chicago jewish historychicagojewishhistory.org/pdf/2011/CJH.3.2011_web.pdfchicago jewish history Vol. 35, No. 3, Summer 2011 chicago jewish historical societ y L okt hercf m wi y u

chicago jewish history

Vol. 35, No. 3, Summer 2011

chicago jewish historical society

Look to the rock from which you were hewn

Calling All Authors! November is Jewish Book Month, and the Fall 2011 issue of CJH will featurea section devoted to the published works by active members of the Society. Would you like your workto be included? Please reply by October 17, 2011. If your book was listed last year, rest assured, itwill be listed again this year. Just let us know if there are any changes in ordering information or price.

Author Title

Publisher/Ordering Pages Price

Description

Submit via e-mail: [email protected] or standard mail: Chicago Jewish Historical Society, 610 South Michigan Ave., Room 803, Chicago, IL 60605–1901

Sunday, September 18 – Save the Date!CJHS Open Meeting Features

Talk on New Book “The CompleteArchitecture of Adler & Sullivan”

Chicago Stock Exchange. DankmarAdler & Louis Sullivan, architects.

1894. Demolished 1972. Photograph by Richard Nickel, who

died in an accident while documentingthe demolition. Cover illustration:The Complete Architecture of

Adler & Sullivan.

The Chicago Jewish Historical Society welcomesarchitect Ward Miller, Executive Director of theRichard Nickel Committee, as guest speaker at our nextopen meeting, Sunday, September 18, 2011, 2:00 p.m.,in Room 320-26 of Roosevelt University, AuditoriumBuilding, 430 South Michigan Avenue. A social hourwith kosher refreshments will follow the program.

The subject of the talk is the book, The CompleteArchitecture of Adler & Sullivan, by Richard Nickel andAaron Siskind with John Vinci and Ward Miller. Thismagnificent work includes 815 photographs. It is theproduct of a monumental project begun in 1952. Mr. Miller will focus onDankmar Adler and his connection to the Chicago Jewish community.

There are nearby parking lots and garages and convenient publictransportation via CTA bus and train. For further information, please e-mail: [email protected] or phone our office: (312) 663-5634.

Election of Members to the Society Board of Directors The program will be preceded by a briefbusiness meeting which will include the re-election of six current members to the Board of Directors and the electionof one new member. The nominees to a three-year term are: Leah Axelrod, Dr. Irving Cutler, Elise Ginsparg, Dr. Rachelle Gold, Joy Kingsolver, Dr. Stanton Polin (new), and Dan Sharon.

Ward Miller

2 Chicago Jewish History Summer 2011

Officers 2011Dr. Edward H. Mazur

PresidentJerold Levin

Vice PresidentMuriel Rogers*

Secretary

DirectorsLeah AxelrodRachel Heimovics Braun*Dr. Irving CutlerDr. Carolyn EastwoodHerbert EisemanElise GinspargDr. Rachelle GoldClare GreenbergDr. Adele Hast*Janet IltisJoy KingsolverSeymour H. PerskyBurt RobinWalter Roth*Norman D. Schwartz*Dan SharonDr. Milton Shulman*Indicates Past President

Chicago Jewish HistoryPublished quarterly by the Chicago Jewish Historical Society at 610 S. Michigan Ave.,Room 803, Chicago, IL 60605. Phone (312) 663-5634. E-mail:[email protected] to Society News.Single copies $4.00 postpaid.

Editor/Designer Bev ChubatEditorial Board Burt Robin,Walter Roth, Norman D.Schwartz, Milton Shulman

Send all submissions to:Editor, Chicago JewishHistorical Society, via e-mail orstreet address shown above. If manuscript is sent viastandard mail, enclose stamped,self-addressed envelope.


Look to the rock from which you were hewnPresident’s Column

“ONE BOOK, ONE CHICAGO: FALL 2011”—TENTH ANNIVERSARY SELECTION is The Adventures of Augie March by SaulBellow. The Chicago Public Library hasscheduled a wealth of events to celebrate thebook. Pick up a guide at your local library orbookstore or go to www.chipublib.org.

The history of our Metropolitan ChicagoJewish community is one of birth, growth,maturation, relocation, and dispersion.Recently, three synagogues—Adas YehudaV’Shoshana, Maine Township Jewish

Congregation, and Northbrook Congregation Ezra Habonim—combined to form the Northbrook Community Synagogue. Theformal ceremony of carrying Torahs to the new location took placeon August 21. Ezra Habonim has been an important part of ourSociety’s history. The congregation began its life on the South Side,where many German Jews made their homes, and has moved morethan once as the majority of the Jewish population moved to theNorth Side and to the northern suburbs.

On November 18, 1979, the Chicago Jewish Historical Societypresented a program at Congregation Ezra-Habonim, then located atTouhy and Rockwell in West Rogers Park. The program, “TheGerman-Jewish Emigration of the 1930’s and Its Impact onChicago,” moderated by Walter Roth, was a tremendous success andresulted in the Society’s first printed publication available to thegeneral public. In 1988, Walter Roth was elected president of theSociety, and went on to serve for a productive twenty-two years.

(On a personal note, prior to relocating to the Touhy Avenuelocation, the synagogue was named New Israel and its spiritualleader was Rabbi Louis Levy. My wife Myrna and I were married inthe synagogue by Rabbi Levy on the the fourth day of the month ofTeveth, in the year 5726. This corresponds to December 26, 1965.)

The announcement of our November program on “MidwesternJewish Foodways” brings to mind a number of your president’sfavorite foods. These include schmaltz (chicken fat), gribenes (crispchicken cracklings), schav (cold sorrel soup, served with sour cream),tongue, mamaliga (cornmeal porridge), russel (fermented beets),eyerlekh (unhatched eggs), belly lox, p’tcha (calf ’s foot jelly), andaranygaluska (Hungarian pull-apart dumpling coffee cake).

Every Friday, when I came home for lunch from LafayetteGrammar School, I was greeted by the heavenly aromas of schmaltzand gribenes being prepared for the Shabbos meal. I hope that myfellow Lafayette alum, Saul Bellow, enjoyed that same experience.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish the members ofthe Chicago Jewish Historical Society, our families, and all ourfriends, A Happy, Healthy, and Peaceful New Year—Shana Tova!

Edward H. Mazur

3Chicago Jewish History Summer 2011

Odessa Hotel (originally United Hebrew Charities Dispensary;Dankmar Adler, architect, 1899). Photograph by Richard Nickel.

The building was demolished during theexpansion of the UIC campus.

