chicago jewish historychicagojewishhistory.org/pdf/2003/CJH.1.2003.pdf · Left: Gravestone of Myrtle and Theodore Shabad. Inscribed: “Beloved and only children of Henry and Fanny

chicago jewish history

Vol. 27, No. 1, Spring 2003

chicago jewish historical society

Look to the rock from which you were hewn

IN THIS ISSUELevy Mayer and theIroquois Theatre Fire

From the Archives:Babette Mandel

February Meeting:The Shomrim Societyof Illinois

Mickey, Ruffy & Sonny

Oral History Excerpt:Sol Brandzel

CJHS Summer Tours:Reservation Form

1943: Marshall Commandos AreCity Champions in Stadium Win

“The juniors of Marshall High School and the seniors of Mount Carmel areproudly established today on the twin thrones of Chicago’s schoolboy basketballrealm. Playing before the biggest crowd ever to see the cage sport played anywherein the world—21,472 spectators jammed every inch of sitting and standing roomin the Stadium—the new rulers won their crowns beyond all question of a doubtin the first postseason playoff ever held between the champions of the Public

Marshall High School Junior Basketball Team, 1943. ROW I: Julian Davis, Arnold Greenstein, Jack Brazier. ROW II: Irving Mazer,Hyman Tadelman, Sidney Zomlefer, Morris Kaplan, David Levitan, CharlesSwibel. ROW III: Coach Lou Weintraub, Hillel Levin, Charles Kaplan, IrvingHartman, Morris Lennoff, Manager Abe Weisberg. ROW IV: Orville Shane,Jerry Shuman, Ray Lowy, Marv Schufeldt, Sidney Swibel, Leon Herzog.

Yearbook photo by Daguerre Studio, 1943 Marshall Review.

Save the Date!Sunday, May 18:CJHS Program onHistory of Cong.Shaare Tikvah

“The History of Congre-gation Shaare Tikvah” will bethe subject of the Society’sopen meeting on May 18, atCong. Shaare Tikvah-B’naiZion, 5800 North Kimball.The program will begin at2:00 p.m., after a social hourand refreshments at 1:00 p.m.Admission is free and open tothe public. Invite your friends!

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Officers 2003-04Walter Roth PresidentBurt Robin Vice PresidentDr. Carolyn Eastwood SecretaryHerman Draznin Treasurer

DirectorsLeah AxelrodHarold T. BercCharles B. BernsteinDr. Irving CutlerSheldon GardnerDr. Rachelle GoldClare GreenbergDr. Adele Hast*Rachel Heimovics*Dr. David H. HellerJanet IltisBea KrausRoslyn LettvinMichael LorgeSeymour H. PerskyMuriel Robin Rogers*Norman D. Schwartz*Dr. Milton ShulmanDr. N. Sue Weiler

*Indicates Past President

Chicago Jewish HistoryChicago Jewish History is publishedquarterly by the Chicago JewishHistorical Society at 618 SouthMichigan Avenue, Chicago,Illinois 60605. (312)663-5634.Single copies $2.00 postpaid.Successor to Society News.

Please send submissions to theeditor, Bev Chubat, at 415 WestFullerton Parkway, #1102, Chicago, Illinois 60614-2842. E-mail: [email protected]

Editor/DesignerBeverly Chubat

Immediate Past EditorJoe Kraus

Editor EmeritusIrwin J. Suloway

Editorial BoardBurt Robin, Walter Roth, NormanSchwartz, and Milton Shulman


2 Chicago Jewish History Spring 2003

President’s Column

LET ME TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TOthank the members of our Chicago JewishHistorical Society who have written, telephoned,or e-mailed me their reactions to reading my bookLooking Backward: True Stories from Chicago’sJewish Past. I have been very gratified at theenthusiastic and favorable response.

One of the letters I received may be ofparticular interest to you, our readers, since it is

also addressed to you. The letter is from Dan Sharon, SeniorReference Librarian of the Asher Library, Spertus Institute of JewishStudies. Dan is a brilliant scholar and researcher with an“encyclopedic” knowledge of Chicago Jewish history. He wrote:

“Thank you again for your new book. I’vestarted reading it, and I find it fascinating. Youmight pose the following question to readers of yourquarterly journal, Chicago Jewish History: Why did aPolish American gangster in Chicago, whosupposedly served as an altar boy in a Catholicchurch, change his name to the stereotypicallyJewish one of “Hymie Weiss?” To me, this is one ofthe minor mysteries of Chicago history. I’ve lookedat book after book that mentions Weiss, and no oneanswers this question. Indeed, no one even raises it.Allegedly, Weiss was the rival Capone feared most,and Capone finally had Weiss killed.”

