Jewish Heritage Collection: Oral history interview with Ethel Oberman Katzen
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- Title:
- Jewish Heritage Collection: Oral history interview with Ethel Oberman Katzen
- Date:
- 1997
- Interviewer:
- Rosengarten, Dale, 1948-;Grossman, Michael Samuel
- Interviewee:
- Katzen, Ethel Oberman, 1920-2002
- Description:
- Ethel Oberman Katzen, in this follow-up to her 1996 interview, talks further about her father's business ventures. Isaac Oberman, who emigrated from Poland in 1906, started out as a peddler, later owning a furniture store on King Street in Charleston, South Carolina. On Sundays, he drove out to the country to collect weekly payments from his customers. Ethel recalls her mother, Sarah Kapner Oberman, spending much of her day in the kitchen and describes the foods she made for the family. The Obermans were members of Beth Israel, one of two Orthodox synagogues in Charleston. Ethel explains why her father ultimately left that congregation. The interviewee married Julius Moses Katzen of Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1942, while he was serving in the United States Air Force. She briefly touches on his service during World War II, and notes that he had played semi-professional baseball for the Piedmont League. He died of a heart attack in 1952 at the age of thirty-six. Ethel and Julius had two children, Florence and Marvin. Ethel discusses the childhood "syndrome" that Florence developed, making it impossible for the family to care for her at home. Florence died in 1959 when she was sixteen. Ethel recounts some of the Jewish funeral customs her family observed, including sitting shiva, and makes note of her awareness of a social strata within the Jewish community of Charleston. See Mss. 1035-085 for Katzen's first interview, dated July 31, 1996. For the Ethel Oberman Katzen papers, see Mss. 1034-027, in Special Collections.
- Collection Title:
- Jewish Heritage Collection Oral Histories
- Contributing Institution:
- College of Charleston Libraries
- Media Type:
- Oral Histories
- Personal or Corporate Subject:
- Beth Israel (Charleston, S.C.)
- Topical Subject:
- Jewish mourning customs, Jewish merchants--South Carolina--Charleston--History, Jews--South Carolina--Charleston--Interviews, Jews--South Carolina--Charleston--Social life and customs, and World War, 1939--1945--Participation, Jewish
- S.C. County:
- Charleston County (S.C.)
- Language:
- English
- Shelving Locator:
- MSS 1035-149
- Date Digital:
- 2012-05-04
- Digitization Specifications:
- Mp3 derivative audio created with Audacity software. Archival masters are wav files.
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Copyright Status Statement:
- Copyright © Jewish Heritage Collection
- Access Statement:
- All rights reserved.
- Access Information:
- For more information, contact Special Collections, College of Charleston Libraries, 66 George Street, Charleston SC 29424.
- Admin ID:
- 251718
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