CJHS Open Meeting Sunday, November 6 –Author Ellen Steinberg to Speak on

“Two Centuries of Midwest Jewish Foodways”Guest speaker Ellen F. Steinberg will discuss herbook From the Jewish Heartland: Two Centuries ofMidwest Jewish Foodways at our open meeting onSunday, November 6, 2011, at West SuburbanTemple Har Zion, 1040 North Harlem Avenue,River Forest. The program begins at 2:00 p.m.,followed by a social hour with kosher refresh-ments and a book-signing.With the influx of hundreds of thousands of

Jews during the late nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries came new recipes andfoodways that transformed the culture of theregion. Settling into the cities, towns, and farm

communities of Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri,Iowa, and Minnesota, Jewish immigrants incorporated local fruits,vegetables, and other comestibles into traditional recipes.

Such incomparable gustatory delights include Tzizel bagels and rye breads[in Chicago, Castle Golden Zizel Rye] coated in midwestern cornmeal, bakla-va studded with locally grown cranberries, dark pumpernickel bread sprin-kled with almonds and crunchy Iowa sunflower seeds, tangy ketchup con-cocted from wild sour grapes, Sephardic borekas (turnovers) made with sweetcherries from Michigan, rich Chicago cheesecakes, native huckleberry piefrom St. Paul, and savory gefilte fish from Minnesota northern pike.

Steinberg and co-author Jack H. Prost examined recipes from numerousmidwestern sources, including Jewish homemakers’ handwritten manuscriptsand notebooks, published journals and newspaper columns, and interviewswith Jewish cooks, bakers, and delicatessen owners.

Ellen F. Steinberg is a writer,researcher, and anthropologist. Bornand raised in Chicago, she currentlylives in west suburban River Forest.Jack H. Prost is an associateprofessor of anthropology at theUniversity of Illinois at Chicago.

An announcement postcard willbe mailed to CJHS members. Forfurther information, please [email protected] orphone (312) 663-5634. �

Book Cover Illustration

Photograph Illustrates a Page from the Past

President Ed Mazur contributes thepopular “Pages from the Past” seriesto CJH. He makes selections fromthe Chicago Foreign Language PressSurvey Microfilm Collection at theHarold Washington Library Center—news articles that appeared inChicago’s foreign language pressfrom 1861 to 1938.

One recent selection (CJHSpring 2011, page 14), came fromThe Reform Advocate, week ofAugust 19, 1899, announcingarchitect Dankmar Adler’s plans fora dispensary for the United HebrewCharities at 509 to 511 MorganStreet, 50 x 60 feet in size, with twostories and a basement.

CJH asked Ward Miller, one ofthe authors of The CompleteArchitecture of Adler & Sullivan, andthe guest speaker at our Septemberopen meeting: Was the dispensarybuilt, and if so, is there a photo of it?He answered affirmatively to bothquestions and asked the book’sdesigner to send CJH a digital scan.This photograph appears in thebook’s “Adler Alone” section. �


During my senior year at Theodore Roosevelt High

School, I took a Chicago Historyclass where one of ourassignments was to complete aHistory Fair project. I chose BenHecht as my topic because I wasinterested in the work he haddone, and I was eager to learnmore about him. I decided tocreate a website because I liketechnology.

The format allowed me to addslide shows, videos, pictures, andsound clips, and to choosedifferent fonts and colors. I calledmy project “Holocaust Hero”because I consider Ben Hecht tobe a hero for helping to raiseawareness about the plight of theJews as the Holocaust escalated.He wrote pageants andnewspaper ads to get people’sattention, and when that still didnot save the Jews of Europe, heput his efforts towards creating ahomeland for the Jews that laterbecame the State of Israel.

To develop my project, I usedinformation from various sourcessuch as the Newberry Librarywhere Hecht’s personal papers arekept, as well as videos, books, andnewspaper articles about his work.I also took the opportunity toconduct interviews.

One particularly meaningfulinterview was with Walter Roth,past president of the ChicagoJewish Historical Society, whoshared very touching andemotional memories about howhe came to the United Stateswhen he was nine years old. Hetold me that most of the peoplehe knew in Germany had stayedthere and died in concentrationcamps, and he remembered someanti-Semitism in Chicago. I usedmany parts of his interviewthroughout my website. His words

What would you do if you had the power to reach millions of people with your talents?

Ben Hecht, Holocaust HeroBY MARIAH SCHULDT

RHS student Mariah Schuldt was chosen to represent Illinois at National History Day, to be held in the Washington,

D.C. area June 12-16. This is the first year that Illinois is sending projects to National History Day in the website

category. Each state can send two individual websites and two group websites (2-5 students) at the high school

level, so this accomplishment is really important for Mariah and for our school.…The theme for History Fair this

year is “Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, and Consequences”…

— Ratiba Ghannam, Roosevelt High School Rough Reader, May 30, 2011

really helped me understand themagnitude of what had happenedduring the Holocaust and whyHecht’s work was so important.

I was chosen to representIllinois at National History Day inthe Washington, D.C. area in June,which was a great honor. It mademe feel very proud to share whatBen Hecht did with many people. I went to Washington for five daysand spent a lot of time visitingnational landmarks and museums.

My first full day there, I hadthe opportunity to go to theUnited States Holocaust MemorialMuseum, which taught me a lotabout how the Jews were treated,and that many villages weredestroyed during the course of theHolocaust. While at the museum, I saw the victims’ shoes and thetrains that were used to transportpeople to the death camps, whichreaffirmed for me why Iconsidered Ben Hecht’s attemptsto raise awareness so heroic.

The second day of thecompetition, I had an

interview with three judges, andthey asked me questions aboutmy project. I was really nervous,but I answered everythingconfidently because I had workedhard to know my material. Duringthe time I was there, I also got to

Mariah Schuldt. After awards ceremony,National History Day, June 16, 2011.

University of Maryland campus.


collect buttons from my peersfrom all over the country and evenfrom as far as Shanghai. It wasgreat to see how many places getinvolved in History Fair and cometo Washington to compete. Thelast day I was there was the awardceremony, and it was exciting tomarch with everyone in the Illinoisdelegation who had gotten theopportunity to go to Washington.

I am proud to say that I won a medal for Outstanding State

Entry, which I dedicate to BenHecht for all the effort he puttowards trying to save the Jewsfrom the Holocaust. He is a truehero and deserves recognition. I am very grateful to my teacher,Mrs. Przeslicke, who supportedme throughout the entire time,and which made a big difference. I know I wouldn’t have achieved asmuch as I did without her.

I am also very thankful that Igot to share the Washingtonexperience with her and with mymother. I am continuouslygrateful to Roosevelt High SchoolPrincipal Ricardo Trujillo andAlumni Coordinator Arnie Kamenfor providing the funds for allthree of us to go.

This was my very first HistoryFair and since I graduated thisyear, it would be my last—whichmade it all the more special to me.It is a memory that I will hold closeto my heart and remember for therest of my life. �

Dear Readers: We urge you to visit Mariah’saward-winning website at:21180630.nhd.weebly.comWe are sure you will beimpressed by its maturity of concept, depth of research,and excellence of design.

