldbart, in South Carolina.
Diary of Magdalen Elizabeth Wilkinson Keith for the years 1868-1870. Concerns mostly life at home, and family life. Mentions a solar eclipse [Aug. 1868], teaching at the Normal school and the subjugation of women
This cook book includes instruction on: cabbage; eggs; corn soup; corn fritters; tomato soup; German waffles; canned tomatoes; maccaroni; beef a la mode; birds nest pudding; fried fish; salad; and rice. Also advice on chapped hands; damp closets; polishing furniture; destroying vermin; using scrapbooks; and extracting grease.
Diary of Magdalen Elizabeth Wilkinson Keith for the years 1865-1868. Concerns mostly life at home, and activities of family and friends. Mention of Charleston railroad stretching downtown.
Diary of Magdalen Elizabeth Wilkinson Keith for the years 1862-1865. Includes mostly day to day affairs and gossip, with occassional references to the War - particularly in early 1865.
A report from the mayor, city council and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina, for the year 1901. The Year Book opens with an address from Mayor Smyth followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1904. The Year Book opens with an address from city mayor, R. Goodwyn Rhett followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina, for the year 1906. The Year Book opens with an address from the city mayor, R. Goodwyn Rhett, followed by reports from various departments. The 1906 Year Book is missing pages 313/314 and 315/316.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1908. The Year Book opens with an address from Mayor R. Goodwyn Rhett followed by reports from various departments. The book is missing pages 147/148.
A report from the mayor, city council and various governmental departments of Charleston, South Carolina for the year 1909. The Year Book opens with an address from Mayor R. Goodwyn Rhett followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1921. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, John P. Grace, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1929. ??The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, Thomas P. Stoney, followed by reports from various departments.
A report from the mayor, city council, and various governmental departments of Charleston, S.C. for the year 1924. The Year Book opens with an address from the mayor, Thomas P. Stoney, followed by reports from various departments.
In this six-page, handwritten letter, Warren Hubert Moise outlines the important events in the early life of his father, Edwin Warren Moise (b. 1810). Topics include his marriage to Priscilla Lopez and their move from Charleston, South Carolina to Woodville, Mississippi, the birth of three children and Priscilla’s death, his move to New Orleans, and his change of profession from medicine to the law. W. H. Moise writes about his father’s appointment as Attorney General of Louisiana, and then as a Confederate Judge in 1861 by Confederate President Jefferson Davis. He describes E. W. Moise's return to New Orleans at the end of the Civil War and foreshadows the family’s destitution and dispersion after his parents’ deaths.
In this eleven-page handwritten letter, Warren Hubert Moise relays to his nephew, Edwin Warren Moise (b. 1889), an ongoing account of family history, including educational experiences, land ownership, and the discovery of their family crest on a wax seal stamp.
In this eight-page, handwritten letter to his nephew Edwin Warren Moise (b. 1889), Warren Hubert Moise describes a collection of family documents, letters, and books that he refers to in later letters as "the papers." Hubert had seen these as a young man but reports they were lost years before.
In this ten-page, handwritten letter, Warren Hubert Moise writes about his uncle Theodore Sidney Moise (b. 1808), and his uncle’s family, offering recollections of each member of the family.
In this fifteen-page, handwritten letter, Warren Hubert Moise responds to questions his nephew Edwin Warren Moise (b. 1889) had asked in previous letters, expanding on the Moise family history.
In this six-page, handwritten letter Warren Hubert Moise writes to his nephew, Edwin Warren Moise (b. 1889), about a trip he took to Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia. He also discusses his father, Edwin Warren Moise (b. 1810), whose death in 1868 left the family in financial distress.
Marian Birlant Slotin discusses the history of her fathers antique business, George C. Birlant & Company, which he established in 1929 in Charleston, South Carolina. George married Lillian Marcus of Kingstree, South Carolina, and despite their Orthodox backgrounds, they raised Marian, their only child, in the Reform tradition. Marian reminisces about her childhood and many of her close and distant relatives. She married Phil Slotin of Georgia, and they raised two boys. As of 2011, the antique shop remains in the family, run by their son, Andrew.
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.
