Jewish Heritage Collection: Oral history interview with Flossie Ginsberg Arnold and Norman Arnold
Click Here to Read the Embedded Transcript
Click Here to Read the Transcript
- Title:
- Jewish Heritage Collection: Oral history interview with Flossie Ginsberg Arnold and Norman Arnold
- Date:
- 1995
- Interviewer:
- Rosengarten, Dale, 1948-;Robinson, Klyde, 1922-2014
- Interviewee:
- Arnold, Flossie Ginsberg, 1907-1996;Arnold, Norman, 1929-
- Description:
- Flossie Ginsberg Arnold and her son, Norman Arnold, discuss their family history. Flossie and her parents, Isaac and Pauline Ginsberg, immigrated to Charleston, South Carolina, from Russia around 1908, when Flossie was about one year old. Flossie recalls living on Hanover Street in the neighborhood they referred to as “Little Mexico,” where her family owned a small grocery store. Ultimately, the Ginsbergs moved to a home on Ashley Avenue and Isaac opened I. Ginsberg, Inc., on Meeting Street, selling cigars, candy, and notions. Flossie was working behind the cash register when her future husband, Ben Arnold, walked in. Charleston was a port of call for the Clyde Line steamer Ben was taking to New York from Florida, where he operated drugstores in Lake Worth and West Palm Beach. Flossie and Ben married in 1928 and shortly after, moved from Florida to Charleston, lured by the presence of family and a Jewish community, and Isaac’s offer to include Ben in the family business. Isaac and Ben developed a wholesale tobacco and drugstore enterprise with locations in several South Carolina cities, including Columbia, the state capital. Ben ran the Columbia store, which they expanded to include liquor. Around 1940 Flossie, Ben, and their son, Arnold, moved to the capital city, and in the mid-’40s, Isaac and Ben split up the business, Isaac keeping the tobacco distributorship, and Ben assuming full control of the liquor operation.
- Collection Title:
- Jewish Heritage Collection Oral Histories
- Contributing Institution:
- College of Charleston Libraries
- Media Type:
- Oral Histories
- Preferred Citation:
- Flossie Ginsberg Arnold and Norman Arnold, audio interview by Dale Rosengarten and Klyde Robinson, 9 January 1995, Mss 1035-001, Special Collections, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA.
- Topical Subject:
- Jewish merchants--South Carolina--Charleston--History, Jewish merchants--South Carolina--Columbia--History, and Jews--South Carolina--Charleston--Interviews
- S.C. County:
- Charleston County (S.C.) and Richland County (S.C.)
- Language:
- English
- Shelving Locator:
- Mss 1035-001
- Date Digital:
- 2011-01-28
- Digitization Specifications:
- Mp3 derivative audio created with Audacity software. Archival masters are wav files.
- Internet Media Type:
- audio/mpeg
- Copyright Status Statement:
- Copyright © College of Charleston Libraries.
- Access Statement:
- All rights reserved.
- Access Information:
- For more information contact Special Collections, Addlestone Library, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424.
- Admin ID:
- 221041
Permalink