We arrived in Frankfurt,Germany on the morning

of June 18th, 2011, on a directflight from Chicago. Our groupconsisted of my wife Chayaand me; our daughter Miriam,her husband Mark Raider; andtheir children, Jonah, Emma,and Talia. (We would be joinedby the rest of the Roth clan inthe next two days.)

We drove from the airportto the city of Marburg, home

of Marburg University, founded in 1527 as the first Protestantuniversity. Philosophers Hermann Cohen and Martin Heideggertaught there. Hannah Arendt and Leo Strauss studied there.

In the afternoon, our friend Annegret Wenz, leader of theArbeitskreis Landsynagoge Roth, came to our hotel. After warmembraces, we proceeded by car caravan (her Volkswagen, ourrented Mercedes) to the village of Roth.

An arbeitskreis is defined as “a working group—a ratherinformal association of people with a common goal.”

In her booklet, A Short History of the Jews of Roth and theirSynagogue, published in May 2011, Annegret Wenz writes:

“Since the 1980s, a group of local citizens wanted thesynagogue to be restored, to become a memorial, a place oflearning and of cultural activities. From 1993 to 1995, theexterior was restored, and in 1997, the interior. On March 10,1998, it was solemnly opened to the public with the attendanceof many survivors, their children and grandchildren from theUnited States. In May 1998, the Arbeitskreis Landsynagoge Rothand the county of Marburg-Biedenkopf signed a contract whichis the basis of the Arbeitskreis’ work in the synagogue.

“In summer, the synagogue is regularly open on Sundays;there is a cultural program with a variety of activities. Theactivities also include pedagogical work with children andstudents from nearby schools. The Jewish cemetery, on a hillbeyond the river Lahn, also plays an important role in the workof the Arbeitskreis.”

continued on page 6

The Third Generation Connects

The Roth Family Visits My HomeTown – Roth, Germany

BY WALTER ROTH

CZECH REPUBLIC

AUSTRIA

DENMARK

FRANCE

SWITZ.

LUX.

BELG.

NETH.

POL.

North Sea

Baltic Sea

�BERLIN

•Frankfurt

Marburg•

�

Roth •

GERMANY


Roth continued from page 5

Our first stop in Roth was atthe former home of Berta Stern,my step-grandmother, and hersons Hugo and Louis, who werekept confined there until 1942,when they were deported toTheresienstadt. The house waspurchased by a Mr. Koch and isnow owned by his son, Marco.

In front of the house there arestolpensteine–“stumbling stones.”

Astolpenstein is a Holocaust memorial stone. A concrete

block is covered with a sheet ofbrass. Stamped in the brass is theindividual’s name, year of birth,and the person’s fate, as well asthe dates of deportation anddeath, if known. The wordingbegins, Hier wohnte—“here lived.”

The stone is laid flush with thepavement or sidewalk in front ofthe last residence of a Holocaustvictim. There are stolpensteine inmany German cities and towns,but I believe these are the onlymarkers of this kind in the villageof Roth. I think the Koch’s attitudeof publicly recognizing that theyare living in a house of murderedJews is unique in the village.

(The present owner of mygrandfather’s and father’s househas refused to let our family enter.He has repainted the outside ableak gray, obliterating theinscriptions: “1774”—the year thehouse was built—and a quotationfrom Psalm 41. He also destroyedthe garden and surrounded thehouse with a high wooden fence.)

We then walked to the“restored” synagogue, located onthe site of the original synagogue.The interior of this building is nowa museum. There is no Holy Ark.

1958: Lawn Manor Hebrew Congregation and Eleanor Roosevelt After we published a vintagephotograph of Mrs. Rooseveltwith leaders of the South SideHebrew Congregation (CJHSpring 2011), we were pleasedto receive this article by RabbiSchultz‘s daughter along witha cherished family memento.

The women’s balcony has beenrestored, but in a more modernstyle. On the floor there is asymbolically broken ceramic Starof David made by one of thearbeitskreismembers andher students.

A glass casecontains ritualand ceremonialobjects. On onewall there arepainted portraitsof historical Jewsof Roth. Thereare also paintedstars, and eachof our grand-children addedto the firma-ment by paintinga star. Thearbeitskreis isrestoring thepattern of starsthat was on the original ceiling.

The next afternoon, Annegretled us on a short drive to thecemetery. She had mapped all theexisting gravestones. We viewedthe graves of the Roth/Sternfamily, which includes my mother,Selma Stern, my grandmotherEmma, and a stone which notesthat the space had been reservedfor my grandfather, Hertz Stern,who was murdered in 1943, inTheresienstadt. In another part ofthe cemetery, we stopped at thegravestones of our ancestors. Ourfamily tree has deep roots in Roth.

Berlin was our next stop —a fivehour drive from Marburg.

Our super van was followed by ourson Ari’s rented BMW. We settledin at the elegant Hilton Hotel.

The next afternoon we went toAdas Yisroel cemetery, where

Roth Synagogue. Illustration fromA Short History of the Jews of Roth and their Synagogue.

Chaya’s father, Aaron JacobHorowitz, was buried after he wasbeaten to death in KZ Sachsen-hausen in 1939. Chaya’s great-grandfather, Isaac Kupferstock,

was buried next to him in 1940. We then drove to Chaya’s

family’s former residence, anapartment on Alte SchonhauserStrasse. Although that apartmentwas being repainted and could notbe entered, Chaya was invited inby the occupants of a similar unitin the building.

continued on page 14


Our Jewish communityand its synagogue,

Lawn Manor HebrewCongregation, was small andisolated from other ChicagoJewish communities. Butthose of us who grew upthere never had any sense ofisolation. That was becauseof our ties to our synagogueand the inspiration of RabbiMordecai Schultz, of blessedmemory, my father. RabbiSchultz served the congre-gation for forty years,retiring in August of 1974.He was spiritual leader,teacher, confidant, andfriend to every family in thecommunity.

Ordained in 1925 in oneof the first classes of the Hebrew Theological College onChicago’s West Side, Rabbi Schultz remained arespected teacher there until the college moved toSkokie in the 1950s.

Rabbi Schultz was engaged by the Lawn ManorCommunity Center at 66th Street and Troy Street inthe early 1930s. The community center, a gatheringplace for the small number of Jewish families living inthe area, evolved into a synagogue and Hebrew Schoolunder Rabbi Schultz’s guidance and encouragement. Bythe early 1950s, the congregation of now three hundredfamilies, built a new synagogue and Hebrew School at66th Street and Kedzie Avenue.