Louis Funkenstein of Athens, Georgia, married Caroline Geisberg, a native of Anderson, South Carolina, and the couple settled in Caroline’s hometown where Louis established a paper box company. The Funkensteins describe their family histories and discuss a variety of topics including religious practices and Jewish-gentile relations in Anderson.
Ella Levenson Schlosburg, the daughter of emigrants from Lithuania, recounts her family history and describes growing up in an Orthodox Jewish family in the small midlands town of Bishopville, South Carolina. Her father, Frank Levenson, one of a handful of Jewish merchants in Bishopville in the early 1900s, ran a general store that sold everything from groceries to mules. Ella married Elihu Schlosburg, the son of Anna Karesh and Harry Schlosburg, and they moved to Camden, South Carolina, where they established a liquor business.
Harold Marion Aronson, born in Lane, South Carolina, in 1919, grew up in New Jersey, but returned with his family to South Carolina where they opened a dry goods store in Kingstree. Harold, who flew weather reconnaissance missions for the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, married Rose Louise Rich in 1944 and, later, settled in Rose Louise’s hometown, Orangeburg, South Carolina. The Aronsons established a successful aluminum awning business and raised two daughters.
Hyman Rubin describes his upbringing in Norway, South Carolina, and later in Columbia, where his family owned a wholesale dry goods store. He talks about his experience at the University of South Carolina, and recounts his political career and tenure on Columbia's city council (1952-1966) and in the state senate from 1966-1984. In 1940, he married Rose Rudnick of Aiken, South Carolina.
Ellis Irvin Kahn, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, describes his family background and his years growing up in the coastal city where his father owned a wholesale and retail grocery business. His great-grandfather, Josiah Kaminitsky, appears in the South Carolina Supreme Court records of 1885. He lost both legs in a train accident, sued the North Eastern Railroad Company, and won. Ellis, an attorney and former president of the Charleston Jewish Federation, recounts the aftereffects of Hurricane Hugo (1989) on the areas residents and the relief efforts of local, national, and Israeli Jews. He married Janice Weinstein of Shreveport, Louisiana, and the couple raised three children in Charleston.
William Ackerman, the son of Hungarian immigrants, grew up in a small coal-mining town in Pennsylvania, with a community of about 35 Orthodox Jewish families who came from the same region of Hungary. He married Jennie Shimel of Charleston, South Carolina, and worked there as an attorney, joining her father, Louis Shimel, in his practice. He developed the suburban neighborhood and shopping center, South Windermere, and was a founder of the Conservative synagogue, Emanu-El.
Cousins Arthur Williams and Elza Meyers Alterman grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. They discuss the Williams and Meyers family histories, intermarriage and assimilation, and Charleston’s Reform Jewish community, including changes in the congregation and services during their lifetimes. Arthur became a physician and helped to develop an artificial kidney machine in the 1940s. Elza followed her mother into retail and ran a dress shop in the former home of the Williams family on George Street.
Zerline Levy Williams Richmond and her children, Arthur Williams and Betty Gendelman, recount the Levy and Williams family histories, including Zerline’s mother’s stint as Charleston’s first female rice broker, and the Williamses’ kindergarten on George Street. The Williams family were members of Charleston’s Reform temple, Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim.
Irving Abrams moved with his family to Greenville, South Carolina, in 1936, where his father, Harry, led the effort to revive Temple of Israel, the city's Reform congregation. Harry managed the Piedmont Shirt Company, and hired African-Americans as early as 1939. Irving married Marjorie Kohler of Knoxville, Tennessee, followed his father into textiles, and oversaw the integration of his factory during the Civil Rights Movement.
Fay Laro Alfred, born in Poland in 1915 during World War I, was just two weeks old when her family fled the fighting. Ultimately, they settled in Michigan where Fay’s parents started a scrap metal business. She recalls stories about her relatives in the Old Country and describes growing up Jewish in small-town Michigan and meeting her husband, Clement Alfred, (Zipperstein), a dentist. Her daughter, Marlene Addlestone, is an interviewer.
