| Creator: | Indiana University Center for Documentary Research and Practice |
| Title: | Jewish Life in Indiana |
| Collection No.: | ohrc019 |
| Dates: | 1974-1981 |
| Quantity: |
Quantity: 7 Interviews (Audio files, transcripts, and collateral materials ) |
| Abstract: | This project depicts Jewish life in Indiana in the twentieth century through descriptions by Jewish people of various backgrounds. The interviewees discuss their faith, community involvement, anti-Semitism, and Jewish-owned businesses. |
| Location: | Interviews are housed in Franklin Hall, Room 0030A. Contact ohrc@indiana.edu for more information. Copies of interview transcripts are also held by the IU Libraries University Archives. For other locations housing the interviews from this project, please contact the Center for Documentary Research and Practice office. |
| Language: | Materials are in English |
| Repository: | Center for Documentary Research and Practice Franklin Hall 0030B 601 E. Kirkwood Avenue Bloomington, Indiana 47405 Business Number: 812-855-2856 ohrc@indiana.edu URL: https://cdrp.mediaschool.indiana.edu/ |
This collection contains seven interviews conducted over the course of five years. The interviews range from five to twenty-four pages. All interviews consist of typed transriptions.
The archive of the Center for Documentary Research and Practice at Indiana University is open to the use of researchers. Copies of transcript pages are available only when such copies are permitted by the deed of gift. Scholars must honor any restrictions the interviewee placed on the use of the interview. Since some of our earlier (pre-computer) transcripts do not exist in final form, any editing marks in a transcript (deletions, additions, corrections) are to be quoted as marked. Audio files may not be copied for patrons unless the deed of gift permits it, and a transcript is unavailable for that interview. The same rules of use that apply to a transcript apply to the audio interview. Interviews may not be reproduced in full for any public use, but excerpted quotes may be used as long as researchers fully cite the data in their research, including accession number, interview date, interviewee's and interviewer's name, and page(s).
[interviewee first name last name] interview, by [interviewer first name last name], [interview date(s)], [call number], [project name], Center for Documentary Research and Practice, Indiana University, Bloomington, [page number(s) or tape number and side if no transcript; if digital audio and no transcript, cite time when quote occurs].
Oral history interviews conducted by the Indiana University Center for the Study of History and Memory from 1968 to the present, with particular focus on the history of twentieth-century America and the Midwest.
No(s): 02-051
Physical Description: 6 pages; no tapes; no index
Scope and Content Note: Rabbi Jacob Bergman, born around 1908, discusses his early life and education in Jerusalem before immigrating to the United States and finally settling in South Bend, Indiana. He discusses his congregation as well as others in the area. The temple, though Orthodox, commonly has Reformed Jews in the congregation. Bergman discusses declining membership and the Jewish organizations which once flourished and are now gone or fading.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 02-050
Physical Description: 5 pages; no tapes; no index
Scope and Content Note: Sydney Greenfield, daughter of German immigrants, discusses growing up in a Jewish community in Gary, Indiana. She discusses the Orthodox and Reformed Jewish communities in the city. She talks about the common occupations for Jews in business, while other immigrants usually worked menial jobs at the mills and were known as "hunkies." She discusses the history of her temple. Greenfield discusses her aunt's restaurant, which was quite famous in the area during its day. She also discusses the fact that many Jews have now left Gary.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 02-054
Physical Description: 5 pages; no tapes; no index
Scope and Content Note: Sam Mulis, born on April 28, 1900, briefly discusses his early life. He discusses his career in sales which brought him to Kokomo, Indiana. He discusses the Ku Klux Klan and other anti-Semitism he's experienced. He discusses his Jewish community, made up of multiple sects, and the community activism in which many are involved.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 02-056
Physical Description: 24 pages; no tapes; no index
Scope and Content Note: A panel of people who had spent most, if not all, their lives in Muncie, Indiana, discuss the Jewish community from around the 1920s until the present. They discuss anti-Semitism of the Ku Klux Klan, housing segregation, and barred membership into clubs. They discuss the Jewish-owned businesses which were prevalent in the area. They discuss the temple, Sunday school, and the strength of their faith. They talk about marriage within the religion. They also discuss World War II and the changes in the treatment of Jews in its aftermath.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 02-053
Physical Description: 6 pages; no tapes; no index
Scope and Content Note: Dorothy Pearlman, born in 1897, discusses her early life and education. She gives a brief family history for both herself and her husband. She discusses the separation between German Jews and members of synagogue, with the exception of Sunday school for the children. Pearlman discusses her father's family business. She recalls the Ku Klux Klan and its acts against the Jews in surrounding areas.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 02-055
Physical Description: 7 pages; no tapes; no index
Scope and Content Note: Max K. Tannenbaum discusses his early life and education in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He gives a brief family history. Tannenbaum recalls the various families which made up the small Jewish community from the time of his grandparents, as well as their family businesses. He mentions the tendency of young people to leave their small town for life in the city.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 02-052
Physical Description: 6 pages; no tapes; no index
Scope and Content Note: Margaret Goldsmith Welt, born on July 21, 1889, discusses the immigration of her maternal grandfather and her father to the United States. She discusses her grandfather's banking business, and the reference library her family helped to build following her father's death. Welt discusses the Jewish community of Ligonier, Indiana, and shares anecdotes about her life.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open