Jewish Heritage Collection: Oral history interview with Gerald Wolpe
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- 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, 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:
- Copyright © Jewish Heritage Collection
- Access Information:
- For more information, contact Special Collections, College of Charleston Libraries, 66 George Street, Charleston SC 29424.
- Admin ID:
- 220785
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