Rabbi Schultz made sure that our synagogue was ahouse of prayer and learning first and foremost. He leda minyan twice a day, every day. To ensure a quorum, hewould walk down 66th Street past the public schoolplayground where he would find Jewish boys playingball. He would invite them to join him for the minyan.His approach was that of a father making a request ofhis children. The boys never refused.

Activities filled the synagogue day and night.Besides daily services and holiday observances, Hebrewand Sunday schools, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, JewishYouth League, AZA and BBG all met at Lawn Manor.

Adult education wasencouraged and led byRabbi Schultz. The photo ofMrs. Eleanor Roosevelt andmy father was taken onJanuary 22, 1958. Mrs.Roosevelt spoke at LawnManor as part of a lectureseries sponsored by thesynagogue. Other speakerswho were participants inthat particular series wereAnn Landers and HarryGolden.Rabbi Schultz’s approach

to community participationwas ecumenical. He was anactive member of theChicago Lawn ClergyAssociation. In 1966, whenthe Reverend Dr. Martin

Luther King, Jr. came to Marquette Park to marchagainst anti-Black and anti-Semitic hostilities, LawnManor Hebrew Congregation became the safe house forDr. King, should it be needed. Rabbi Schultz sat vigil allthrough that terrible day and night in the synagogue incase he was needed. His faith and fortitude were repaid,as no harm came to Dr. King, and calm was eventuallyreturned to the Marquette Park area.

Rabbi Schultz’s view of the Jewish community wasall-inclusive. He served on the Chicago Board ofRabbis, at one time as vice-president responsible forconversions and divorces. He was teacher and counselorto colleagues of every background and denomination.He was also an active member of the (Orthodox)Chicago Rabbinical Council.

He was a staunch supporter of Israel and a devotedfundraiser for Israel Bonds.

Rabbi Schultz’s rabbinic history and the history ofLawn Manor Hebrew Congregation are integral to eachother. To this day, wherever our family goes, we meetpeople from Lawn Manor or with connections to LawnManor or the Hebrew Theological College, always withwords of respect, admiration, and love for RabbiMordecai Schultz. My father died June 17, 1974 and isburied in Jerusalem. �

Rabbi Mordecai Schultz and Lawn Manor Hebrew Congregation

BY RUTH SCHULTZ HECKTMAN

Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt and Rabbi Mordecai Schultz.1958. Collection of the Hecktman Family.


A tall, reddish, granite column in Mt. MayrivCemetery at Addison Street and Narragansett

Avenue serves as the gravestone for the outstandingJewish architect, Dankmar Adler. The column camefrom the main entrance of the Central Music Hall,once a landmark of downtown Chicago.

Music Hall was Adler’s “Foundation”It seems especially fitting that the column shouldserve this purpose since, as Adler wrote in anunfinished autobiographical sketch in the archivesof KAM Synagogue: “[the Central Music Hall] hasproved in many respects one of the most successfulbuildings ever erected in Chicago, and I shall alwaysconsider it the foundation of whatever professionalstanding I may have acquired.”

Indeed, it was the success of that building thatled to Adler’s and his partner Louis Sullivan’smasterpiece, the Auditorium Theater Building atMichigan and Congress. That led additionally toAdler’s reputation as the outstanding nineteenthcentury American designer of theaters, concert halls,and auditoriums.

Doubled as Church and Music HallThe Central Music Hall stood at the southeastcorner of Randolph and State Streets. In Charles E.Gregersen’s book, Dankmar Adler: His Theaters andAuditoriums, we learn that “George B. Carpenter, alocal promoter of concerts and lectures, and amember of Reverend David Swing’s popular non-denominational Central Church, conceived the ideaof a building to be named in its honor that wouldprovide a home for the church and also feature aconcert hall, stores, and offices.”

Gregerson indicates that construction began inthe spring of 1879, and on December 5, thesomewhat unfinished main auditorium was openedto the public. It became the city’s premierauditorium.

Hall is Leveled, Columns Moved AwayIn 1900 or 1901 (the authorities disagree, but it wasprobably the former), the building was demolishedto make way for the main store of Marshall Field &Company [now Macy’s], which still occupies thesite. According to Gregerson, one of the columnsfrom the Central Music Hall’s State Street entrancewas preserved and later placed on Adler’s grave inMt. Mayriv Cemetery. The architect died in 1900.

One source, Carl W. Condit, writes in TheChicago School of Architecture that “Marshall Fieldsaved one of the columns and had it erected overAdler’s grave.” But this is questionable.

Sonia Kallick writes in the Lemont [Illinois]Metropolitan on March 22, 1979: “When thebuilding was sold to Marshall Field for demolition,[Edwin] Walker acted quickly and acquired the twocolumns. This information comes from TracyWalker, a grandson of Edwin Walker.”

What Became of the Second Column?Walker’s claim raised the question of what happenedto the other column. Surviving photographsindicate that there were two columns, butauthorities writing about the matter mention onlythe one that marks Adler’s grave. For purposes of thewritten historical record, the other column was lost.

Reprinted from Chicago Jewish History Summer 1995

A Tale of Two ColumnsOne of the Two Magnificent Relics of Dankmar Adler’s Central Music Hall

Marks His Grave. But Where is the Second One?BY NORMAN D. SCHWARTZ

Central Music Hall. State and Randolph Streets, 1876-1900.The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan.


I learned from [the late] Helen Sclair, a local“cemeterian,” that the second column could befound in Rosehill Cemetery, 5800 NorthRavenswood Avenue. It was relatively easy to spotbecause of its two-story height and distinctiveshape—including the hybrid High Victorian/Corinthian capital with a lyre on it—and its color.

The column in Rosehill Cemetery differs fromthe one in Mt. Mayriv: [the base was altered and] ared ball was added on top of the column whichmarks the graves of Edwin Walker (1833-1910) andhis wife, Mary C. Walker (1833-1901).

[The Walker column includes such extensivechanges to Adler’s design that CJH chose not topicture it with this reprint.]

Who Were the Walkers?Who were Edwin and Mary Walker? What was theconnection between Adler and Walker that broughtthe second column to Rosehill?

The book Lemont [Illinois]—Its History andCommemoration of its Centennial states that “EdwinWalker was born near Leeds, England, and with hiswife emigrated to the United Stares in 1856. Thecouple spent one year in Philadelphia and thenmoved to Chicago.”

He became a building contractor, concentratingon large buildings and public structures. He soonpurchased land in Lemont where he beganquarrying limestone for use in his contractingactivities as well as for sale to other contractors.

Walker’s Role in Building the Music HallThe Lemont history continues: “…Edwin Walker isstill remembered as the contractor who built theChicago Water Tower and the Illinois State Capitol(upper part) in Springfield. Quarrying…demandedmore and more of his attention, so he moved hisfamily to Lemont shortly after the Civil War.