Cousins Max Furchgott and Dale Dreyfoos review their family history. Dale's maternal grandmother Lillian Furchgott married Pincus LeRoy Pinkussohn (he changed the spelling of the family name to Pinkerson during World War II), whose grandfather settled in Charleston, South Carolina, around 1850. Lillian's father, Herman Furchgott, and his brother Max, grandfather of interviewee Max, opened a dry goods store on King Street in Charleston in the 1860s. Max describes growing up in Charleston and recalls the moves his family made during the Great Depression to Orangeburg, South Carolina; Goldsboro, North Carolina; and Florence, South Carolina, before returning to Charleston. The Furchgotts have been members of Reform Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (KKBE) since the first generation in Charleston. Max discusses the conflict that arose among members of the congregation in the 1960s during Rabbi Burton Padoll's tenure, and notes how KKBE has changed over the years. Max married Marcelle Kleinzahler and they raised three children in Charleston. Both interviewees discuss Jewish identity - Max, in terms of how he believes his children view themselves, and Dale, in terms of his relationship to his ancestors. Dale tells the story of his great-great-grandparents fleeing Atlanta during the Civil War in anticipation of General Sherman's arrival with Union troops. Other family surnames mentioned in the interview include Brown, Sorentrue, Foote, Ritzwoller, and Dreyfoos. For related information, see also Marcelle Furchgott's May 14, 2014 interview, Robert Furchgott's February 28, 2001 and April 18, 2001 interviews, the Arthur C. Furchgott papers (Mss 1043), and Furchgott and Brothers department store newspaper advertisement, 1910 (Mss 1034-090), Special Collections, Addlestone Library, College of Charleston.
Anita Rosen Levine, the daughter of Rose Rosenfeld of Romania and Jacob Rosen of Vitebsk, Russia, grew up in Port Chester, New York, a small town with a vibrant Jewish community. She received her Jewish education from students of New York City’s Jewish Theological Seminary, who traveled by train to the suburb to teach Sunday school. Anita was visiting a friend in Charleston, South Carolina, when she met Sol Levine, a native of Savannah, Georgia. His parents, Harry Levine, a cantor from Yekaterinoslav, Ukraine, and Freda Wasserman, a native of Warsaw, Poland, emigrated from Russia in 1906 with their two daughters and Harry’s mother. After Freda died in 1932, Harry and his two youngest sons, Sol and David, moved from Savannah to Charleston, where his daughter Rose lived with her family. Nearly two years later, Harry and Sol moved to Columbia, joining Sol’s older brother Max. David, still a young boy, stayed behind with Rose. Sol belonged to the Herzl Club in Savannah and was the first president of Columbia’s Jewish youth group, AZA, Aleph Zadik Aleph. He clerked in stores in the South Carolina towns of Allendale and Bamberg before returning to Charleston where he worked for his brother-in-law at LeRoy’s Jewelers on King Street. Sol and Anita, who married and settled in Charleston in 1942, talk about their social life, downtown shop owners, and their three children. In the early 1950s, when construction of the Savannah River Site, a nuclear production facility, was underway, Sol was hired to run a store in Barnwell, one of the South Carolina towns experiencing rapid growth associated with the new plant. The Levines lived in Barnwell for two years before returning to Charleston in 1955, the year after the two Orthodox synagogues, Brith Sholom and Beth Israel, merged. Prior to moving to Barnwell, they had been members of Brith Sholom; upon their return to Charleston, they joined Brith Sholom Beth Israel (BSBI). They discuss the merger and comment on the breakaway of Brith Sholom members to establish the Conservative congregation Emanu-El in 1947. Other topics covered include Sol’s contributions to BSBI through the Men’s Club, Anita’s involvement with the Daughters of Israel Sisterhood, the St. Philip Street and Rutledge Avenue mikvahs, and the rabbis, cantors, and sextons who served the Orthodox community. Anita began working for the BSBI rabbis in the mid-1950s, running the office for the synagogue and the Charleston Hebrew Institute (CHI), BSBI’s Hebrew day school. She describes the growth of CHI from just a kindergarten in 1955 to graduating the first class of seventh graders in 1964. “It was like my fourth child,” she says, referring to CHI.
Sam Kirshtein is the son of Polish immigrants who, like many of their landsmen from Kaluszyn, Poland, settled in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1900s. Sam, who was born in 1925 and grew up in the St. Philip Street neighborhood, describes the “Uptown” and “Downtown” Jews, and the two Orthodox synagogues, Brith Sholom and Beth Israel. After serving in the army’s Chemical Warfare Service during World War II, he returned home to help out at the family’s furniture store on King Street.
