chicago jewish historychicagojewishhistory.org/pdf/2004/cjh.3.2004.pdf · he was a notorious...

chicago jewish history

Vol. 28, No. 3, Summer 2004

chicago jewish historical society

Look to the rock from which you were hewn

IN THIS ISSUE1654-2004: Celebrate350 Years of JewishLife in America!

What’s Doing at Other Jewish HistoricalSocieties in the USA

Isaac Van Grove—Chanukah, Romance,and The Eternal [Rail] Road

From the Archives:Skokie’s Cong. BnaiEmunah, 1953-2004

Report on June 27Meeting: “History ofCong. BJBE/JewishIssues and ChicagoJews in the Civil War”

Author! Author! CJHSWriters: See 5

Terra Museum to Close; Last Show Includes Six Chicago Jewish Painters

“Chicago Modern, 1893-1945:Pursuit of the New” is the finalexhibition at the Terra Museum ofAmerican Art, 664 North MichiganAvenue. The show will continueuntil the Terra closes its doors onOctober 31. Admission is free.

Ed Mazur to Speak on “Politics, Jews, and Elections, 1850-2004”

Save the Date: Sunday, Oct. 31

Chicagoan, born and raised inHumboldt Park, who has resided inRogers Park, Hyde Park, New Townand the Gold Coast. He is a tourguide for the Mayor’s Office ofCultural Affairs.

Admission to the meeting is, asalways, free and open to the public.

Edward H. Mazur, Ph.D.,nationally recognized authority onpolitics and the Jewish voter, will bethe featured speaker at the nextopen meeting of the Chicago JewishHistorical Society on Sunday,October 31, at Temple Sholom,3480 North Lake Shore Drive.

The program will begin at 2:30p.m., following a social hour withrefreshments at 1:30, a brief reviewof the year’s activities by CJHSPresident Walter Roth, and theelection of Board members.

Author of Minyans for a PrairieCity: The Politics of Chicago Jewry,1850-1940, and contributor toEthnic Chicago and The Dictionaryof American Mayors, Edward Mazurhas written more than fifty articleson urban affairs, politics, ethnicity,and transportation. He is a native

(Left) Jacob Arvey and AbrahamLincoln Marovitz, important Jewish

figures in Chicago politics.Undated. Chicago Jewish Archives.

Among the paintings are mildMidwestern attempts at Impression-ism in landscapes and portraits, butthe real treasures are the cityscapes.

The earliest of these spiritedpaintings are scenes of the ChicagoRiver by James Bolivar Needham.

Six Chicago Jewish painters arerepresented: Emil Armin, AaronBohrod, Raymond Breinin, FritziBrod, Samuel Himmelfarb, andWilliam Schwartz. Their depictionsof our city and of themselves arehighlights of the exhibition, andecho “Engaging with the Present,”the 75th anniversary retrospective ofthe American Jewish Artists Clubrecently at the Spertus Museum.

Officers 2004Walter Roth PresidentBurt Robin Vice PresidentDr. Carolyn Eastwood SecretaryHerman Draznin Treasurer

DirectorsLeah AxelrodHarold T. BercCharles B. BernsteinDr. Irving CutlerDr. Rachelle GoldClare GreenbergDr. Adele Hast*Rachel Heimovics*Dr. David H. HellerJanet IltisMarshall D. KrolickRoslyn LettvinMichael LorgeMark MandleDr. Edward H. MazurSeymour H. PerskyMuriel Robin Rogers*Norman D. Schwartz*Dr. Milton ShulmanDr. N. Sue Weiler

*Indicates Past President

Chicago Jewish HistoryChicago Jewish History is publishedquarterly by the Chicago JewishHistorical Society at 618 SouthMichigan Avenue, Chicago,Illinois 60605. (312)663-5634.Single copies $4.00 postpaid.Successor to Society News.

Editor/DesignerBev Chubat

Immediate Past EditorJoe Kraus

Editor EmeritusIrwin J. Suloway

Editorial BoardDavid Heller, Burt Robin, Walter Roth, Norman Schwartz,and Milton Shulman

Send all submissions to: Bev Chubat 415 Fullerton Parkway, #1102Chicago, IL 60614-2842 E-mail: [email protected]


2 Chicago Jewish History Summer 2004

President’s Column

MY FIRST TRIP TO ISRAEL WAS IN 1952after I graduated from law school. I participatedin a year-long work and study program at Ma’aleHachamisha, a kibbutz in the Judean Hills nearJerusalem. I have been to Israel many times sincethen, often with my family.

Earlier this summer, my wife Chaya and Ispent three weeks in Israel. We were accom-panying one of our daughters, Miriam, her

husband Mark Raider, and their three young children. Miriam andMark are professors at the State University of New York (SUNY) atAlbany. They and the children would be spending the rest of thesummer on sabbatical at Ben Gurion University in Beersheba.

Returning to Israel this time was somewhat different for Chayaand me. For the first time we were traveling with three of our grand-children, so we were apprehensive about the grave political andsecurity situation. We were surprised by what we encountered.

Our stay did not include visits to Gaza or the West Bank, so Ido not have first hand observations about the situation there. Wedrove over 1400 kilometers, from north to south and all around,and except for the presence of the security fence (or “the wall” assome call it) in some areas, little military personnel or equipmentwas visible to us. The country looked superb, with an enormousamount of ongoing construction. Throughout Israel, the roads havebeen rebuilt, and are in extraordinarily good condition.

WE STAYED IN A GUEST HOUSE AT KIBBUTZ SASSA,located north of Safed, near the Lebanese border. Sassa wasestablished by a group of young chalutzim (pioneers) from Americaafter the 1948 War of Independence. We found that, by sheercoincidence, there was a reunion of vatikim (original settlers) inprogress. Among the old-timers were a number of Chicagoans, somestill living on the kibbutz, and others who had come from Chicagoand elsewhere for the reunion.

Among the Sassa kibbutzniks was our friend, Lynn, a womanwho, when she was a student almost 40 years ago, lived with us inChicago, helping to care for our children. Lynn had taken our beliefin Zionism seriously and had immigrated to Israel. She now has fivegrown children, some already married, and is a teacher and writer.We had a reunion on a grand scale, and toured together in the northof Israel—to the Banyas Waterfall, the Hula Valley, and of course,Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee), where, if you go to the rightplace, you can walk on water.

Sassa now faces a problem pervasive in the kibbutz community.The old communal way of life is undergoing privatization of bothits social and economic life. Children live at home with theirparents; the communal dining hall is available, but most families eatin their own houses. Sassa is economically prosperous today. Its

Walter Roth


continued on page 12

3Chicago Jewish History Summer 2004

(Left) Chicago Tribute Marker of Distinction: Ben Hecht,

5210 South Kenwood Avenue. Photo by Norman D. Schwartz.

(Right) Honorary Ben Hecht Waystreet sign, corner of West

Walton and North Clark Streets,dedicated June 29, 2004.