“The Central Music Hall was contracted toWalker in 1879. The exterior facing was of thefinest dressed Lemont stone, and flanking thebuilding entrance were two granite columns eachover two stories tall. Ed Walker and Dankmar Adlerbecame close friends working on the project.”

Walker’s Granddaughter RemembersI wrote a letter to Marie Walker Polson of Lemont,granddaughter of Edwin and Mary Walker, askingher about the matter. In her reply of January 23,1995 she wrote: “Yes, I knew of Mr. Adler andknow that he often came to dinner at my grand-parents’ home. My father, Edwin Walker, Jr., often

Adler gravesite, Mt. Mayriv Cemetery. Photograph by Richard Nickel. The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan.

talked of Mr. Adler also having time to play withthe boys—my father and his three brothers. Theyloved baseball.

“My grandfather supplied the stone from thequarry near my home for Adler’s architectural plans.They were great friends.”

Therefore, it is not too far-fetched to conclude thatthe close friendship between Dankmar Adler, the

rabbi’s son, and Edwin Walker, the transplantedEnglishman, resulted in a bond that, through theirstill sharing the matching columns from the CentralMusic Hall, continues after death.

(I should add that my research was hindered bythe fact that another prominent Edwin Walker diedin 1910, and he is also buried in Rosehill Cemetery.Furthermore, the newspapers, books, and architect-ural digests of the day concentrated on architectsand financiers rather than contractors.)

I found one key hint in Mary C. Walker’s deathnotice. It mentioned that she was from Lemont. Ithen got in touch with the Lemont Area HistoricalSociety archivists and writer Sonia Kallick, whowere all helpful. It was fascinating to uncover thisforgotten aspect of the life of Dankmar Adler. �


ED MAZUR IN RUSSIA AND FINLANDRecently my wife Myrna and I traveled to Russia andFinland. We had previously visited the Soviet Union in thewinter of 1969–70 when we were graduate students at theUniversity of Chicago.

The empty stores, the long lines of people waiting forlimited goods, and the feeling of always being watchedhave been replaced by rampant capitalism. Today, in thecities we visited, Moscow and St. Petersburg, there is justabout every brand name product you would find in aMichigan Avenue store or an upscale suburban mall.

We visited synagogues and also attended a service at theKabbalah Center. Our Russian Jewish tour guides took usto their apartments and indicated that being openly Jewishis nowhere near as difficult as it was in the Soviet Era.

We took a train to Helsinki from the Finland Stationin St. Petersburg (where V.I. Lenin returned to Russia in1917 to advance the Bolshevik Revolution).

THE JEWS OF FINLAND IN WAR AND PEACE Consider these two questions: Which Diaspora communitycontributed the most military volunteers proportionate toits population during Israel’s War of Independence? On which front did Jews fight alongside Nazi soldiers inWorld War II? The answer to both questions is Finland.

For most of its history, Finland was part of eitherSweden or Russia. Under Swedish rule, Jews wereallowed to settle in only three major towns, none ofthem in the territory of Finland. Sweden lost control ofFinland as a result of a war with Russia in 1808-09, andan autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland wasestablished within the Russian Empire.

Some Jews came to own land in the Duchy ofFinland as rewards from a Tsar for services rendered. Inthe first half of the 19th century, Jewish soldiers (calledcantonists) who served in the Imperial Russian Army inFinland were permitted to remain and settle there,following discharge after twenty-five years of militaryservice. Finnish Jews are primarily the descendants ofthese soldiers. In 1858, Russia issued a decree thatallowed discharged Russian soldiers and their families tostay in Finland, without regard to their religion.

An 1869 decree defined occupations that the Jewscould participate in—primarily as dealers in second-hand clothing. In 1889, Russia issued another decree

that forbade Jews in the Duchy to attend fairs or dobusiness outside their town of residence. Jewish childrenwere allowed to remain in Finland only as long as theylived with their parents or were not married. To violateany of these limitations served as grounds for expulsion.By the end of the 1880s there were about a thousandJews resident in Finland.

In 1917 Finland became independent, and FinnishJews were soon granted full rights of citizenship. OnDecember 22, 1917, the Finnish Parliament approvedan Act concerning “Mosaic Confessors,” and on January12, 1918 the Act became Law. (Jews not possessingFinnish citizenship would henceforth to be treated asforeigners in general.)

Thereafter, the Jewish population increased to abouttwo thousand, as a result of immigration, mainly fromSoviet Russia during the turbulent revolutionary period.Jews studied at Finnish universities; some entered theprofessions; others turned to industry and forestry. Butthe majority continued in the clothing business. Withvery few exceptions, Jews did not become involved inFinnish party politics or political movements.

Then, within a period of six years, Finland foughttwo wars against the Soviet Union. First, there was the“Winter War,” when, in 1939, Finnish territory wasinvaded by the Red Army, and an eastern province ofFinland was annexed to the Soviet Union. Finnish Jewsfought alongside their countrymen.

The Third Reich declared war on the USSR in1941, and Finland joined as a cobelligerent—not anally—of Nazi Germany in order to gain back its formerterritory. Despite strong German pressure, the Finnishgovernment refused to take action against its Jewishcitizens, who continued to enjoy full civil rightsthroughout the war.

Some three hundred Jewish men served in thenation’s armed forces. Finnish Jewish soldiers built a“field synagogue” in which services were conducted—alongside SS units! Jewish women served in a voluntarycivil defense auxiliary called Lotta Svard.

Thus, Jews ended up fighting on the same side asNazi Germany. In Finland, however the war wasperceived to be between Finland and the Soviet Union.Jews in the Finnish armed forces saw themselves asfighting for their homeland, not for Hitler.

After the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, SS chieftain Heinrich Himmler put out feelers to the

“JEWISH GEOGRAPHY”CJHS Members Visit Jewish Communities and Historical Sites


political leadership of Finland about their willingness tojoin in the Final Solution. In the summer of 1942,Himmler visited Finland and demanded its partici-pation in the demonic plan. Prime Minister JohannWilhelm Rangel was reported to have answered: “Thereis no Jewish Question in Finland. The Jews of Finlandare decent people and loyal citizens whose sons foughtin the army like other Finns.”

About five hundred refugees from countriesconquered by the Nazis came to Finland from 1939onwards. Most stayed temporarily and continued on toother countries, but a few hundred remained. Asforeigners, they were mostly considered by the Finnishauthorities as a liability in a crisis situation. When thewar with the USSR broke out, the Jewish refugees wereinterned in rural areas. Some of the male refugees werealso conscripted for labor; they worked on buildingroads and fortifications. Finnish security police turnedin between eight and twelve Jews to the Germanauthorities as unwanted aliens. They were deported toAuschwitz and Birkenau where only one survived.