Dan also suggested another topic for discussion in our quarterly:the attacks on blacks and Jews that occurred in the late 1940s inChicago—particularly the disturbances that took place inNovember, 1949 on Peoria Street in Englewood. While the policestood by, mobs assaulted the blacks and Jews who had just movedinto the neighborhood and hurled rocks at their homes. Therampage seemed to have lasted for many days. Many of theprejudices and hatreds that caused the Peoria Street riots half acentury ago remain with us today.

Dan Sharon has inspired many of our past articles and hasunfailingly provided us with research material whenever we asked.He is the one who comes up with answers to tough questions, butnow he has posed a couple of his own. If you can fill in thebiography of the mobster called “Hymie Weiss” or know thespecifics of the Peoria Street riots, please let me know. Dan haskindled our interest, and we are busy researching these subjects.

In the meantime, as we move from a long winter to a morehopeful spring, I trust that you had a festive Passover holiday—andfervently hope that peace will prevail in our country, in Israel, and inthe rest of the world. ❖

Walter Roth

3Chicago Jewish History Spring 2003

Corrections & ClarificationsTo Our Year-End 2002 Issue:

On page 4 we described a guideto Jewish Florida as “recommended”by CJHS Past President RachelHeimovics, now a Florida resident.Ms. Heimovics is actually the book’sprimary author. The correct title,citation, and ordering information:THE FLORIDA JEWISH HERITAGE TRAIL. By Rachel B. Heimovics and MarciaZerivitz. 2000. Florida Departmentof State, Division of HistoricalResources. Illustrated, paper, 44 pp.$10.50 each for 1 or 2 copies.(Includes postage and handling.) The Jewish Museum of Florida301 Washington AvenueMiami Beach, FL 33139-6965Phone (305) 672-5044

On page 6 we listed our videoTHE ROMANCE OF A PEOPLEbut omitted the name of theexecutive producer/ director,Beverly Siegel. The video’s runningtime is 30 minutes.

On page 10 in the CovenantClub photograph Judge Henry L.Burman was incorrectly identified asHerman Berman.

CJH apologizes for the errors.

Tours of the synagogue building and its noted stained glasswindows will be given during the social hour.

A panel of six persons will present the program. After greetings bycurrent Rabbi Dennis Katz, the founding days of the congregation,from 1942 to the late 1940s, will be reviewed by Mayer Stiebel andJay I. Weisman, both sons of founders. Mr. Stiebel is a retired koshercaterer and an activist in Chicago Conservative Judaism. Mr.Weisman, a lawyer, is active in the Lincolnwood Jewish community.

Solomon Gutstein, rabbi, lawyer, and former alderman of the40th Ward, will review the period during which his father, MorrisGutstein, was rabbi of the congregation, 1947-71. Sol Gutstein willalso discuss the synagogue’s stained glass windows, designed by A.Raymond Katz. The father and son Gutstein team co-authored amonograph about the windows.

Neil Handelman, a past president of the congregation, will speakon 1971-95. Irving Federman, the current president of Cong. ShaareTikvah-B’nai Zion, will cover the period from 1995 to the present.

CJHS Meeting on May 18 continued from page 1

Hebrew Classes in Chicago Public SchoolsTo the Editor,

In your article in the Year-End 2000 issue about Marshall HighSchool you made the statement that “Marshall High School was, Ihave been told, the only Chicago Public School that ever offeredHebrew as a foreign language.” You stated it in a way that leads me tobelieve that you did not believe that as fact. Well, your doubt is well-founded.

In the late 1950s Sullivan, Von Steuben, and South Shore HighSchools taught Hebrew for foreign language credit. My sister receivedtwo years of foreign language credit at South Shore as a result oftaking Hebrew. My wife said that many of her friends took theHebrew classes at Sullivan, and my sailing partner informed me thatHebrew was given at Von while he was there.