In 1942, Paula Kornblum and her sister Hannah escaped the mass murder of Jews in their home town of Kaluszyn, Poland, at the hands of the Nazis. Assuming false identities, the two lived and worked in Cz?stochowa, Poland, until the Russian liberation. Paula describes returning to Kaluszyn after the war, living in a Displaced Persons camp, and the emigration process. She married Henry Popowski, also of Kaluszyn, and they and their first-born son immigrated to Charleston, South Carolina, with the help of their landsmen.
Edward Mirmow and Rose Louise Aronson, who grew up in Orangeburg, recall the city’s Jewish families, descendants of German and Russian immigrants, and the types of stores they operated, dating to the 1930s. Edward’s paternal relatives, the Mirmowitzes and the Goldiners, emigrated from Russia around the turn of the 20th century. In the 1950s, Rose led an effort to organize a congregation for the benefit of Orangeburg’s Jewish children, including her two daughters, and Temple Sinai was founded.
Eileen Strauss Rubin grew up in Sumter, South Carolina, the only child of Isaac and Pearl Weinreich Strauss. Isaac, who was born in New York, moved in the 1870s as a teenager, first to Mayesville, South Carolina, where relatives, the A. A. Strauss family, owned a store. After relocating to Sumter, he invested in land and helped a nephew get started in the printing business. He died when Eileen was only five years old. Eileen recalls celebrating the holidays and attending Sunday school at Sumter’s Temple Sinai, where she was confirmed. As a girl, she visited her mother’s family in Ohio and, having made a number of friends there, decided to go to Ohio State University (OSU). She met her husband, Herman Rubin, at a fraternity dance at OSU. Herman was an M.D. and practicing in Akron. About a year after they married and shortly after their first daughter was born, Herman, who was in the army reserves, was called up for active duty. After five years in military service, the Rubins returned to Akron, where their second daughter was born. In the early ’50s, in search of a milder climate, the Rubins moved to Sumter. Eileen discusses her family history, her daughters, and the family’s real estate business. Interviewer Robert Moses, a Sumter native and friend of the Rubins, contributes to the conversation. Note: daughters Ellen Rubin Eber and Gayle Rubin provided additional information noted in the transcript during proofing.
Leonard Cohen grew up in Latta, South Carolina, the son of dry goods merchants, Isadore and Hannah Horowitz Cohen. Isadore emigrated circa 1910 from Lithuania and, after working briefly in Baltimore, followed his brother Harry’s advice and came south. His train ticket got him as far as Dillon, South Carolina. He peddled first, and then worked for Mr. Blum in his Latta store. Baltimore Bargain House extended credit to Isadore to start his own business, which prospered, enabling him to expand his store and, eventually, buy his own building. Two other Jewish families lived in Latta at that time, the Blums and the Kornbluts, and Leonard recalls being the only Jewish child in his classes at school. The Cohens attended services in Dillon, with Rabbi Jacob Raisin of Charleston officiating. Leonard remembers the Fass family, prominent members of the Dillon congregation. At Camp Osceola in Hendersonville, North Carolina, Leonard studied Hebrew with Rabbi Solomon and prepared for his bar mitzvah. He attended The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, from 1941 until 1943, when he was drafted into the army. He describes his experiences in the military, particularly the action he saw in Europe as a soldier serving in the 102nd Division. After the war, on a visit to Baltimore, he met Mildred Friedman, daughter of emigrants from Poland. Leonard and Mildred married in 1948 and settled in Latta, where he had already joined his father in business. They raised three children in Latta and were members of Temple Beth Israel in Florence, South Carolina. Faced with competition from discount chains, the Cohens closed their store in 1987. Other topics mentioned in the interview include: Baltimore Bargain House and changes in the wholesale industry, Charleston Jews Leonard met while attending The Citadel, Mildred’s mikvah experience before her wedding, and the first bat mitzvahs at Temple Beth Israel.