Public outcries in the Finnish and Swedish press andfrom the Finnish Lutheran and other clergy and theSocial Democratic Party ended the deportations ofindividual Jews. By late 1942, the Finns devised a planto send the foreign Jews to Sweden, which in 1944received a few hundred refugees.

During the course of WWII, Finland took someseventy thousand Soviet prisoners of war. Among themwere more than seven hundred Soviet Jews. Conditionswere severe in Finnish prisoner-of-war camps. Thedeath rate climbed to over thirty percent from winter1941 to summer 1942 due to cold, malnutrition, anddisease. Finland, like other countries at war, separatedthe prisoners according to their nationality.

The Jewish community of Finland was able to givehelp to the Jewish prisoners by sending them food andclothing. This reduced the death rate among the JewishPOWS to less than twenty percent, which, while stillhigh, was markedly lower than among the ethnicRussian prisoners. Forty-seven persons identified as Jewsfrom a group of five hundred Soviet prisoners of warwere handed over to German security police operatingin northern Norway and northern Finland, which wasconsidered to be a German theater of war. The prisonerswere suspected of being communists and most likelytheir fate in German hands was execution.

AN APOLOGYIn 2000, Finnish Prime Minister Pave Lipponen cameto the Jewish Community Synagogue in Helsinki andapologized to the Jewish community, as did leaders ofthe Lutheran Church, for Finland’s shortcomings inassisting Jews during WWII.

At a ceremony in the synagogue, Prime MinisterLipponen said: “The surrender of Jewish refugees to theNazis in 1942 is a stain on Finland’s history. Thewrongdoing cannot be undone nor can it be justifiedunder any circumstances. Neither does the number ofthe extradited refugees give any grounds for writing offthe issue. Every man has but one life and all lives areequally valuable.”

The Jewish community was presented with a plaqueand a memorial wreath that are displayed in thesynagogue’s front entrance. At the Helsinki seaport,there is a small monument to those Jews who weredenied residence and became victims of the Holocaust.

We learned about the Jewish past and present in

Sanctuary, Jewish Community Synagogue, Helsinki.Courtesy Edward H. Mazur.

Presentation of Memorial Wreath, 2000. Framed Photo in Jewish Community Synagogue, Helsinki.

Courtesy Edward H. Mazur.

continued on page 13


SUZANNE AND BURT ROBIN IN CUBAIn May we visited Cuba on an eight-day tour organized by the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago.

THE “CUBAN MINYAN”After Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and nationalizedprivate business and property, ninety percent of the Jewishpopulation fled the island. At that time the “Cubanminyan” was born—counting each Torah as a qualifyingmember of the group of ten necessary for prayer.

Although there are only about fifteen hundred Jewsliving in Cuba today, they manage to keep our cultureand traditions alive. There is no rabbi living on theisland, and there is only one kosher butcher. This smallJewish presence is in stark contrast to the bustlingcommunity that existed before Fidel Castro came topower. In those days there were about fifteen thousandJews and five synagogues in Havana alone.

Visits by tour groups from the Jewish CommunityCenters of Chicago, one of many American Jewishentities that organize occasional humanitarian orreligious trips to Cuba, are one of the ways that Jews inCuba nurture their communities. The religious focus ofthese trips allows United States citizens to bypass ourgovernment’srestrictions on travelto Cuba, but a fullschedule of religiousand humanitarianactivities is required.This often includesdonations ofmedications, clothing,and religious objectsneeded for prayer.

There were onlyfour of us on our JCCtour. We traveledaround Havana in amodern van with aCuban guide who waswell-versed in JewishCuban history and culture.

When we attended Friday night services at the onlyConservative synagogue, Temple Beth Shalom, built in1957. A feeling of connection between the Cubans andthe Americans was evident. The text and the songs wereall the same and familiar to us. The services were led bya lay leader who is also the synagogue librarian. He wasassisted by other congregants. About eighty peopleattended, many of them under the age of 30. This is the

largest of the three synagogues in Havana, with morethan five hundred members. Beth Shalom houses aJewish community center, known as El Patronato, alibrary, a Sunday School where students learn theHebrew language and Jewish culture, and a freepharmacy. (Most of its medications come as donationsfrom visiting Jewish groups from the States).

Beth Shalom sponsors Shabbat lunches and aPassover Seder for the Jewish community. The matzo,wine, and other Seder items are provided by theCanadian Joint Distribution Committee.

We also visited the two other Havana synagogues:the Orthodox Adath Israel in Old Havana (completedin 1959, only months before Fidel Castro came topower), and the Sephardic Hebrew Center of Cuba,located near El Patronato.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM RESTOREDIt was not until 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union,that Cuba changed its constitution to allow religiousfreedom. The Jewish community then began to rebuild.Rabbis from Chile, Argentina, Panama and Mexicocame to teach the remaining Cuban Jews how to prayand lead services. The synagogues welcomed the Jewswho came to pick up donated food and encouraged

them to come backfor Shabbat andholidays. Today, thereare yearly visits fromSouth America-basedrabbis. Outside of

Havana, Jewish life isnot as organized, butthe smaller commun-ities do manage toobserve traditions asbest they can.We visited the

Jewish cemeteries inGuanabacoa, on theeast side of Havanaharbor. One section is

for Ashkenazim and dates from 1910. You enter thecemetery by walking under a Spanish colonial gate witha Star of David. There is also a small memorial to thevictims of the Holocaust. Behind the Ashkenaziccemetery is a cemetery for Sephardic Jews.

In addition to the Jewish sites, we visited manyother places of interest in and around Havana,including Ernest Hemingway’s home, where he livedand wrote for over twenty years. We toured the

Danny, the librarian at Temple Beth Shalom, Havana.Courtesy Suzanne Robin.


Finland from Cantor Andre Zweigduring our visit to Helsinki’s JewishCommunity Synagogue (founded in1906) and the Jewish CommunityCenter.

The Helsinki CommunitySynagogue considers itself to be“Ashkenazi Orthodox,” but is veryopen to non-Orthodox membersand rituals. There is a daily minyan.About one hundred persons attendSabbath services.

The community has twocemeteries, a day school with gradesfrom kindergarten to high schoolthat enrolls about a hundred-fiftystudents; a senior citizen residence, a chevra kadisha, a mikva, and akosher restaurant. Kosher meat isflown in from Europe, SouthAmerica, and Israel. Currently thereis no resident mohel. Circumcisionsare performed by mohelim fromScandinavia and even Israel.

Helsinki boasts a Finnish Jewishheavy metal band called Alamaail-man Vasarat (Hammers of the

FINLAND continued from page 11

Holocaust Memorial, Jewish Cemetery, Havana.Courtesy Suzanne Robin.