Photo by Michael Zimmerman.

On Tuesday morning, June 29,about a hundred people gatheredunder the trees of Washington(Bughouse) Square Park to dedicateHonorary Ben Hecht Way, theblock of West Walton Street,between Clark and Dearborn, infront of the Newberry Library.

Local politics determine thenames that appear on the city’subiquitous brown “honorary way”signs. In this case, Alderman Burton

Natarus initiated the required citycouncil resolution, but the impetuscame from Dr. Rafael Medoff of theDavid S, Wyman Institute forHolocaust Studies.

Ben Hecht established hisliterary reputation in Chicago as ayoung newspaper reporter. Hispapers are housed at the NewberryLibrary, donated by his widow tothis respected research institution in

New Signs of Ben Hecht in Chicago

HYMIE WEISS—WHAT’S IN A NAME?Dan Sharon, Senior Reference Librarian of the Asher Library at SpertusInstitute of Jewish Studies, asked CJHS President Walter Roth this question:

Why did a Polish American gangster in Chicago, who supposedlyserved as an altar boy in a Catholic church, change his name to thestereotypically Jewish one, “Hymie Weiss”? I’ve looked in book afterbook that mentions Weiss, and no one answers this question. Indeed, no one even raises it.

Walter Roth’s answer is based in part on research by Norman D. Schwartz.

Hymie Weiss was machine-gunned to death on October 11, 1926.He was a notorious Chicago mobster, successor as gang leader to DionO’Banion. He was shot down on almost the same spot where O’Banionhad been killed—Schofield’s Flower Shop, at 738 North State Street.

Although his nickname suggests a Jewish connection, there is noevidence of it. His death certificate states his name as “Earl J. Weiss”. He is listed as “single” and “white.” Date of birth is “unknown.” Records indicate that his family members had changed their surnamefrom Wojcieckowski to Weiss. His tombstone in (Roman Catholic)Mount Carmel Cemetery bears the inscription: “In Loving Memory ofEarl J. Weiss.” Underworld nicknames are never subtle, clever, or kind.Since Weiss is usually a Jewish name, Earl was probably called “Hymie”only because that epithet matched his chosen surname.

3760Q The address of Anshe

Emet Synagogue is3760 North Pine Grove Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.

What is the relationship of the number 3760 to thesecular and Jewish calendars?

A When you add the number 3760 to any secular year, the total equals the Jewish year. 2004 + 3760 = 5764.

(Remember, in the periodbetween Rosh Hashanah andJanuary 1, add 3761.)

— N.D.S

continued on page 13


“…if music alone could stir the soul, what would it not do allied with drama andspectacle?…what could not one do with a heroic theme like that of Chanukah?”—Meyer Weisgal, Zionist activist and pageant producer (from So Far)

“Here was it. Dramatic. Why should not thetheater and its resources be brought to therendition of the highly dramatic history of theAmerican railroad?”—Edward Hungerford,railroad publicist and pageant producer (from Setting History To Music)

W hat do Jewish historical pageants have incommon with American railroad andhistorical pageants? They both employ the

“drama and spectacle” of large-scale theater to promotecauses in a memorable way. And they both at timesemployed the versatile talents of the conductor,composer, arranger, and vocal coach—Isaac Van Grove.

Described by Meyer Weisgal as “an energeticDutchman of Jewish descent,” Isaac Van Grove wasborn in Philadelphia on September 5, 1892. Hegraduated from the Chicago Musical College (now partof Roosevelt University) at age 17 in 1909, and thefollowing year began his professional music career asaccompanist, assistant, and/or vocal coach to a host ofoperatic luminaries, including Enrico Caruso and MaryGarden. It was during Ms. Garden’s brief, tumultuoustenure as general director of the Chicago Grand OperaAssociation (which soon became the Chicago CivicOpera) that Van Grove was hired by that company in1921 as an assistant conductor, a position he held into1925. He returned to the Civic as a conductor for the1931-32 and 1933-34 seasons. Additionally, during thisperiod Van Grove conducted summer opera at theCincinnati Zoo (1926-1933), conducted the AmericanOpera Company on their 1929-1930 tour, taughtvarious disciplines at his alma mater (1924-1938), andconducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra severalsummers at Ravinia – all this from “a musician who hasnever even been abroad,” as the New York Timesremarked with astonishment in 1931.

It was in that year in connection with the CivicOpera that Isaac Van Grove became associated withMeyer Weisgal, the indefatigable Zionist activist whowould later become secretary to Chaim Weizmann.Shortly after Weisgal returned to his boyhood home ofChicago in November 1931, a Civic Opera productionof Aida inspired him to harness the power of opera-sizemusic theater to promote the cause of Zionism. Heobtained the use of the Civic Opera House, includingthe scenery and costumes from Aida, with which toproduce a cast-of-hundreds Chanukah pageant relatingthe story of the Maccabees. Isaac Van Grove directedthe production, and wrote and conducted the music forit. The success of this 1931 Chanukah Festival lead tosubsequent collaborations between Weisgal and VanGrove, including a Purim farce staged in March 1933 atthe Aragon Ballroom featuring a cast of 180 and avillain billed as “Hittlarhaman (Nutzi),” an ominoussign of the times.

The culmination of the Weisgal/Van Grovetheatrical collaboration in Chicago was The Romance ofA People, the featured event of “Jewish Day,” July 3,1933, at A Century of Progress, the Chicago world’sfair. Soldier Field could barely contain this stupendousspectacle of the history of the Jewish people and theirquest for a homeland, with its cast of 35,000performers and audience of 125,000. Isaac Van Grove,who scored the production, conducted the choral forcesfrom the stage, while an orchestra conductor, soloists,and a narrator followed his baton from a room beneaththe grandstand. The stadium was elaborately wired forsound. Such exotic conducting arrangements wouldbecome a recurring motif in Van Grove’s career.

Meanwhile, on the Century of Progress fairgrounditself, one had three opportunities a day to see “TheRomance of Transportation”—Wings of A Century.This outdoor theatrical extravaganza was the brainchildof Edward Hungerford, an irrepressible railroadhistorian, author, and publicist who, like MeyerWeisgal, dared to think big while never counting thecost. Hungerford added pageantry to his publicrelations panoply in 1927 when, as centenary directorfor the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, he produced thehighly successful Fair of The Iron Horse at Halethorpe,Maryland, near Baltimore. Highlight of this celebration

Isaac Van Grove—Chanukah, Romance, and The Eternal [Rail]Road

BY CURTIS L. KATZ


was the daily Parade of The IronHorse, a two-hour processionthrough 250 years of landtransportation featuring 30 historicand modern locomotives and trains,15 floats, numerous otherconveyances, 63 horses, oxen, andmules, 500 costumed actors,rousing American music, and floridnarration. In Wings of A Century,Hungerford adapted the pageantsensibilities of his Iron Horse paradeto the confines of the stage—albeitone 250 feet wide—with a cast of“merely” 150 actors, a dozen trains,plus numerous other vehicles,including aircraft. After returningfor the 1934 season of A Century ofProgress, Wings of A Century wasrevised and, as Parade of The Years,taken to Cleveland for the 1936season of the Great LakesExposition.

