Archives Online at Indiana University

View options:

Search within this document:

 

Contents:

Want to learn more?

  • Do you have a question about this collection?
  • Would you like to view the original items in this collection?
  • Are you seeking permission to publish or reproduce items in this collection?

Please contact the holding repository: Center for the Study of History and Memory, IU Bloomington

Email: ohrc@indiana.edu

Bookmark and Share

Jewish Life in Indiana, 1974-1981

A Guide to the Collection of Oral History Interviews at Indiana University Bloomington

Finding aid prepared by the staff of the Center for the Study of History and Memory with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities Division of Preservation and Access, 2000-2002

Overview of the Collection

Repository
Indiana University Center for the Study of History and Memory
Indiana University
400 North Sunrise Drive
Weatherly Hall North, Room 122
Bloomington, IN 47405
Phone: 812/855-2856
Fax: 812/855-0002
E-mail: ohrc@indiana.edu
http://www.indiana.edu/~cshm

Creator
Indiana University Center for the Study of History and Memory

Title
Jewish Life in Indiana,  1974-1981

Project No.
ohrc019

Interviews
7 interviews. Audiotapes, transcripts, and collateral materials.

Physical Location
Interviews are housed at The Indiana Jewish Historical Society. Copies are also housed at the Indiana University Archives in Herman B Wells Library E460. For other locations housing the interviews from this project, please contact the Center for the Study of History and Memory office.

Language
Materials are in English

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.

Scope and Content Note

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.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information
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.
Usage Restrictions
The archive of the Center for the Study of History and Memory 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 signed by the interviewee. 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. Tapes 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 taped 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).
Preferred Citation
[interviewee first name last name] interview, by [interviewer first name last name], [interview date(s)], [call number], [project name], Center for the Study of History and Memory, Indiana University, Bloomington, [page number(s) or tape number and side if no transcript].
Interview List
Interviewee
Bergman, Jacob March 12, 1975 

Call Number
02-051

Physical Description

6 pages; no tapes; no index

Interviewer
Levine, Joseph

Access Status

Open

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.

  • Keywords
    • Corporation Names
    • Hebrew Orthodox Cemetery
    • Sons of Israel
    • Occupation Names
    • rabbi
    • Place Names
    • Jerusalem, Israel
    • South Bend, Indiana
    • Subjects
    • Orthodox Judaism
    • Reformed Judaism
Interviewee
Greenfield, Sydney February 20, 1974 

Call Number
02-050

Physical Description

5 pages; no tapes; no index

Interviewer
Levine, Joseph

Access Status

Open

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.

  • Keywords
    • Corporation Names
    • Rothchild's Restaurant
    • Family Names
    • Isay
    • Rothchild
    • Place Names
    • Gary, Indiana
    • Subjects
    • Orthodox Judaism
    • Reformed Judaism
    • Reformed Temple
Interviewee
Mulis, Sam undated 

Call Number
02-054

Physical Description

5 pages; no tapes; no index

Interviewer
Levine, Joseph

Access Status

Closed until both John Hurt and Jack New have been deceased ten years.

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.

  • Keywords
    • Corporation Names
    • Ku Klux Klan
    • Family Names
    • Lipman
    • Occupation Names
    • sales
    • Personal Names
    • Markus, Max
    • Place Names
    • Kokomo, Indiana
    • Subjects
    • community activism
Interviewee
Muncie, Indiana Panel Discussion 1981 

Call Number
02-056

Physical Description

24 pages; no tapes; no index

Interviewer
Schwartz, Joan

Access Status

Open

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.

  • Keywords
    • Corporation Names
    • Ku Klux Klan
    • Personal Names
    • Ball, George A.
    • Place Names
    • Muncie, Indiana
    • Subjects
    • Americanization
    • anti-Semitism
    • Eureka Club
    • Jewish businesses
    • marriage
    • Sunday school
    • World War II
Interviewee
Pearlman, Dorothy July 1, 1975 

Call Number
02-053

Physical Description

6 pages; no tapes; no index

Interviewer
Levine, Joseph

Access Status

Open

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.

  • Keywords
    • Corporation Names
    • Ku Klux Klan
    • Family Names
    • Messing
    • Pearlman
    • Rice
    • Place Names
    • Indianapolis, Indiana
    • Lafayette, Indiana
    • Subjects
    • family business
    • German-American Judaism
Interviewee
Tannenbaum, Max K. August 1, 19-- 

Call Number
02-055

Physical Description

7 pages; no tapes; no index

Interviewer
Ross, Irv

Access Status

Open

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.

  • Keywords
    • Family Names
    • Bischoff
    • Goldberg
    • Joel
    • Pearlman
    • Shapiro
    • Occupation Names
    • attorney
    • Place Names
    • Crawfordsville, Indiana
    • Subjects
    • Jewish businesses
Interviewee
Welt, Margaret Goldsmith April 1975 

Call Number
02-052

Physical Description

6 pages; no tapes; no index

Interviewer
Alexander, Peggy

Access Status

Open

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.

  • Keywords
    • Family Names
    • Goldsmith
    • Strauss
    • Place Names
    • Ligonier, Indiana
    • Subjects
    • family business