Underworld). They play “kebab-kosher-jazz-film-traffic-punk-musicwith a unique Scandinavian Klezmeracoustic touch.”

During Israel’s War of Indepen-dence, twenty-nine Finnish Jewsvolunteered. Diplomatic relationsbetween Finland and Israel wereestablished in 1948.

Since then, over seven hundredFinnish Jews have immigrated toIsrael. Given the total Finnish Jewishpopulation, this is a very high rate ofaliyah, and it has reduced Finland’sJewish population considerably. As aresult, the Jewish community inTampere, Finland’s third largest city,ceased formal operations in 1981.

There are two synagogues in thecountry: one in Helsinki and one inTurku; there is also a LubavitchChabad rabbi based in Helsinki.

Today, the number of Jews inFinland is approximately fifteenhundred, of whom twelve hundredlive in Helsinki, about two hundredin Turku, and about fifty inTampere. Jews appear to be wellintegrated into Finnish society andare represented in nearly all sectorsof business, industry, education, and

government. Most Jews speakFinnish or Swedish as their mothertongue. Yiddish, German, Russian,and Hebrew are also spoken in thecommunity.

Our visit to the Finnish Jewishcommunity was very gratifying. AsCantor Zweig stated: “Although weare one of the northernmost andsmallest Jewish communities in theworld, we have a very activecommunity and a warm heart!”

MAX JAKOBSONMax Jakobson is a direct descendantof Finland’s first documented Jew, atinsmith who made landfall in 1799.

One of our hosts mentioned thename of Max Jakobson, a lifelongmember of the Helsinki Jewishcommunity and among the mosteminent and revered public figuresin Finland. Born in 1923, he is anauthor, journalist, and diplomat.

Jakobson was the country’s firstpermanent representative at theUnited Nations (1965-72). Widelytouted as the successor to U Thantas Secretary-General in 1972, he wasvetoed by the USSR, and KurtWaldheim of Austria was elected. �

National Museum of Fine Arts, a cigar factory, and a bioreserve. Fundsgenerated by tourism in the past twenty years have enabled the Cubangovernment to begin restoring Old Havana to its former glory.

Its fine Colonial, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco architecture is severerlyrundown. Some streets and squares have been rehabilitated, but becauseof poor economic conditions, much work remains to be done.

RAUL IN SHULCBS News reported on December 6, 2010: “Cuban President RaulCastro, wearing a yarmulke, was the surprise guest at a Sunday eveningHanukkah celebration in Havana’s Beth Shalom synagogue. He watcheda performance by a Jewish youth dance group, lit a candle in theMenorah, and spoke briefly about the economic debate underway in thecountry.”

With the new regime there are some limited signs that much-neededpolitical and economic reforms are beginning to allow Cubans to enjoygreater material well-being and personal fulfillment. �


Next, we went to the MuntzStrasse, where Chaya’s great-

grandfather, a Hassidic rabbi, hada little shul [known as a shtibl] andwhere his family lived . Chaya tellshis story in her book, The Fate ofHolocaust Memories.

The next day, we drove to KZSachsenhausen , now a museum.Sylvia, whom we had met earlier,joined us as our guide. The camphas been “sanitized,” and has amodern wall surrounding all of it.

We spent nearly six hoursthere, learning of the history ofthis concentration camp, seeingsome of its cells, and viewing adocumentary film about thecruelty perpetrated there.

At one point, our group sat in alarge circle next to the Appel Platzto discuss what we had seen.

Roth continued from page 6Chaya spoke movingly to us aboutthe life of her father.

(The camp is right next to thevillage of Oranienburg, with itsthousands of inhabitants, whocould see what was going on.) We left in a somber mood, eagerto leave the awful place.

The next day, Ari, Chaya and Ivisited the Berlin office of theAmerican Jewish Committee.The rest of the group toured theJewish Museum. In the morning,Emma, Miriam, Talia, Katie, andSophie visited the Memorial to theMurdered Jews of Europe.

We drove back to Marburg,and the next morning returned toRoth for the Arbeitskreis’ FifteethAnniversary Celebration. At agathering in the synagogue, I was among several people whowere asked to speak.

I praised the fifteen-memberkreis for the work they have done

to date, and I encouraged them topursue their objective of transmit-ting the lessons of the Holocaustto future generations. I alsostressed the need for the peopleof the village to admit what hadhappened in Germany. We thenhad a very well-prepared dinner ina barn, in a spirit of comradeship.

The next day we returned tothe synagogue for a Klezmer bandconcert by three women fromFrankfurt. The audience enjoyed itvery much and joined in a sing-along and dancing.

Emma particularly enjoyedherself with her new-found friend,Salome. It was a very meaningfulsummation of our visit to haveEmma and Salome, members ofthe third generation of Jews andGermans, become good friends,with plans to correspond andexchange visits—a good omen forfuture possibilities. �

Remembering Eve Levin, CJHS Office Manager

Eve Kingsley Levin, the first Office Manager of theChicago Jewish Historical Society, died on July 12,2011 at age 90. Graveside services were held at JewishOakridge Cemetery.

I was able to persuade Eve to work for us in 1988 atabout the same time that I became President of theSociety. She had been the longtime personal secretary ofRobert S. Adler (1901-1985), a prominent Chicagobusinessman and the son of Max and Sophie Adler.Sophie was a sister of Julius Rosenwald and Max was aVice President of Sears Roebuck & Co. The Rosenwaldsand Adlers were part of an organized group that soughtto provide affidavits for German Jews to gainadmittance to the United States in the 1930s.

Eve Konigsberger was born in Frankfurt, Germany.She was a refugee herself. In 1939, she managed toescape to England where her brother was alreadyenrolled in school. Their parents were also fortunateenough to be brought to England. They sailed to theUSA in 1940 on “the last boat” before the war.

After several years in New York, Eve came toChicago and settled in the Hyde Park neighborhood.She worked at various jobs before taking the secretarialposition with Robert Adler. She married Leo Levin, anative Chicagoan who shared her love of tennis, classicalmusic, and travel. Mr. Levin died in 1995.

To say that Eve organized our office would be anunderstatement. She was a master of detail andeffficiency, always working alone. She was persuaded torelinquish her job only after being severely injured in acar accident from which she only partially recovered.

One of Eve’s great accomplishments, at mysuggestion, was to convince Robert Adler’s family todonate his papers to the Chicago Jewish HistoricalSociety. We subsequently donated them to the ChicagoJewish Archives at Spertus where researchers could makeuse of the valuable information they contain. An articleentitled “The Adler Papers: Refugee Affidavits,” firstpublished in CJH, is included in my book, LookingBackward: True Stories from Chicago’s Jewish Past.