I hope this information will be useful to you. We enjoy readingChicago Jewish History when it arrives in the mail.

Jerold LevinChicago

Thank you, Mr. Levin. CJH welcomes informative letters likeyours. We urge our readers who studied Hebrew in the CPS to writeand tell us about their teachers and experiences. E-mail your message(or send it as a WORD doc. attached to your e-mail), or write toEditor Bev Chubat. Postal and e-mail addresses are listed on page 2.

Letter to the Editor


One century ago in Chicago, on the afternoon ofDecember 30, 1903, a horrific event occurredat the Iroquois Theatre. In less than 20

minutes over 600 persons, mostly women and children,died in a catastrophic fire. The Iroquois was located onRandolph Street, between State and Dearborn, wherethe Oriental Theater now stands (refurbished andrenamed Ford Center for the Performing Arts).

A recent book, The Tinder Box, by Anthony P.Hatch (Academy Chicago Publishers 2003), recalls, inpersonal interviews and collections of stories ofsurvivors, the traumatic terror these people endured. Itwas the city’s worst fire up to that time—and sincethen—the casualties far exceeding those resulting fromthe Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

A rage seized Chicago, fanned by newspaperaccounts of the tragedy. The public wanted to knowwho was responsible—whoever it was must bepunished! Reporters discovered that recently enactedcity ordinances had not been complied with: thesprinkler system did not work, the doors opened onlyfrom the inside, exit signs were missing, and theskylight was sealed shut. There were many otherviolations. Within a few days, the theater manager andother employees were arrested for manslaughter and anumber of persons, including the Mayor, Carter H.Harrison, were held for action by a grand jury.

Among the cast of characters whose names nowbecame known to the public were Marc Klawand Abraham Lincoln Erlanger. These men, with otherpartners, controlled the Theatrical Trust, which from itsoffices on Broadway in New York City held a virtualmonopoly on many “legitimate” theaters in America—including the Iroquois. The Trust owned the theatersand also controlled bookings and ticket prices. Thisaroused great antagonism. Leading clergymen of theday, together with the press and independent theaterowners, held the Trust “responsible for the degradationof the American theatre” and the corruption of“Christian morals.”

As Hatch writes, “It was easy to dislike Marc Klawand Abe Erlanger. And they were Jews.” With thearrival of thousands of poor Russian Jewish immigrants,with their strange language (Yiddish), dress and habits,anti-Semitism was rife in Chicago. The legacy of theHaymarket Riot and anarchist scares still gripped thecity, spurred on by the sensationalism of the media.

Klaw and Erlanger were in financial trouble in1903 and, with the Trust, were involved in bitter labordisputes. Chicago was in the grip of a transit strike.Still, the Iroquois Theatre was slated to open inNovember. The opening production was a musicalcomedy, Mr. Bluebeard, produced by Klaw andErlanger, starring Eddie Foy. It was during a holiday

Levy Mayer and The Iroquois Theatre FireBY WALTER ROTH

Left: Gravestone of Myrtle and Theodore Shabad. Inscribed: “Beloved and only children of Henry and Fanny Shabad.Myrtle, born Oct. 4, 1889, died Dec. 30, 1903. Theodore, born March 23, 1891, died Jan. 1, 1904. Victims of the IroquoisTheatre fire, Dec. 30, 1903.” Right: Shabad family monument. Inscribed “Shabad” in Hebrew. Name is inscribed in Yiddishvowelized spelling on the other side of the stone. Waldheim Cemetery, Free Sons of Israel–Gate 31. Photos by Norman D. Schwartz.


matinee performance of Mr.Bluebeard , before an audiencecomposed largely of children, thatthe fire occurred.

The Klaw-Erlanger organizationwas later blamed for disregardingthe safety of its patrons by violatingcity fire regulations, allegedly to cutcosts in order to meet the openingdate. It was said that such items asthe fireproof curtain and fire-fighting equipment were not up tostandard because of their need tocut expenses. Life magazine—notthe magazine of the same namewhich came into existence later—mentioned Klaw and Erlanger inthe caption of a cartoon showingthe figure of Death blocking theway of the victims struggling toopen the exit doors.