The Romance of A People went on the road as well, appearing for a six-week extended run under the baton of Isaac Van Grove at an armory inNew York during the fall of 1933 before moving on to Philadelphia,Detroit, and Cleveland.

Emboldened by success to seek an even bigger theatrical palette forZionism, Meyer Weisgal sought the services of the Viennese masterof theatrical giganticism, Max Reinhardt. Learning that Reinhardt

had fled Hitler’s Germany, Weisgal fired off his famous telegram, “To MaxReinhardt, Europe. If Hitler doesn’t want you I’ll take you.” UltimatelyWeisgal caught up with Reinhardt in Paris. Rather than expanding uponWeisgal’s Romance, the impresario proposed a massive new biblical epochabout the hope for a Jewish homeland, for which he commissioned alibretto from Franz Werfel and music from Kurt Weill. Written in Germanand titled Der Weg der Verheissung (“The Road of Promise”), it was intendedfor production in Europe. But in September 1935, Max Reinhardt and KurtWeill came to New York to supervise its production there. Meyer Weisgalsecured Isaac Van Grove as music director, Ludwig Lewisohn translated thelibretto into English, and the show was retitled The Eternal Road, a namethat proved inauspicious.

The eternity it took to bring Meyer Weisgal’s Reinhardtian spectacle tothe stage is part of Broadway legend. The show endured ten postponedopenings due to technical and financial difficulties and fits of artistictemperament among its creators. (During one long hiatus, severalproduction staffers went to moonlight on Ed Hungerford’s Cleveland show.)

One of The Eternal Road production difficulties involved the music. Theorchestral music was recorded via a new sound-on-film system from RCA—literally, a soundtrack. Composer Kurt Weill was delighted (“Think of it!No worries with those musicians who play wrong notes.”), but theAmerican Federation of Musicians was less pleased; contractually allBroadway shows were to have only live music. The compromise was to haveIsaac Van Grove conduct a 16-piece orchestra accompanying thesoundtrack. They were crammed into an improvised sound booth above thestage; industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes’s ponderous set left no roomfor an orchestra pit in the creaky old Manhattan Opera House.

It was chiefly by the considerable force of Meyer Weisgal’s determi-nation that the curtain at last rose on The Eternal Road on January 7, 1937.With a cast of 200 and elaborate stage and lighting effects, it was the biggestshow in Broadway history. Critics were effusive in their praise and audiencesflocked to see it. But it would have required more than a Moses to part thesea of debt in which this spectacle was immersed, and on May 15, TheEternal Road folded after 150 performances.

It stands to reason that production talent from the biggest show on NewYork’s Broadway would be tapped for the biggest show at New York’s 1939-1940 world’s fair, that show being Edward Hungerford’s magnum opus,Railroads On Parade, presented at the fair’s largest pavilion, that of theEastern Railroads Presidents Conference. Boasting 250 performers, 20trains, and complex mechanical stage effects, Hungerford’s “Iron HorseOpera,” as the New York press quickly dubbed it, was presented (accordingto its advertising), “To do full honor to The American Railroad in morethan one hundred years of its triumphant success.” In other words, the

continued on page 6

Isaac Van Grove.Newspaper rotogravure

insert about the February 1934touring production of

The Romance of A People in thePhiladelphia Convention Hall.


admission. But word of moutheventually made the pageant the hitshow of the fair, requiring a fifthperformance to be added to theadvertised four-a-day. It was ameasure of the production’s successwhen one day Isaac Van Grovefound a stranger among themusicians in his sound room; thestranger had been paid $8.00 for theday by one of the regular musicianswho was out in the audiencewatching the show!

V an Grove kept in touch withKurt Weill for the remain-der of that composer’s all

too brief life (Weill died in 1950 atage 50), and during the 1940s wasinvolved with him on two moreprojects. Both were sponsored by

the so-called Bergson group,which utilized the popular artson behalf of Jewish causes, andboth were written by Ben Hecht.

We Will Never Die (1943) wasa monumental production withan all-star cast intended to raisepublic awareness of the Nazislaughter of European Jews. Inthe aftermath of the Holocaust, A Flag Is Born (1946) delivered asearing indictment of all thosewho stood by while six millionJews perished in Europe, andoffered a ringing call for theestablishment of a Jewish state inPalestine as a refuge for Holo-caust survivors. Weill’s scores forboth these shows were comprisedlargely of traditional Jewishmelodies, borrowings from TheEternal Road, and patrioticAmerican songs, hooked togetherin a manner similar to the scorefor Railroads On Parade. IsaacVan Grove conducted the musicfor both pageants; additionally hewas entrusted by Weill to arrangethe orchestrations for A Flag IsBorn, as the composer was thenimmersed in the development of

his “American opera,” Street Scene.Both We Will Never Die and A FlagIs Born opened in New York, thenwent on tour to Chicago and othercities. Both shows proved contro-versial—and influential.

But for the most part during the1940s, Isaac Van Grove devoted histalents to lighter, uncontroversialfare, including shows on Broadway,recordings of operetta excerpts withWilbur Evans and Kitty Carlisle,and coaching operatic hopefuls andprofessionals, most notablyAmerica’s sweetheart of opera andcinema, Grace Moore. Tragically,Moore died in a plane crash atCopenhagen in 1947. The followingyear Isaac Van Grove returned toChicago, and to pageantry.

Isaac Van Grovecontinued from page 5

railroad industry was seeking toshine up its public image after adecade of being ravaged byfinancial depression, bad press,government regulatory practicesthat favored competing modes oftransport, and the threat ofnationalization.

It is uncertain if Ed Hunger-ford deliberately sought outveterans from The Eternal Road,but several key artists who camefrom that show to the railroadpageant had worked on previousHungerford productions. KurtWeill and Isaac Van Grove camewith them.

As the European politicalsituation deteriorated, Kurt Weilldecided to remain in the UnitedStates, and he began to studyAmerican folklore with an eyetoward “Americanizing” hismusic. Early efforts in this line,The Common Glory and TheBallad of Davy Crockett, wentunfinished. His music forRailroads On Parade was his firstcompleted piece of Americana.Described by Weill as a “circusopera,” the score consisted of anarrangement of American folktunes, spirituals, and patriotic airs,plus some original material.

