JHC02. Family and Individual Papers

Abstract Harold and Romayne Goldberg were active members of numerous Jewish organizations in Boston. Harold Goldberg was a member of the Associated Jewish Philanthropies, American Jewish Committee of Greater Boston and the Combined Jewish Appeal. In 1964 he served as president of the Business Men’s Council of the Combined Jewish Appeal and was also a member of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies. Romayne Goldberg served as president of the Boston chapter of Hadassah from 1948-1951. She also served as...

Abstract Harry Levine was the Massachusetts President and Chairman of the Board of the U.S. Plastic and Chemical Company. He was highly involved in the establishment of the State of Israel, primarily related to his facilitating the construction and import of Uzi submachine guns into then British-Mandated Palestine. The majority of this collection includes transcribed interviews with Levine, photographs and correspondence. Biographical information, certificates, speeches and news articles are also...

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This collection contains correspondence, photos, newspapers and clippings, manuscripts, and financial records documenting the life of Harry Spiro following his immigration from the shtetl of Butrimantz in Lithuania, first to Havana, Cuba and then to the United States. Included in the collection are materials relating to his family, his Zionist activism both in Cuba and in the United States, and his building supply business, Best Lumber.

Abstract Henry Wise was a Boston-area lawyer whose practice focused mainly on housing, fishing, and labor, three areas in which he crafted important local legislation. In 1942 he wrote to the Institute of Jewish Affairs, a research branch created by the American and World Jewish Congresses, inquiring after membership. The Institute of Jewish Affairs was made up primarily of scholars, who took a scientific approach towards researching Jewish life from the previous 25 years. They hoped to better...

Abstract Contains correspondence, addresses and speeches, newspaper clippings, and published material relating primarily to Ehrmann's activity in the national and Boston chapter of the American Jewish Committee (1935-1970). Of special interest is material on the relation of the Committee to the American Jewish Conference (1943-1948), the relationship of American Jewry to the State of Israel, and the attitude of the Committee to the establishment of Israel. Also contains genealogical material, in...

Abstract Herbert Gorfinkle was the eldest child and only son of Colonel Bernard and Frieda Gorfinkle of Newton, Massachusetts. Born in 1923, Gorfinkle came of age during World War II and entered the U.S. Army while an undergraduate at the University of New Hampshire. As a Tech 5 combat engineer, Gorfinkle was responsible for clearing landmines ahead of his advancing unit. He was also a trained army photographer, and aside from his letters home, he documented his years in the war with photographs. A...

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This collection contains marriage and divorce records performed by Rabbi Icik Benkovitz in Chelsea, Massachusetts and surrounding cities and towns. A searchable database of the marriage records is also available.

Abstract Author and photographer Ilan Fisher was born and lives in Sharon, Massachusetts, where he owned Great Impression, a company that provided event videography services. He also contributed columns to the Sharon Advocate and other local publications, and in 2002, his stories were collected in the book The Carnie Kid Tells All. Fisher’s papers primarily contain invitations from events Great Impression recorded, along with a small...

Abstract Israel Bernstein was born in Portland, Maine. He graduated from Harvard College in 1912 and Harvard Law School in 1915. After graduating, he served as a Regimental-Sergeant-Major in the 12th division U.S. Army during World War I. Bernstein co-established the Casco Bank and Trust Co. He played a prominent role in the Jewish Federation of Portland, Maine. In 1948, he was elected President of the Jewish Federation of Portland, Maine and was President and founder of the Jewish Historical Society...

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Jacob Beerman (1871-1926) immigrated to the United States in 1885 and married Rose Solomon in 1904. The couple had a daughter, Sadie. Jacob owned a stationary company in Boston. The collection contains a book titled The Nineteen Letters of Ben Uziel, inscribed to Beerman from Charles Fleischer, former rabbi of Temple Israel in Boston, and a scroll marking the 25th anniversary of the B’nai Zion Educational Society in 1916.