Initially the main target of thecritics, such as the Chicago Tribune,was Mayor Carter H. Harrison,because of his “indolent” behaviortoward municipal corruption atevery level of local government. Hewas held for arraignment by thepolice. (However, within a weekafter his retention for a grand juryhearing, he was released on a writ ofhabeas corpus, since there wasnothing to directly connect himwith the operation of the Iroquois.)“Let no man escape,” one ministershouted as he viewed the gruesometheater scene.

Rabbi Moses Peretz Jacobsonof Kehilat Anshe Ma’ariv(K.A.M.), conducting the

funeral for two Jewish children,called the fire “one of the greatcalamities of the age.” Anotherrabbi at a memorial service wasquoted as saying, “This fire was notan act of God but due to ignorance,criminal neglect and recklessness.”

The inquest by the Coroner’sOffice began in City Hall onFebruary 7, 1905 with over 200

witnesses called to testify. At thesame time a “deluge of suits” wasfiled against the Iroquois Theatre,its management, owners, and theCity of Chicago. On January 25 theCoroner’s verdicts were returned,naming Mayor Harrison, IroquoisTheatre Manager Will Davis, theCity Building Commissioner andothers. Klaw and Erlanger, thoughoften mentioned in testimony asresponsible for the faulty curtainsand other violations, were notnamed.

The Grand Jury, after its secretdeliberations, returned its indict-ments on February 23, naming WillDavis, Stage Manager JamesCummings, and Business ManagerJames Noonan. The Jury exoneratedMayor Harrison, but said there“should be a more intelligentadministrator in City Hall.” Thecharge against the three indictedmen was manslaughter.

In addition to the criminalcharges, there were a host of civilsuits against these and otherdefendants—Klaw and Erlangeramong them. Klaw and Erlangerlived in New York, which perhaps

Levy Mayer (1858-1922)History of the Jews of Chicago, 1924.

was one of the reasons why theChicago grand jury did not reachthem. They had their own attorneysin New York, deeply involved in theIroquois cases, who soon turned towork closely with the attorneyselected by the Chicago defendantsto defend them in the coming legalbattle. His name was Levy Mayer.

L evy Mayer was a brilliantJewish lawyer whose parentshad immigrated to the

United States from small towns inBavaria. He was born in 1858 inRichmond, Virginia. The Mayersrelocated to Chicago where Levibegan his primary education.

In 1876 he was graduated fromYale Law School. Too young toenter law practice, he started hislegal career as researcher andlibrarian at the Chicago LawInstitute. From there he was askedto become a partner by a prominentJewish attorney and Reform Jewishcommunity leader, Adolf Kraus.

The partnership, after a numberof name changes, became, in theearly 1900s, the firm of Mayer,Meyer, Austrian & Platt, one of themost prominent law firms inChicago, specializing in corporate,banking, governmental, andinternational law. Levy Mayer wasits dominant figure, with areputation for brilliance andintegrity. He had an imposing sixfoot tall physique and an enormouscapacity to retain facts and cases. Hewas also said to speak clearly andwas “looked upon as a combativeadversary.”

It was reported that a day afterthe Iroquois fire, Klaw and Erlangerand their New York attorneyscontacted Mayer to represent notonly their interests but also otherswho might be indicted by the grandjury. Hatch, in Tinderbox, writesthat Klaw and Erlanger, after a long

continued on page 6


meeting with executives of theTheatrical Trust, selected Mayer andhis firm to head the defense team.Some have said that it tookenormous courage for Mayer to takethis unpopular case.

Levy Mayer’s legal brilliance wassoon evident. He filed a motion toquash the charge against Davisbecause it did not properly specifythe legal duty to discharge the actscomplained of in the indictment,and he filed a motion for a changeof venue so that Noonan andCummings could get a “fair trial.”This motion was granted and theircase was moved to Peoria. On July9, 1905, Mayer’s strategy wasmarked with success when the twojudges in Peoria and Chicagoquashed the charges on similargrounds. There was no express dutybinding the defendants. Mayerannounced that “any futureindictments would not be worth thepaper they were written on.”

N evertheless, one monthlater another Chicagogrand jury indicted Davis

and two others on manslaughtercharges. Klaw and Erlanger were notindicted, on grounds of insufficientevidence. Mayer promptly filed amotion to quash and it was notuntil January 13, 1906 that theDavis indictment was sustained bythe Illinois courts. As a trial dateloomed, Mayer promptly filed amotion for change of venue. In abrilliant stroke, he had manymembers of his staff collect over12,000 affidavits attesting to biasand prejudice against thedefendants.

