Philly 2009: Jews of Philadelphia virtual exhibit

Mark Halpern, program chair of the 29th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, seems to have been the impetus for Steve Lasky's most recent online exhibit at the virtual Museum of Family History.

Steve learned about Harry Boonin's book, "The Jewish Quarter of Philadelphia," and decided to create the new exhibit - encouraged by Mark - which is a great adjunct to information on Philly 2009 which, of course, will take place in that city from August 2-7, 2009.

The exhibit provides viewers with a glimpse of this major Jewish community, from late-1800s to early-1900s immigration, through the Depression, WWII and the Holocaust, and provides personal stories.

Visit the exhibit here, and see the intro to Boonin's book here.

As always, if you have material about early Philadelphia Jewish life (or about any of the other many online exhibits at his site), Steve asks you to let him know. Your material may prove to be an excellent addition to one or more virtual exhibits.

Contact Steve here.

Food: Goldenberg's Peanut Chews

Anyone else have a penchant for these chocolate delights that are hard to find outside of New York City? I had to categorize this under food, even though it might not be entirely accurate. I just don't have a category for "items to store for the next major disaster."

Blogger Darren Zieger has written a post on his connection to these addictive bits, now manufactured under the name Chew-ets Original Peanut Chews, after the competition bought out the company:

Some more digging, and a thorough reading of my grand-cousin's autobiography, has allowed me to piece together a chronology of the Goldenberg branch of my family tree which includes a few more entertaining nuggets.

In a nutshell (he said, hoping to produce a less long-winded post than usual, a goal which this parenthetical statement does little to advance):

In the beginning (well, as far back as we know) there were Favel and Eva (nee ???) Goldenberg, a typical (for all we know) mid-19th century Romanian couple. Except that they weren't actually Goldenbergs. Favel's surname was Seltzer.

This fact got changed retroactively in the archives because one of his sons, Dovid Seltzer (1865 - 1935) changed his name when he arrived in the US around 1880.

It is said that, as the ship that took him across the Atlantic passed the Statue of Liberty on its approach to Ellis Island, Dovid asked a fellow passenger, a returning US citizen, "What is a good name to have in America?" The passenger replied "Sir, in America, the best name is Goldberg."

(Whether this was accurate is unclear; the National Archive only has Best Name data going back to the 1910 Census.)

And while it is not said, we can assume that at that revelatory moment, the fog lifted and, far off on the deck of next ship, Barbra Streisand began singing.

So, Dovid Seltzer became David Goldenberg (adding an extra syllable for, I'm guessing, subtlety).

David Goldenberg settled in Philadelphia, and, being a late 19th Century Jewish immigrant, he went into the candy business, as the law required (had he been wealthier, he would have had the option of becoming a diamond merchant).

He started out pushing a cart, later opened a candy store, and eventually, on the strength of one particularly successful confection, ran a factory, fulfilling the American Dream(TM) as the law required.

Let me emphasize here: I am a descendant of a man who owned a chocolate factory*. I find this quite marvelous for no practical reason.

The candy in question, you've probably encountered if you're from the Northeast. Goldenberg's Peanut Chews were a staple of my pre-diabetic diet. They rocked. Seriously, we're talking about Desert-Island-List food, here.

And here's my very own Peanut Chew story:

While working for the Jerusalem Post's Metro weekly in the old Tel Aviv editorial office, I sometimes went down the block to a shop offering delicious Iraqi Sephardic specialties cooked by the owner's mother and sister.

While waiting for my order to be packed, I noticed a few shelves holding snacks and candy. Imagine my surprise when I saw an entire box of Peanut Chews. The shop's owner wasn't there, and the manager had no idea where they had come from.

I bought the entire box. "Are they good?" the manager asked, having never tasted them, and I was afraid to give him a taste! The delights went home to live in our freezer, doled out small piece by small piece over the coming months.

Philadelphia: Historian and writer, June 11 and 12

The JGS of Greater Philadelphia will host Rabbi Lance Sussman, PhD, on "A Jewish historian looks at Jewish genealogy." The meeting is at 7.30 p.m. Monday, June 11, at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park. Sussman has been the congregation's rabbi since 2001.

Sussman's expertise is both congregational and academic. Ordained in 1980 at HUC-JIR, he also has a doctorate in Jewish history. Previously serving Temple Concord in Binghamton, NY, he was an associate professor of American Jewish History at SUNY Binghamton, and has also taught at Gratz College, HUC-JIR New York and Rutgers University.

Non-members: $2.

The JGSGP's Delaware County Main Line Affiliate will host Helaine Shoag Greenberg at 7.30 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, as she speaks on her book, "Voices from Vilna."

The creative, non-fiction memoir is told from the personal perspective of a first generation child, but speaks to those who had family in Europe 1930-40. It is based on letters found in her family home, describing life and events in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The group meets at Martins Run Life Care Community in Media, Pa.

Philadelphia: Jewish newspapers, May 14

The next meeting of the JGS of Greater Philadelphia will focus on Historical Jewish newspapers with Harry Boonin.

The meeting is at 7 p.m. Monday, May 14 at Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park.

Founding president of the JGSGP, Boonin has done extensive research on the Philadelphia Jewish community, has authored two books on genealogical and historical interest: The Davidows: The Experience of an Immigrant Family and The Jewish Quarter of Philadelphia, A History and Guide, 1881-1930, and is writing another. He is also known for his walking tours of old Jewish neighborhoods in the city.

The talk will center on five Jewish newspapers in Philadelphia: The
Exponent, The Jewish Times, The Jewish Record and two Yiddish papers, Di Yiddishe Velt and the Philadelphia edition of the Jewish Daily Forward.

Boonin will explain what information is in each paper and locations of each for doing research. While not focusing specifically on "hatch, match and dispatch" (birth, marriage and death records), he will focus on other types of information for immigrants, and offer details on the popular general press.

Each meeting features a 30-minute general Q&A session before the program begins.

Admission: JGSGP members, no charge; others, $2.

The society has a Delaware County Main Line affiliate, which meets at Martins Run Life Care Community in Media, PA. The next meeting is at 7.30 p.m. June 12, when Helaine Shoag Greenberg will speak on her book, Voices from Vilna.

For more information on both meetings, the society, and local resources, click here.

Philadelphia: Historic photographs online

According to the ResearchBuzz.com blog, a new historic photography archive is now available.

The Philadelphia City Archive is one the country's largest municipal archives, with about 2 million photographs dating back to the late 1800s.

Online now at PhillyHistory are nearly 25,500 images of Philadelphia; some 2,000 new images are added monthly.

You can search the images by address, neighborhood, keyword or year. Researchers can buy photographs for $10 to $20.

Eventually, this site should have many images of interest to Jewish genealogists, because Philadelphia was home to one of the earliest American Jewish communities. Those familiar with the city's neighborhoods should do better at seeing what's there than this New York girl!