Lawrence and Sylvia Polan Weintraub provide background about their parents and grandparents, primarily their activities after they arrived in the United States from Eastern Europe. Sylvia was born and raised in Mullins, South Carolina. Her father had moved to Mullins from Baltimore to manage a store. Her mother, a Levin of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, joined him after they married. Sylvia describes how the family kept kosher in a small southern town, where she and her sister endured antisemitic taunts from schoolmates. Her family traveled to Dillon, South Carolina, for services and Sunday school lessons. Larry was born and raised in Brooklyn where his father and uncle manufactured ladies’ blouses. After serving in the army during World War II, Larry moved to Walterboro to join his maternal uncle, Harry Zahl, who ran a wholesale business. Larry worked for Harry as a traveling salesman, and it was on his route through Mullins that he met Sylvia, working in her father’s store. The couple married in 1947 and lived briefly in Petersburg, Virginia, before returning to South Carolina. They raised their two children in Timmonsville and were members of Temple Beth Israel in Florence.
Dora Altman grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, where her father worked as a tailor. Her parents’ emigration from Poland was sponsored by a relative, a member of the Mendelsohn family. The Altmans attended the Orthodox synagogue Brith Sholom and, at some point, Dora switched to Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, the Reform temple where services were conducted in English. Dora remembers playing with both Jews and gentiles as a child; the Henckel twins, members of the Coburg Dairy family, were among her closest friends. Dora was engaged to Samuel Turtletaub when he was killed in France during World War I. She never married. During the interview, Dora identifies certain photographs (see the Dora Altman collection, Mss. 1006 in Special Collections, College of Charleston), and is joined by interviewer Haskell Ellison, also a Charleston native, in recalling Charleston’s Jewish families and merchants of the early 20th century.
Hanna Pearlstine, audio interview by Dale Rosengarten and Marilyn Cohn Fine, 28 August 1996 and 29 August 1996, Mss 1035-088, Special Collections, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA.;Hanna Pearlstine, daughter of first cousins Shep and Sara Pearlstine, was born in 1903 in St. Matthews, South Carolina. She describes growing up in the small Midlands town where her father owned a grocery business and Puritan Farm, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. After attending Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Columbia College in New York City, Hanna taught history from 1928 to 1968 at Columbia High School in Columbia, South Carolina. She and her niece Marilyn Cohn Fine outline their family history, beginning with the emigration of Janetta (Jeanette) Karesh and Tanchum (Thomas) Pearlstine (Farber in the Old Country), Hanna’s great-grandparents, from Trzcianne, Russia, in the mid-1800s. Pearlstine relatives mentioned include the Hyams, Vineburg, Wolff, Jacobs, and Cohen families. Hanna also discusses her visit to Washington, D.C., as a guest of Senator Strom Thurmond, her membership in Tree of Life Congregation in Columbia, and relations between her family and the African Americans who worked for her parents in their home and their warehouse. Note: for several related collections, search for “Pearlstine” in Special Collections, Addlestone Library, College of Charleston.
Lilly Stern Filler was born in Munich, Germany, in 1947 to Holocaust survivors Jadzia Szklarz and Ben Stern. The Sterns immigrated two years later to Columbia, South Carolina, where Gabriel Stern, Ben’s uncle and immigration sponsor, lived. This interview opens with Lilly describing a Stern (Szterenzys) family photo taken, presumably, in Poland when Ben was a little boy. Ben met Jadzia after the war through Jadzia’s brother Ben Szklarz, who was his bunkmate in the concentration camps. Lilly recounts how her parents were reunited with their siblings after the war and talks about her aunts, uncle, and cousins. The oldest of four, she shares memories of and thoughts about growing up as a daughter of survivors. After encountering antisemitism when trying to join a high school social club, Lilly’s involvement with Jewish youth groups intensified. She elaborates on what Judaism means to her, and what it means to have a Jewish home. The interviewee recalls meeting her husband, Bruce Filler, a Rhode Island native, at Rusk Institute in New York City, where both were working as physical therapists. They married in 1972, moved to Massachusetts, earned graduate degrees, and in 1975 welcomed daughter Rachel before deciding to relocate to Columbia, where they opened their own practice, Columbia Rehabilitation Clinic. Sons Alex and Michael were born in 1978 and 1980. Four years later, Lilly, pursuing a long-held dream, started medical school at the University of South Carolina. She relates some of the issues she faced going to medical school and starting a new career as a woman in her thirties and forties, and as the mother of young children. She describes partnering with Richland Memorial Hospital to open Women Physicians Associates, an all-female OB-GYN practice. In 2000 Lilly followed up on an initiative her parents had started years before to erect a Holocaust Memorial in Columbia. She discusses how the project grew to include various members of the Columbia community, Jewish and non-Jewish. The monument, located in Memorial Park, was dedicated in 2001. The Columbia Holocaust Education Commission was established with surplus from the memorial fund and shared the same goals: “remember the six million . . . honor the survivors and the liberators . . . and educate South Carolinians about the Holocaust.”