Eve Levin was the dear wife of the late Leo; sister ofthe late Martin (Anne) Kingsley; aunt of Nina Gorenand Ron (Nancy) Kingsley; and great-aunt of Alana andDana Kingsley.—Walter Roth


Contributors to This Issue

Edward H. Mazur is Presidentof the Chicago Jewish HistoricalSociety. He is Professor Emeritus,City Colleges of Chicago. Heserves on the boards of WorldChicago, the City Club ofChicago, and the Chicago Tour-Guide Professional Association.

Mariah Schuldt is a freshmanat Wilbur Wright College, CityColleges of Chicago.

Walter Roth is Immediate Past President of the Society(1988–2010). Two collections ofhis articles in CJH have beenpublished. He is an attorney withSeyfarth Shaw LLP.

Ruth Schultz Hecktman is adaughter of Rabbi Mordechai andSuzanne Schultz, of blessedmemory. Ruth and her husbandJerry were longtime activists atCongregation Bnai Emunah inSkokie (now Beth HillelCongregation Bnai Emunah).

Norman D. Schwartz is afounding member and PastPresident of the Chicago JewishHistorical Society (1984-1988).

Suzanne Robin is ProgramChair of the Congregation RodfeiZedek Sisterhood. She is a docentat the Art Institute of Chicago.

Burt Robin is a foundingmember and Immediate Past Vice President of the CJHS. He isa retired Distinguished Professorof Chemistry and Physical Scienceat Kennedy-King College, CityColleges of Chicago.

Bev Chubat is Editor/Designerof Chicago Jewish History. She also fields inquiries to theSociety website and office.

In the Spring issue of CJH we began a report on Herbert Eiseman’s slide-illustrated lecture, delivered in the art gallery of Temple Sholom on April 3.

We started “walking” up the east side of State Street, passing the formerSears, Roebuck and Company at VanBuren (now Robert Morris College).At Jackson we passed the store originally built for A.M. Rothschild, thensold to The Davis Store, and finally to Goldblatt Bros. They filed forbankruptcy in 1981. (The building is now shared by the Loop Center ofDePaul University and offices of the City of Chicago). The white buildingon the southwest corner of State and Jackson is the former Maurice L.Rothschild store. Maurice and A.M. were not related—but their families

came from the same town inGermany—and Maurice marriedA.M.’s widow. The store closed in1973. (The John Marshall LawSchool now occupies the building.)

The Hub opened in 1887.Named for its central location onthe northeast corner of State andJackson, it was owned by Henry C.Lytton (originally Levy).

In 1912 the store moved to anew “skyscraper” building a blocknorth. As a sales promotion, Lyttonwould toss free overcoats from theroof of the store to crowds below.

Four years after the new storeopened, Lytton retired—only tocome back seventeen years later! In1944, to honor him on his 100thbirthday, the store was renamedHenry C. Lytton and Sons. Itoperated until 1985. (A number ofsmall, for-proft colleges, as well asstores, now occupy the building.)

Morris B. Sachs was a latecomerto State Street. When he opened hisstore on the southwest corner atMonroe in 1957 he was alreadywell-established in other neighbor-hoods. He first sold dry goods door-to-door to newly arrived immigrantsin the Back of the Yards beforeopening his first store in Englewood.

He was well-known as an earlyadvocate of credit sales and for beingelected City Treasurer in 1955, but

Report on the CJHS Open Meeting, April 3: Part Two

Continuing Herb Eiseman’s Virtual Tour:“Jewish Merchant Princes of State Street”

he is best remembered by seniors asthe sponsor of the Morris B. SachsAmateur Hour, a popular radioprogram. Listeners would phone into vote for their favorite youngperformers, many of whom went onto successful show business careers.(The corner is now occupied by theAmalgamated Bank.)

Leopold Schlesinger andDavid Mayer were members ofK.A.M., Rabbi Liebman Adler’scongregation. This influenced theirchoice of the rabbi’s son Dankmarand his partner Louis Sullivan todesign their store on the southeastcorner of State and Madison. Theysoon sold the building to H.G.Selfridge of London, who then soldit to Carson Pirie Scott & Company.(Now called The Sullivan Center,the building’s first two floors willsoon be a Target store.)

Mandel Brothers was locatedon the northeast corner of State andMadison. (Filene’s and T.J. Maxxnow occupy the building.) Thefamily, headed by the formidableBabette Mandel, were prominentphilanthropists in the ChicagoJewish community.

There was one Jewish MerchantPrincess of State Street—MollieAlpiner Netcher of The BostonStore. Read about Mollie in CJHFall 2011.—Bev Chubat

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MembershipMembership in the Society isopen to all interested personsand organizations and includesa subscription to Chicago JewishHistory, discounts on Societytours and at the SpertusMuseum store, and the oppor-tunity to learn and informothers about Chicago Jewishhistory and its preservation.

Dues StructureMembership runs on a calendaryear, from January throughDecember. New membersjoining after July 1 are given aninitial membership throughDecember of the following year.

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Make checks payable to the Chicago Jewish HistoricalSociety, and mail to our office at610 South Michigan Avenue,Chicago, IL 60605-1901. Dues are tax-deductible to theextent permitted by law.

About the SocietyWhat We Are The Chicago Jewish HistoricalSociety was founded in 1977,and is in part an outgrowth oflocal Jewish participation in the United States BicentennialCelebration of 1976 at anexhibition mounted at theMuseum of Science andIndustry. The Society has as itspurpose the discovery, preser-vation and dissemination ofinformation about the Jewishexperience in the Chicago area.

What We DoThe Society seeks out, collects andpreserves written, spoken andphotographic records, in closecooperation with the Chicago JewishArchives, Spertus Institute of JewishStudies. The Society publisheshistorical information; holds publicmeetings at which various aspects ofChicago Jewish history are treated;mounts appropriate exhibits; andoffers tours of Jewish historical sites.

Tribute Cards for Celebrations or Memorials The card designfeatures the Society’s logo, our mission statement, and space for apersonal message. A pack of eight cards and envelopes is $10.00.Individual cards can be mailed for you from our office at $5.00 per card,postage included. Order cards from the Society office (312) 663-5634.

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Browse Our Website for information about our upcoming programs.Read past issues of Chicago Jewish History. Discover links to other Jewishsites. Use the printable membership application. We welcome yourinquiries and comments. E-mail: [email protected]

www.chicagojewishhistory.org

• Mariah Schuldt, Historian• Roth Family Trip to Roth, Germany• Lawn Manor Hebrew Congregation• Dankmar Adler Architecture• Jewish Geography: Finland & Cuba• Jewish Merchant Princes of State Street

Documents

chicago jewish historychicagojewishhistory.org/pdf/2011/CJH.3.2011_web.pdfchicago jewish history Vol. 35, No. 3, Summer 2011 chicago jewish historical societ y L okt hercf m wi y u