Isaac Van Grove conducted theeclectic score, this time from a roombeneath the grandstand in which hewas ensconced with an orchestra of25, an 18-voice chorus, an organist,several audio engineers, and five“sound actors” who spoke thedialogue that was lip-synced byactors on stage.

Initially Railroads On Paradewas lightly attended, perhapsbecause it was one of the fewattractions at the fair that charged

“Isaac Van Grove, production director,instructs electricians stationed

throughout vast auditorium by means ofa system of telephones operated from

main switchboard.”Newspaper rotogravure insert about

the February 1934 touring production of The Romance of A People

in the Philadelphia Convention Hall.


In the summers of 1948 and’49, Chicago, the RailroadCapital of The World, played

host to the Chicago Railroad Fair,held on part of the Century ofProgress site, and occasioned by thecentennial of the city’s firstrailroads. The fête was nominallyeducational entertainment, but therailroad industry hoped it wouldhelp lure the public aboard its shinynew postwar streamliners, and gainpublic sympathy for its continuingcampaign for balanced governmentregulation of the transportationbusiness. The fair’s principleattraction was Edward Hungerford’spageant, Wheels a-Rolling, featuringthe usual colossal compliment oftrains, people, animals, and vehicles.(This would be Hungerford’s opusultimum. One week after the fairopened in July 1948, he died inNew York at age 72.)

Van Grove applied for the job ofpageant production director, butsettled for the post of musicdirector. The top job had alreadygone to Helen Tieken Geraghty, aGoodman Theater School alumnawho subsequently studied with MaxReinhardt and had directedHungerford’s Wings of A Century in1933. Van Grove spent his first twoweeks back in Chicago substantiallyrevising the musical score that hadbeen hastily prepared for Hunger-ford by folk musicologist TomScott. As delivered, that scoreconsisted of a hand-written manu-script to which had been attachedcommercial copies of Fred Waringchoral settings of traditionalAmerican tunes, and photostats ofexcerpts from Kurt Weill’s RailroadsOn Parade music. Van Grove’srewrite dropped Waring butretained some of Scott’s material,including some of his borrowingsfrom Weill.

The success of Wheels a-Rolling, and the congenial working relation-ship that developed between Helen Tieken Geraghty and Isaac Van Grove,led to their collaboration on three more historical pageants in Chicago, forwhich Van Grove wrote and conducted the music: Frontiers of Freedom atChicago Fair (1950), Song of Mid-America for the Illinois Central Railroad’scentennial (1951), and From Adam To Atom for the centennial of theAmerican Society of Civil Engineers (1952). These three shows werescripted by Ben Aronin, the noted author and multi-talented stalwart of theChicago Jewish community. During this sojourn in Chicago, Van Grovereturned to his pageantry roots, teaming with Aronin to create Chanukahpageants staged variously at the Civic Opera House and at the ChicagoStadium. Whereas Van Grove’s earlier Jewish pageants expressed hope for afuture homeland, these pageants rejoiced in the realization of that hope inthe newly independent State of Israel.

American historical pageants would inform the rest of Isaac Van Grove’scareer. In 1953 he wrote the music for The Seventeenth Star, commemo-rating the sesquicentennial of Ohio’s statehood. (He conducted that musicin a tent located a half-mile from the action.) The Seventeenth Star was thecreation of dramatist Paul Green, the success of whose 1937 pageant playThe Lost Colony (still presented every summer at Manteo, North Carolina)turned his career to the production of large-scale outdoor historical drama,chiefly in the South. Ultimately Van Grove composed scores for a half-dozen Paul Green dramas. During this period Van Grove moved toHollywood to work in the movie colony, and Paul Green enjoyed tellingfriends, “I have this arranger from Hollywood…” Van Grove’s last PaulGreen score was for Louisiana Cavalier, completed early in 1976, three and ahalf years before he died in Los Angeles in the autumn of 1979, at age 87.

Monumental pageants celebrating the achievements of ourAmerican homeland and the hope of a Jewish homeland mayhave been the most publicly prominent of Isaac Van Grove’s

accomplishments, but they are hardly the sum total of his long and wide-ranging artistic career. He conducted opera and operetta not only inChicago and Cincinnati, but also in St. Louis, Boston, Cleveland, and othercities. He prepared nearly a dozen ballet scores for Chicago choreographerRuth Page. He wrote several original operas and cantatas. He arranged filmmusic. And at the latter end of his life he devoted 25 summers to trainingfuture generations of opera singers and to directing student operaproductions as artistic director of the opera program at Inspiration Point(now Opera In The Ozarks) in Arkansas.

One wonders why a musician of such great accomplishment is notbetter known. Working in the shadow of more famous personalities, he wasapparently too absorbed in his art to seek celebrity, willing to let his workspeak for itself. As Paul Green’s assistant Rhoda Wynn recalled of VanGrove, “His talent was his light.” ❖

CURTIS L. KATZ is the author of several articles on railroads in popular culture, including "The Last Great Railroad Show," about the ChicagoRailroad Fair (Trains Magazine, August 1998), and "Hail! The Baltimore & Ohio," about the B&O Fair of The Iron Horse (Railfan & RailroadMagazine, November 2003). Railroader, railroad historian, and lifelongrailroad buff, Mr. Katz serves as “volunteer curator” of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad collection at Chicago’s Newberry Library.


Celebrate 350 Years

Adele Hast Addresses 2004 BiennialScholars’ Conference on American Jewish History

Adele Hast.Photograph by David Rigg.

The Scholars’ Conference washeld on June 6-8 at American

University and the Library ofCongress in Washington, D.C.

The event was organized by theCommission for Commemorating350 Years of American JewishHistory, comprised of scholars fromthe Jacob Rader Marcus Center ofthe American Jewish Archives, theAmerican Jewish Historical Society,the National Archives and RecordsAdministration, and the Library ofCongress. Gary Zola of the MarcusCenter heads the commission.

Professor Pamela S. Nadell,Director of the Jewish StudiesProgram at American University,

chaired the conference. CJHS Past President Dr. Adele

Hast, scholar-in-residence at theNewberry Library, spoke at the

Jewish Historical Societyof Greater Washington701 Third Street NWWashington, DC 20001(202) 789-0900

OPENS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17:Jewish Washington: Scrapbookof An American CommunityCity Museum, 801 K Street NW

An exhibit in celebration of 350years of Jewish life in America:historic photographs, oral histories,Judaica, community scrapbooks,and archival material tell the storyof Jewish life from 1795 to today.