Conie Spigel Ferguson was born and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the daughter of Geneva Fulk and Julian Spigel. She talks about her great-uncle Joel Spigel and her grandfather David Manuel Spigel of Prussia, who immigrated to the United States in the late 1800s. The brothers, who were jewelers, lived for a time in the Newberry-Columbia area, where David met and married Theresa “Daisy” Mittle. The Spigels, Joel included, moved to Spartanburg in 1903, where they opened a jewelry store. Conie’s father, Julian Spigel, was pushed to go to medical school by his parents. He met Geneva at a hospital in North Carolina where she was working as a nurse. Geneva came from a family of Moravians and was expected to leave school before completing her education to work on the family farm. However, she left home, took a job and a room with another family, graduated from high school, and earned a nursing degree. She married Julian in 1941, and they moved to Texas where Julian, an M.D., worked at a hospital before being called home to Spartanburg by his father in 1947, shortly after Conie’s brother, Joel David, was born. Julian helped out with the family jewelry business and took over after David Spigel’s death in 1949. He did not work again in medicine. Although Geneva did not convert to Judaism, she raised Joel and Conie in a Jewish household, insofar as they observed all the holidays. The children attended Sunday school, and Geneva was active in the B’nai Israel Sisterhood and B’nai B’rith. As the daughter of a gentile mother, Conie discusses how she was received by the rabbi and members of the temple. She recalls Rabbi Max Stauber who was hired in 1955 and served the congregation for nearly 30 years, noting that he was “like a second father” to her. The interviewee describes her devotion to Jewish religious observance and what she values in a rabbi. She relates incidences of antisemitism she experienced while in secondary school and at Spartanburg Junior College (now Spartanburg Methodist College). Conie responds to questions about race relations in Spartanburg, and reports that she never witnessed any conflicts between black and white students in her high school.
Isidore Denemark was born in 1910 in Mayesville, South Carolina, the son of Eastern European immigrants Sara Lee “Lizzie” Siegel and Jacob Denemark. Jacob arrived in New York and, at some point, moved to Georgetown, South Carolina, where he worked for the Fogel Brothers in their general merchandise store. Isidore doesn’t know when or where his parents married. He describes a number of moves the family made after Jacob left Georgetown. They ran stores in Mayesville, South Carolina, Sumter, South Carolina, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They returned to Sumter around 1935 where Jacob went into business with Sara’s brother Harry Siegel on Main Street and Sara opened the Smart Shop, which sold dresses. Isidore recalls his father packing up his merchandise and following the tobacco workers around during harvest season in the Carolinas and Tennessee. The interviewee talks about his family’s religious observances as Orthodox Jews when he was growing up and his practices as an adult. He and interviewer Robert Moses are members of Sumter’s Temple Sinai, a small Reform congregation. Both men express frustration and concern about the lack of attendance at Sabbath services by members of the younger generations. They contemplate the reasons for the low levels of participation and compare the Jewish community of Sumter to the large and vibrant one in Charleston, South Carolina. Isidore earned an accounting degree at New York University and returned to Sumter in 1936 to work for Boyle Construction Company as a CPA. He was joined by his first wife, Gladys “Jimmy” Goldsmith, and they raised two children, Bennett and Adele. He talks about how he met Jimmy, who died in 1966. He married Rae Nussbaum Addlestone, originally from Charleston, who was present at this interview. Isidore was one of six or so people who put up money for a new summer camp for Jewish children. They bought more than two hundred acres in Cleveland, GA, and named it Camp Coleman, for the man who made the largest donation. Isidore and Robert discuss the absence of antisemitism in Sumter and how Jewish residents have been prominent in every part of Sumter life. Isidore addresses the issue of the Confederate flag flying on the South Carolina statehouse grounds.