The Davis trial was promptlymoved to Danville, a town over 100miles south of Chicago. The trial

began on March 7, 1907, and wasexpected to be lengthy. Theprosecution was said to be preparedto call over 200 witnesses. As thefirst one—a woman dressed inblack—was sworn in, Mayer rose todemand that the State produce theChicago City Ordinances on whichthe indictments were based. As thiswas done, Mayer filed a lengthy231-page brief attacking the validityof the ordinances. Hatch writes thatat that moment, “the doors to thecourtroom were flung open and aprocession of bellboys and porters[entered] loaded down with piles oflaw books that they heaped ondefense counsel’s table.” Levy Mayercontinued to argue his case beforean enthralled audience and acurious Judge.

The essence of Mayer’sargument, which the researchsupported, was that the ordinanceswere invalid because the State ofIllinois had not actually delegated toChicago the power to enact itsordinances (this was before HomeRule was in fact granted to Chicagoby the State legislature ).

After a thirteen hour presen-tation, Mayer concluded his caseand moved for a directed verdict.The Judge agreed. Without thebenefit of the ordinances, the Judgedirected the jury to return a not-guilty verdict in the manslaughtercase, stating: “If it were in my powerto bring back life and put the bloomof youth into the cheeks of theseyoung girls by incarcerating thedefendant in this case in thepenitentiary for the term of hisnatural life, I would do it; but Icannot.” It had taken two and a halfyears to conclude the trial. LevyMayer’s strategy had earned him aprominent place in Chicago judicialhistory, though the results weresharply criticized by many, in legaljournals and the media.

For the victims and theirrelatives there was now onlythe consolation that civil

actions might be more successful.Numerous suits had been broughtafter the fire, but after the longdelay it appears that “most familiesof the dead and injured received notso much as a dime for compen-sation.” Hatch reports that therewere rumors that the Klaw-Erlangerorganization eventually paid smallamounts to relatives of the victims,but there was never any realevidence of that. In 1909, there wasa report that Fuller ConstructionCo. had paid $750 in thirty cases,but noted that over 400 cases werestill pending. Since such suits areusually handled by plaintiffs’attorneys on contingency basis andsince these attorneys knew theywould be up against Levy Mayer inChicago and other powerful lawyersin New York representing Klaw-Erlanger, it is doubtful that anylitigation succeeded.

As for life insurance on thevictims’ lives, U.S. Judge KenesawMountain Landis ruled in a “theaterliability suit” that the IroquoisTheatre was not responsible forfailure to comply with the Chicagoordinances providing for fireequipment on appliances of theTheatre. Landis, incidentally, is theJudge who would become the firstCommissioner of Major LeagueBaseball following the “Black Sox”scandal. Landis was responsible forthe expulsion of a number ofChicago White Sox players forallegedly “throwing” games in the1919 World Series. The attorneyrepresenting Charles Comiskey, theowner of the White Sox, was LevyMayer.

The Iroquois Theatre fire hadenhanced Mayer’s fame as one ofChicago’s ablest attorneys, thoughnot necessarily the most popular.

Levy Mayercontinued from page 5


His career is covered in a biography written byEdgar Lee Masters of Spoon River Anthology fame. Thedetails of the Iroquois Fire are amply covered in thebook, but other aspects of Mayer’s life are notmentioned. There is not a single mention of his Jewishheritage or the simple fact that he was Jewish.

H.L. Meites, however, in his classic work, History ofthe Jews of Chicago, mentions Levy Mayer a number oftimes and includes a summary of his life. In the chapteron leading Chicago Jewish lawyers, Meites also notesthat Mayer served as Secretary of the Zion LiterarySociety, which was “the big cultural and social force inChicago during the 1870s and 80s, and held crowdedmeetings every Friday night at Zion Temple.”

Meites also comments that Mayer attainednationwide fame as a lawyer, “though with the passingof years, sad to state, he became estranged from Jewishefforts.” Meites does report, however, that in 1916Mayer was Chairman of a large public fund-raisinggathering at the Auditorium Theatre to help Jews madedestitute by World War I. Meites writes that theAuditorium event followed a dinner the night before atthe home of Julius Rosenwald.