—www.jhsgw.org

1654-2004

New Mexico JewishHistorical SocietyAlbuquerque Jewish Community Center5520 Wyoming Boulevard NEAlbuquerque, NM 87109(505) 348-4471

“The New Mexico Jewish HistoricalSociety was organized in 1985 topursue the fascinating and oftenamazing story of the Jews of NewMexico.… Our efforts are focusedon following the path from the1600s when Sephardic Jews lived insecret to European Jews who movedto America and transformed thelandscape of social and economiclife in the Territory of NewMexico.…”

—www.nmjewishhistory.org

session titled “Jewish WomenBuilding Community.” Her talk, ToServe the Community Where Needed:Chicago Woman’s Aid, 1925-1950,drew on material gathered for herresearch fellowship from the JewishWomen’s Archive in Brookline, MA.

Other speakers included AleisaFishman, American University:Consuming is Believing: JewishWomen Making Community inSuburbia, 1946-1960, and HollaceAva Weiner, University of Texas atArlington: The National Council ofJewish Women: Vanguard or Rear-guard? A Texas Section in the 1960sand 1970s. Joyce Antler of BrandeisUniversity chaired the session. ❖

Arizona Jewish Historical Society4710 North 16th Street Phoenix, AZ 85016(520) 621-6423

MINYAN: 10 GREAT AMERICAN JEWISH THINKERSAND PERSONALITIESFridays, 12:15 pm–1:30 pmSept 10, 24; Oct 15, 29; Nov 5, 19;and Dec 3, 17 at the Bureau ofJewish Education in the Ina LevineJewish Community Campus.

In celebration of America 350, this class will explore the lives andcontributions of at least 10 Jewswho impacted American Jewish life.For further information andregistration, see Web site.

—www.azjhs.org

See calendar of events at the official Web site:www.celebrate350.org

9Chicago Jewish History Spring 2004

of Jewish Life in America!

Jewish Historical Society of New York8 West 70th StreetNew York, NY 10023(212) 415-5544

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12:Inaugural events in the 350thanniversary celebration of thearrival of Jews in NewAmsterdam:

The Jewish Community RelationsCouncil and its Jewish Heritage-New York 2004 Committee arecoordinating major programs to beheld in Battery Park and lowerManhattan. Save these dates forJHSNY programs:

OCTOBER 10, NOVEMBER 14, AND DECEMBER 12

—JHSNY Newsletter, May 2004

Washington State Jewish Historical Society2031 Third Avenue Seattle, WA 98121(206) 774 2277

MAY 24–DECEMBER 12:Family of Strangers: the FirstCentury of Jewish Life inWashington, 1840-1940Washington State History Museum1911 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma.

NOVEMBER 18, 19, 20:Paul Taylor Dance CompanyUW, Meany Hall, Seattle.The company has been commmi-sioned to create a new workcelebrating the 350th anniversary of Jewish life in America.

—www.wsjhs.org.

Jewish Historical Societyof South CarolinaJewish Studies ProgramCollege of Charleston 96 Wentworth StreetCharleston, SC 29424(843) 953-39187

“South Carolina’s most famousJewish son, Bernard MannesBaruch, was born in Camden in1870. His father, Simon Baruch,had fled conscription in Prussia andarrived in Camden in 1855; heserved as a surgeon in theConfederate Army….”—“Bernard Mannes Baruch:Financier, philanthropist, andpresidential advisor,” —JHSSCquarterly journal, Winter 2004.

—www.cofc.edu.

Jewish Historical Societyof the Upper Midwest4330 South Cedar Lake RoadMinneapolis, MN 55416(952) 381-3360

ESSAY CONTEST: Jews and American Freedom: “How has freedom shaped the lives ofJewish families and/or Jewishcommunities in the Upper Midwest?”(Upper Midwest includes Minnesota,the Dakotas, Northern Wisconsin,and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.)

Cash prizes up to $500. Middleschool, high school, and adultcategories. Winning essays will bepublished. Entry deadline 12/1/04.See contest rules on Web site.

—www.jhsum.org.

American JewishHistorical SocietyCenter for Jewish History15 West 16th StreetNew York, NY 10011(212) 294-6160

TIME-LINE POSTER: 350 Yearsof Jewish People in America

Published by the American JewishHistorical Society in 2004, a fullcolor poster with 45 images fromthe AJHS Collection. This 24" x36" poster is available in twoversions: museum quality, limitededition of 3,000, suitable forframing, shipped in a tube, $20.00,or an open edition on lighter paper,shipped folded, $14.00.

—Web site: www.ajhs.org.To order: www.ajhs-store.com.

Western Jewish HistoryCenter/Judah L. MannesMuseum2911 Russell StreetBerkeley, CA 94705(510) 549-6932

OPENS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER12: Sephardic Horizons

The year-long exhibition will tellthe story of Sephardic Jews as reflec-ted in paintings, graphics, andartifacts from the Magnes collec-tions. After their expulsion fromSpain in 1492 and from Portugal in1496-97, Iberian Jews fled southand east to the lands of theOttoman Empire, then north toItaly and Amsterdam, and by the17th century to the New World.

—Web site: www.magnes.org.


Keeping Faith in Skokie:Congregation Bnai Emunah, 1953-2004

By Joy Kingsolver

T he history of Jewish Chicago is a story ofmovement, of demographic change, andshifting populations. Congregation Bnai

Emunah was founded during the post-WWIImovement out of the city, and benefited from thesurging Jewish population in the northern suburbs. Amajor presence in Skokie for a half-century, it closedthis summer, a victim of declining Jewish population inthe neighborhood. The archival records of the congre-gation have been brought to the Chicago JewishArchives, Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies.

In August, 1953, 19 families from Niles TownshipJewish Congregation, itself founded just a year earlier,left to form the Skokie Valley Conservative Congre-gation. Over the next two years, the new congregationkept up a hectic pace of development. By spring, 1954,property at 9131 Niles Center Road had been acquired;groundbreaking was held on August 22. Rabbi MelvinGoldstine, formerly assistant rabbi at Anshe Emet, waschosen to lead the new congregation in May 1954. Atthe same time, the congregation applied formembership in the United Synagogues of America(now called the United Synagogues of ConservativeJudaism); in June this was granted. This affiliation wasfelt to be essential to the congregation’s identity andprompted a name change to Bnai Emunah (Children of

Faith) in order to “retain the traditions of ConservativeJudaism,” as president Louis Weingart put it, and tosignal a new phase in development.

During this period, services were being held innearby schools and synagogues, and the religious schoolwas formed before there was a building to house itsclasses. In December, 1954, Joanne Steiner became thefirst bat mitzvah; January brought the first bar mitzvah,Michael Bell.

In 1955 the building was completed, and in thatyear Cantor Allan Stearns began his long tenure withBnai Emunah, and the sisterhood began its activities.