Joan Weisblum Steinberg Loeb, born in 1918 in Brooklyn, New York, married Matthew Steinberg and moved to his native city of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1936. Joan, a daughter of Elsie Aleskowitz and Philip Weisblum, recounts some of her family history, and describes how she met Matthew, who earned his M.D. from the Medical College of South Carolina, and their wedding in the Weisblum’s Brooklyn home. Her mother-in-law, Anna Bell Kaminski Steinberg, taught her how to keep a kosher home. The interviewee, who had no formal religious upbringing, recalls attending High Holy Day services at her husband’s Orthodox congregation, Brith Sholom. She notes that Matthew served as mohel for the congregation following Reverend Feinberg, who was also the cantor and the shochet. Interviewer Sandra Rosenblum reports that her husband, Raymond Rosenblum, a urologist, later assumed the role. In 1947, Joan and Matthew left Brith Sholom and joined roughly seventy families in becoming founding members of the Conservative Synagogue Emanu-El. Joan points to the leadership of Charleston native, Macey Kronsberg, the congregation’s first president, as pivotal in organizing the faction that was dissatisfied with Orthodox practices. Joan notes the source of discontent: “It was the fact that the women were not part of the service at all, and the families did not sit together. This didn’t satisfy this generation. They wanted the children to be part of it and to learn and to have an interest, and not to have to just be banged over the head in Hebrew school to learn enough for a bar mitzvah, and goodbye Charlie.” Joan and Matthew donated the first sanctuary, an army chapel, for Emanu-El’s Gordon Street property. Joan lists many of the names and professions of the charter members. She discusses the differences among Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism, and some of the changes that have taken place in her lifetime. Participants recall the mid-twentieth century practices and attitudes of Charleston’s Reform congregants (Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim) and the two Orthodox congregations, Brith Sholom and Beth Israel, and they examine their own, and others’, experiences of keeping kosher—or not. Joan briefly mentions the three women’s organizations she joined in Charleston: the National Council of Jewish Women, the Daughters of Israel, and the Happy Workers. She goes into some detail about why her father thought U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the “biggest hypocrite and enemy of the Jews.” Matthew Steinberg died in 1968. Three years later, Joan married B. Frank Loeb of Montgomery, Alabama, where she was living at the time of the interview. She provides a brief history of Montgomery’s Reform congregation, Temple Beth Or.
Sidney Rittenberg, born in 1921, talks about growing up in Charleston, South Carolina. He relates memories of his parents, Muriel Sluth (Slutsky) and Sidney Rittenberg, Sr., and his older sister, Elinor, who married Art Weinberger, also of Charleston. The interviewee’s paternal grandfather, Samuel Oscar Rittenberg (1867–1932) emigrated from Lithuania and, after living in New York for a time, ended up in Charleston working in real estate with Triest & Israel. Samuel served as president of Brith Sholom Synagogue and was a South Carolina state legislator. Sidney Sr. was a reporter for the News and Courier before becoming a self-taught attorney, partnering with Louis Shimel in the law firm Shimel & Rittenberg. He was a Charleston City Councilman, active in local civic clubs, and associated with many prominent Charlestonians of his day. Although his parents often attended Shabbat services at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, Charleston’s Reform synagogue, the interviewee notes that they didn’t observe the High Holidays. Growing up, Sidney had Jewish and non-Jewish friends. He says, “I didn’t really like being Jewish because it separated me from the other kids. . . . I thought, ‘I’m an American. Why should I be anything else?’” Sidney noticed tension between the Reform Jews and the Orthodox Jews. “People looked down on each other because they weren’t strict enough or they were too strict.” He describes instances of antisemtism; portrays an African-American man who made baskets and wove figures like dolls and ships; and recalls enjoying children’s programs offered by The Charleston Museum. The interviewee discusses an incident that deeply affected him as a fourteen-year-old; he witnessed the unjust treatment of a black man by the police and was powerless to stop it. See also Sidney’s second interview with Dale Rosengarten on June 19, 2013, and his two interviews with cousin Deborah Lipman Cochelin on July 27, 2013, and October 27, 2013.