In spite of the outward signs of growth, these wereyears of some turmoil, recalls Rabbi Harold I. Stern inthe 2004 Book of Memories. When he assumed thepulpit in 1959, he made a number of changes instructure and policy. One major change was theincreased integration of the religious school and thesynagogue; previously, the school had operated more orless independently. He instituted a daily minyan, which,he remembers, encountered some opposition at first.He also inaugurated an annual congregational trip toIsrael; this was continued for 17 years and is nowremembered fondly by many congregants. Six chavurotwere founded, of which two remained in 2004.

Throughout these years, the congregation

(Left) Bnai Emunah Board, 1962-63; (right) undated photomontage, 1970s. Chicago Jewish Archives.


continued to flourish. The buildingwas expanded twice to accom-modate the growing membership.In 1956 the land to the south wasacquired for the religious school; in1960 the land to the north waspurchased and a permanentsanctuary constructed. The processof improving the synagoguebuilding continued: the well-knownmural on the front of the building,designed by Irene and Azriel Awretof Safed, Israel, was installed in1975. In 1983, faceted stained glasswindows, designed by John Beraand featuring brilliant colors, wereinstalled in the sanctuary and in theRabinowitz Memorial Chapel.

Rabbi Stern became emeritus in1991, and two years later RabbiMichael H. Laxmeter was hired ashis replacement. Already thepressures of declining membershipand finances were beginning toshow; there was talk of merger withvarious congregations who werefacing the same problems, includingEzra Habonim–Niles TownshipJewish Congregation (in whatwould have been a historic fullcircle). At that point Bnai Emunahhad about 300 families, down from700-800. (According to the JewishFederation, the Jewish population ofSkokie declined 15-20% after 1975,when it numbered 40,000.) But this

merger did not take place; after acontroversial plan to put condo-miniums on part of the propertyfailed, the congregation reluctantlydecided to sell the building andclose. The property will become theAssyrian National CommunityCenter, and the congregation hasmerged with Beth Hillel, 3220 BigTree Lane, Wilmette, to becomeBeth Hillel Congregation BnaiEmunah. Rabbi Stern and CantorStearns are emeritus staff in the newcongregation.

F ifty years of activity aretreasured in many fondmemories, and they are also

preserved in the documents andphotographs now being cataloged atthe Chicago Jewish Archives. Whenorganized and inventoried, thiscollection will be an invalublerecord of a vital piece of ChicagoJewish history. The collectioncontains administrative records,membership and yahrzeit lists,bulletins, clippings, Sisterhoodscrapbooks, and other documents.There are gaps in the historicalrecord, so any additional materialsuch as bulletins and minutes thatmay be held by members would bewelcome. Bnai Emunah’s story isimportant to remember and to tellto future historians. ❖

FROM THE

CHICAGO JEWISH

archives

(Left) Bnai Emunah bimah; (right) entrance, 2004. Photographs by Joy Kingsolver, Chicago Jewish Archives.

Opening October 10, 2004: “My Kind of Town: JewishImmigration to Chicago in the Twentieth Century.” 6th Floor Gallery, Spertus Institute,618 South Michigan Avenue.

Two large waves of immigrationin the nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries broughtthousands of German Jews,followed by Russian and EasternEuropean Jews, to Chicago. In theyears that followed, Jewishimmigrants continued to come toChicago for many reasons. In the1930s, Jews fleeing Nazi-occupiedEurope sought refuge here, and inthe 1970s, many Soviet Jewssettled in Chicago after activistspressed their government to allowthem to leave. This exhibitionwill show the variety inimmigrants’ stories, illustratedwith artifacts, photographs anddocuments. Anyone with items toloan for this exhibit please contactJoy Kingsolver at 312-322-1741.


factories manufacture and assemble militarymatériel for the Coalition Forces fighting in Iraq.This is rather ironic, since the kibbutz was built bypeace-loving idealists. Sassa has an excellentelementary school that draws its students from thesurrounding area. It has a vibrant cultural life—and tennis courts, too.

We left Lynn and drove south to Ma’aleHachamisha. I had come to live at this kibbutz overfifty years ago at the urging of David Ron and hiswife Batya, shlichim (emissaries) from Israel, whomI had met at an Intercollegiate Zionist Federation ofAmerica (IZFA) summer camp in Averill Park, inupstate New York where they were counselors andteachers. Good-looking, intelligent, and persuasiveyoung shlichim like David and Batya were, and stillare, sent abroad by the Jewish Agency to encourageand enable aliyah—immigration to Israel.

My stay at Ma’ale Hachamisha in 1952 hadbeen a most gratifying experience; the kibbutz was asecond home for me, and I had left with sadness.My friend David, a teacher at the kibbutz, died in1977, and I kept in touch with Batya onlyinfrequently over the years. But when I wrote to herof our planned visit this summer, she repliedimmediately. I was delighted to learn that she wasstill active and in good health. A former director ofthe guesthouse at the kibbutz, she was now workingpart-time at the new hotel that had beenconstructed at the edge of the kibbutz.

WE ARRIVED AT MA’ALE HACHAMISHA,and were given penthouse rooms at the hotel. Laterthat evening, we walked the short distance down tothe kibbutz proper where Batya was waiting for usnear her house. Now over 80 years of age, she stoodas erect as ever, still lovely in all ways.

The next day we returned to Batya’s house forcoffee and Viennese pastry. As conscientioushistorians, Chaya and I took the opportunity torecord Batya’s oral history. We met her son,Shlomo, the mazkir (secretary) of the kibbutz.Ma’ale Hachamisha, like Sassa, is undergoingprivatization. The communal dining hall is closed,replaced by a commissary where provisions can bepurchased for home use. Shlomo told us that sooneach kibbutz member will own his own home andsome land. The hotel and other enterprises will be

owned by a legal entity, a kind of co-oparrangement in which the members will share.

Our grandchildren were excited by many thingsthey saw at the kibbutz, but their biggest thrill waswitnessing hundreds of cows coming in from thefields to be milked by machines, while standing andfeeding on a huge, rotating carousel contraption.

The next day, after dinner at a restaurant in thenearby friendly village of Abu Gosh, we continuedour trip south to the guest house at Kibbutz EinGedi, located in a lush oasis near the Dead Sea.

If you like salt water and mud baths,there is aspa at the Dead Sea that will make you very happy.I myself was happier with our tram ride up Masada,the great fortress of Roman times, where we toldour grandchildren of its significance.

WE THEN DROVE ON TO BEERSHEBA. Miriam and Mark had rented a house for theirfamily in suburban Omer. Quite miraculously, wefound that their neighbors were an elderly couplefrom Antwerp, Belgium—Shimshon and AvivaLimon—whom we had last seen in 1969. Theyshowed us their picture album that included aphotograph of Chaya when she was a studentteacher with Shimshon in Antwerp over 50 yearsago. But that is another story.

Toward the end of our trip, a friend of Mark’sasked us to accompany him on a visit to Lakia, aBedouin settlement in the Negev, about twentykilometers from Beersheba. The Bedouins aretraditionally a nomadic people living in clans, ofIslamic faith, but considered friendly to Israel. Overthe centuries, the Negev has been their privatecampground. But now, with more and more Israelismoving there, the nomads are under pressure toestablish permanent settlements of their own, andto claim ownership of the land on which they settle.

As we entered the settlement, we met severalyoung women representing an organization calledthe Association for Improvement of Women’s Statusin Lakia. Two leaders of the group, young Bedouinwomen dressed in long, colorful dresses, explainedto us that a woman’s traditional role in theirnomadic society is caring for her husband, children,and animals. She is not permitted to have a basiceducation of reading and writing.

The transition from nomadic to urban lifemeans that a Bedouin woman can no longercontribute to the economic well-being of her family

President’s Column continued from page 2


in the traditional way. So the Association wasformed to promote education and other benefits forthemselves and their children. To do this and toprovide employment for women, they established aweaving and embroidery workshop in Lakia, whereBedouin women create decorative dresses as well ascarpets and other furnishings.

Over 160 women are said to be employed bythe Association. Although at this point there isopposition to their efforts by the Bedouin malehierarchy, the women appear to have the approvalof the Israeli government, and they receive somefinancial support from European sources. We were

served Turkish coffee as they presented some oftheir wares to us. We made some purchases and leftenchanted by these inspired, lovely, and hard-working young women, beset by problems—internal and external—that will take great effortand patience to overcome.

Our visit concluded with several days inBeersheba, now a bustling city with Ben GurionUniversity as its hub. On a Saturday night we wereasked by some friends to join them and scores ofIsraelis in a demonstration (held weekly) calling forthe withdrawal of Israeli settlements from Gaza andthe West Bank. It was a peaceful demonstration,and some Israelis passing by in vehicles or on footseemed to agree with the demonstrators; othersappeared indifferent to our presence.

This report is not meant as a commentary oncountry’s geography or economy. It is just a glimpseof Israel as we saw it—inspiring as ever—but withcontinuing, challenging problems that willnecessitate difficult solutions. Nevertheless I do sayto you our members, your families, and friends:make a visit to Israel; it is a marvelous vehicle withwhich to identify with the Jewish State and kol amyisrael (the Jewish People).

In conclusion, I want to send you my veryhearty greetings on the Rosh Hashana holiday, andwish you all good health and happiness throughoutthe coming year. Shana tova. ❖

Two leaders of the Association for Improvement of Women’s Status in Lakia.

(Left) Mary, head of the embroidery project;(right) Hadra, head of the weaving project.

Photographs courtesy of the Roth family.

Signs of Ben Hechtcontinued from page 3

the city Hecht loved most. TheNewberry Library co-sponsored thededication ceremony, and itspresident, Charles T. Cullen,commented on the growing interestin the Hecht papers and expressedhis pleasure in the street naming.

The ceremony honored BenHecht’s public activism in the yearsbefore, during, and immediatelyafter World War II, when he put hiswriting genius into the effort to saveEurope’s Jews, to form an army ofPalestinian and stateless Jews for thispurpose, and to bring Holocaust

survivors to the nascent State ofIsrael. (Walter Roth, in his bookLooking Backward, and Curtis Katz,in his article in this issue of CJH,treat this time in Hecht’s life.)

Chicago has commemoratedHecht’s early career here with amarker at the South KenwoodAvenue address where he residedand published his short-livednewspaper, the Chicago LiteraryTimes. The marker states that Hechthad been dismissed from his job as acolumnist for the Chicago DailyNews on an obscenity charge afterthe publication of his 1922 novelFantazius Mallare, and that he soonleft for New York and Hollywood.

The Ben Hecht of Hollywoodwas portrayed on the GoodmanTheatre stage this spring inMoonlight and Magnolias, a newplay by Ron Hutchinson, based onevents recorded in Hecht’s memoir,A Child of the Century. The play isset in the office of producer DavidO. Selznick in February 1939. Hehas hired screenwriter Ben Hechtand director Victor Fleming to savehis troubled production of GoneWith the Wind. In a marathon worksession, they succeed in reshapingthe script. Hecht’s strong Jewishconsciousness is introduced, but theplay is weak. If only Ben Hechtwere here to punch up the script. ❖


On February 3, 1963, sixfamilies met to discuss thepossibility of forming a Reformcongregation in the Des Plaines-Morton Grove-Glenview area. Eachsucceeding meeting drew moreyoung Jewish families. Beth Elohimwas created, and the new organi-zation expanded rapidly. The firstHigh Holy Days services were heldat the Sahara Motel, and subse-quently in churches. Religiousschool and Hebrew school classeswere held in public schools.

In the winter of 1964-65 twoReform congregations—one thathad been in existence for overseventy years, and the other just twoyears old—decided to merge. RabbiMark Shapiro would assume thepulpit of the new CongregationB’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim.

The temple property at 20thand Ashland was sold to theDominican Fathers and Brothers ofSt. Pius Parish for $75,000.00. Thismoney would provide the downpayment when BJBE purchased theland at 901 Milwaukee Avenue inGlenview for its new home.Precious artifacts from the 20th andAshland temple were incorporatedin the new building.

Today congregation member-ship numbers 850 families. RabbiShapiro, who offered leadership andinspiration to all generations, isretired, but remains as emeritus.Rabbi Karyn D. Kedar and Assist-ant Rabbi John A. Linder haveserved BJBE since 2003.

W hat was the Jewishattitude toward slaveryon the eve of the Civil

War? Mr. Krolick read us theopposing views of two learnedJudaic scholars, written in 1861.

Program Chair Charles B.Bernstein introduced ourfeatured speaker, Marshall D.

Krolick, saying he would “pitch adouble-header,” despite recentlyundergoing shoulder surgery.

His “innings” were “pitched” onSunday afternoon, June 27, at thesocial hall podium of Congre-gation B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim,901 Milwaukee Avenue, Glenview,the co-sponsor of the open meeting.

Mr. Krolick is an attorney, apast president of BJBE and thetemple’s historian, a member of theCivil War Round Table, and aBoard member of our Society. Thefirst part of his presentation was abrief history of BJBE.

In the late summer of 1893 asmall group of Bohemian Jewsliving on the southwest side ofChicago gave their fledgling organi-zation a name in their nativeGerman tongue: Erster IsraelitischerForbildungs Und UnterstirtzungsVerein (First Hebrew Educationaland Charitable Association). In theincorporation application filed withthe State of Illinois two years later,the organization stated that itspurpose was “social and pleasure.”No mention was made of anyreligious activities.