Max Kirshstein relates the experiences of his father, Nathan, and uncle, Abe, natives of Kaluszyn, Poland, who immigrated to the United States in 1920 to avoid conscription into the Polish army. They followed their three sisters to Charleston, South Carolina. Nathan’s wife, Sarah Ingberman, and their two sons, Yankel and Max, both born in Sarah’s hometown of Laskarzew, Poland, joined him in Charleston a year later. Max credits Sam Rittenberg with helping newly-arrived immigrants and notes that Etta Gaeser was one of several teachers who provided instruction in English. Nathan, who peddled to support the family, which had grown to include three more children, died in 1930, when Max was only ten years old. After graduating from Murray Vocational School in 1936, Max took a job in Isadore and Dave Solomon’s pawn shop on King Street. Four years later, Ben Barkin offered him a position as an administrative assistant in Aleph Zadik Aleph’s (AZA) Washington office. Two and a half years at the national headquarters “changed the whole course of my life, my thinking, and everything else.” While serving in the navy during World War II, Max continued his association with AZA as an advisor for Virginia’s Tidewater chapters. After the war he returned to Charleston and, in addition to his advising duties, he became the first chairman of AZA’s southern region, and, later, helped to organize a new local chapter to accommodate the growing number of Baby Boomer teens. In 1946 Max opened Metropolitan Credit Company, which he renamed Metropolitan Furniture Company. A year later he married Sylvia Lazarus and together they raised three children. Max touches on the antisemitism he experienced growing up, the breakaway of a number of Brith Sholom members to form Emanu-El, Charleston’s Conservative synagogue, and the merger of the two Orthodox congregations, Brith Sholom and Beth Israel. Note: comments on the transcript made by Larry Iskow, the interviewee’s son-in-law, are in brackets with his initials.
“Oldtimers and Newcomers” is a panel discussion held in 2004 at the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina’s spring meeting convened in Georgetown in honor of Temple Beth Elohim’s centennial year. “Oldtimers” Philip Schneider and Meyer Rosen provide background on Georgetown’s Jewish history, noting former mayors, prominent members of the community, and their own family stories. “Newcomers” and New York natives Ariane Lieberman and Gene Vinik discuss how their experiences, growing up in New York among a large population of Jews, differ from the small-town, southern culture of Georgetown. Bari Heiden, born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, joined the Georgetown congregation just six months before the panel met. She describes raising her children in Florence, South Carolina, where they were members of Beth Israel. Audience members contribute their memories of growing up in Georgetown and share their small-town stories.
Faye Goldberg Miller, born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1938, talks about growing up on St. Philip Street, one of three children of Polish immigrants Jeanette Altman and George Goldberg. She explains why her father changed his name to Goldberg from Geldbart after arriving in the United States. George followed his brother Israel to Charleston and opened a men’s clothing shop on King Street. The family observed the Sabbath and the Jewish holidays and Jeanette kept a kosher kitchen. Despite encountering antisemitism from a few neighborhood children, Faye says she “had a wonderful childhood in Charleston.” Faye married Ivan Miller and they raised three children, Shira, Robert, and Bruce, in Columbia, South Carolina. She discusses the family business, Groucho’s Delicatessen, purchased in the early 1940s from the Rivkins by Ivan’s father, Harold Miller, with the help of Harold’s brother-in-law John Gottlieb.
Beryle Stern Jaffe, born in 1945, talks about growing up in Columbia, South Carolina. She is the eldest daughter of Sarah Kramer and Henry Stern. After Henry was discharged from the military, the Sterns settled in Henry’s home city of Columbia, where he joined his father, Gabe Stern, in his dry goods business, at that time located in nearby Lexington. Beryle recalls segregation and how prejudice against African Americans manifested in public, as well as in her own home with regard to their hired help. The interviewee married Pierre Jaffe in 1967. Pierre, a native of Paris, France, immigrated as a child to the United States with his mother, who had married an American soldier. Pierre and Beryle raised two children, Jason and Erin, in Columbia. Interviewer Lilly Stern Filler’s parents, Ben and Jadzia Stern, were Holocaust survivors who settled in Columbia after World War II. Beryle and Lilly describe the degree to which Lilly’s parents, particularly her father, adjusted to life in a new country.