By 1896 the organization hadmoved from its original meetingplace, a hall located at Brown (nowSangamon) and 20th (now Culler-ton) Streets, to a new location, inthe Methodist church at Halstedand 20th, where services wereconducted by a cantor. That sameyear the Ladies’ Society wasorganized. By 1902 the congre-gation had acquired its first rabbi,Moritz Weil, and moved to the sitethat would be its home for the nextsixty-three years, the northwest

corner of 20th Street and AshlandAvenue. English replaced German asthe language of the growing congre-gation, and in 1907 the corporatecharter was amended to change thepurpose of the organization from“social and pleasure” to “religiousand charitable.” The congregationalname, debated over the years, wasofficially changed to CongregationB’nai Jehoshua in 1917.

In 1927 it was decided todemolish the existing sanctuary.Construction began on a newtemple building, which wasdedicated in 1928. But by the1940s, B’nai Jehoshua faced thesame dilemma as the rest ofChicago’s Jewish institutions: theJewish population was shifting tothe suburbs. Plans for mergers ormoves were debated, but themajority of the membership wantedto remain at 20th and Ashland.

By 1964 the lay leadership andRabbi Mark Shapiro realized thattheir inner city location was nolonger viable. As they explored thealternatives, the existence of a newcongregation in the northernsuburbs came to their attention.

June 27 Meeting: Marshall Krolick Speaks on the History of Congregation BJBE and on American Jewry in the Civil War

Marshall D. Krolick.Photo by Norman D. Schwartz.


Calling All CJHS Writers, Artists, and Performers!November is Jewish Book Month. Every year the fall issue of Chicago Jewish History features a completelist of the Society’s own publications as well as other published works by our members. Each year the listgrows longer, as our historians produce new works. If you have published a book, or illustrated one, or havepublished a music or spoken word recording, send us the details on the form below. If your work has beenlisted in a previous CJH fall issue, rest assured that it will appear again this year. But if you wish to informus of any updates—in price, format, description, or ordering—please do so on this form.

Please mail the original form or a photocopy directly to our editor. Mailing it to the CJHS office will only delay it.

AUTHOR

TITLE

PUBLISHER

YEAR OF PUBLICATION CITY OF PUBLICATION

NUMBER OF PAGES PRICE $

❏ CLOTH COVER ❏ PAPER COVER ❏ CD ❏ TAPE ❏ DVD ❏ VHS

ORDERING INFORMATION

DESCRIPTION

MAIL TO: BEV CHUBAT, 415 WEST FULLERTON PKWY #1102, CHICAGO, IL 60614-2842

Information must be received by October 1, 2004.

CJHS WelcomesNew MembersBarbara CooperLionel Dredze &

Diane KaganErwin & Barbara EpsteinCurtis L. KatzDorothy LevitonHarriett LipsonEudice LorgeBarbara MillerFrank & Clara PirschIna RosenblattBarak RosenshineSusan ZagorinAlbert Zimbler

The issue of slavery was not thereason why the common man, Jewor gentile, went to war, he told us.Most Southerners wanted to protectthe doctrine of State’s Rights. MostNortherners joined the army topreserve the Union. Almost all ofthem were volunteers. In 1861 and1862, in every city and town, Northand South, public meetings wereheld where speeches were given tofan the flames of patriotism—andmen signed up.

Mr. Krolick told us of one suchmeeting held on the night of August13, 1862 at the Concordia Club onDearborn Street in Chicago. Thespeeches were in German becausethe audience was made up ofimmigrants from Bavaria, Prussia,

and Hesse. More importantly, themeeting was sponsored by RamahLodge #33 of B’nai B’rith, and inattendance were members of thecity’s Jewish community. By the endof the evening, ninety-six men hadvolunteered, $10,000.00 had beenpledged to provide a reward (orbounty, as it was called) to theenlistees, and a uniquely Jewishresolution had been passed.

You will shortly find thewording of the Chicago resolutionand more of Mr. Krolick’s remarksposted on our Web site—onAbraham Lincoln and Jewishchaplaincy in the Federal Army,Ulysses S. Grant and General OrderNo. 11, and an anecdote about aJewish soldier’s Passover seder. ❖

618 South Michigan Avenue • Chicago, IL 60605



MembershipMembership in the Society is opento all interested persons and organizations and includes asubscription to Chicago JewishHistory, discounts on Society toursand at the Spertus Museum store,and the opportunity to learn andinform others about Chicago Jewishhistory and its preservation.

Dues StructureMembership runs on a calendaryear, from January throughDecember. New members joiningafter July 1 are given an initialmembership through December ofthe following year.

Life Membership ..................$1000Historian ..................................500Scholar......................................250Sponsor.....................................100Patron/Family .............................50Individual/Senior Family ............35Synagogue/Organization.............25Senior Individual/Student...........20

Make checks payable to the Chicago Jewish Historical Society,and mail to our office at 618 SouthMichigan Avenue, Chicago, IL60605. Dues are tax-deductible tothe extent permitted by law.

Volunteer OpportunitiesWould you like to become moreinvolved in the activities of theChicago Jewish Historical Society?We invite you to take part. Pleasecontact any of the committeechairpersons listed here.� Membership Committee

Dr. Rachelle Gold(773)338-6975 andMark Mandle (773)929-2853, Co-Chairs

� Oral History CommitteeDr. N. Sue Weiler, Chair (312)922-2294

� Program CommitteeCharles Bernstein, Chair(773)324-6362

� Tour CommitteeLeah Axelrod, Chair(847)432-7003


About the SocietyWhat We AreThe Chicago Jewish HistoricalSociety was founded in 1977 and isin part an outgrowth of local Jewishparticipation in the AmericanBicentennial Celebration of 1976.Muriel Robin was the foundingpresident. The Society has as itspurpose the discovery, preservationand dissemination of informationconcerning the Jewish experience inthe Chicago area.

What We DoThe Society seeks out, collects andpreserves written, spoken andphotographic records; publisheshistorical information, holds publicmeetings at which various aspects ofChicago Jewish history are treated;mounts appropriate exhibits; andoffers tours of Jewish historical sites.

Non-Profit Org.PRESORT

U.S. PostagePAID

Chicago, IL 60611Permit No. 6590

www.chicagojewishhistory.orgThe Society is now online! Browse our Web site for information about

our upcoming programs. Read past issues of our quarterly journal. Discover links to many interesting Jewish sites. Use the printable

membership application. We welcome your inquiries and comments.

e-mail: [email protected]

chicago jewish historychicagojewishhistory.org/pdf/2004/cjh.3.2004.pdf · he was a notorious...

Documents