L evy Mayer died on August 14, 1922, some sayfrom overwork. He was a workaholic, completelyengrossed in his law practice up to the last day of

his life. Since his wife and two daughters were away inEurope at the time of his death, the funeral service wasnot held until their return on August 24.

A memorial was held at Sinai Temple, attended by ahuge assemblage of leading personalities, mostly fromthe legal profession and the business world. Abraham L.Erlanger of Iroquois Fire fame was there.

The eulogies were numerous and full of tribute.One eulogy contained an interesting sentiment: “WhatDisraeli achieved in England, Mayer matched inAmerica.” He was interred in the family mausoleum atRosehill Cemetery.

The Sentinel in its August 18, 1922 edition carried astory on Mayer’s passing under the headline “LevyMayer, Noted Jewish Lawyer Dead.” It noted thatMayer had made gifts to a number of Jewish charities inhis lifetime. “His residence[s were] a palatial suite in theBlackstone Hotel [and] a summer home and large farmin Manomet, Mass. The fortune of Mr. Mayer isestimated at $25,000,000...” ❖

WALTER ROTH is President of the Chicago Jewish Historical Society.

Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington Commemorates Ben

Hecht Pageant We Will Never DieA special program marking the 60th anniversary of We Will Never Die—

A Mass Memorial to the Two Million Dead in Europe was presented onThursday, April 10, at the Rayburn Building in Washington D.C.

CJHS has a strong connection to this program in that President WalterRoth first suggested it to the Washington Society. (Mr. Roth has extensivelyresearched and written about the pageant, and a chapter on it is included inhis recently published book, Looking Backward.)

The program told the story of the collaborative work of controversialactivist Peter Bergson, Hollywood’s leading screenwriter Ben Hecht, andHollywood luminaries who produced this performance to call attention tothe plight of Europe’s Jews.

A welcome from Honorary Committee Chair Representative TomLantos, Democrat of California, himself a Holocaust survivor, opened theprogram. The main speaker was Dr. Rafael Medoff, author, with David S.Wyman, of the new book, A Race against Death: Peter Bergson, America, andthe Holocaust, who shared his insights about Peter Bergson, Ben Hecht,artist Arthur Szyk, and the impact of We Will Never Die.

The program also included a display of images from the originalprogram at Constitution Hall, a selection of readings from the originalpageant script, and showcase film of the pageant that has survived. ❖

Save the Date! Sunday, June 8—Labor Zionist Allianceof Chicago to HonorClare Greenberg

A musical reception forClare Greenberg will be heldon Sunday, June 8, at 2:00p.m., at the Women’s Club ofEvanston, 1702 Chicago Ave.

She is being honored bythe LZA for her years of workin behalf of the State of Israel.Appropriately, an Israeli cellistis to be the featured musicalartist at the reception.

Mrs. Greenberg is a CJHSactivist. A long-time memberof our Board, she served asrecording secretary for tenyears, and currently chairs ourmembership committee.

Admission is $18.00. Forfurther information phone(847) 675-1677.


Babette Mandel: Portrait of a Philanthropist

By Joy Kingsolver

FROM THE

CHICAGO JEWISH

archives

B abette Mandel (1842-1945), great-niece ofMichael Reese and wife of one of the foundersof Mandel Brothers department store, came to

Chicago at the age of three and grew up to become“one of the foremost woman philanthropists ofChicago,” as H.L. Meites expressed it. Her parents,Emanuel Frank and Elise Reese Frank, left Aufhausenin Bavaria in the summer of 1852, drawn by hopes ofgreater prosperity.

Michael Reese, an uncle then living in California,encouraged them to come to America and set asidefunds for their support. After a journey by ship andstagecoach that took several weeks, the Franks and theirten children arrived in Chicago on Erev Yom Kippur.

The family settled in ahouse on Clark Street north ofMadison. Sadly, in 1855Emanuel Frank was killed in anaccident, and though sheexcelled at school, Babette wasforced to spend much of herchildhood helping to maintainthe household.

On April 18, 1871, whenshe was 29, Babette marriedEmanuel Mandel. Emanuel’sbrothers, Leon and Simon, hadfounded a dry goods store withLeon Klein in 1855. Thebusiness was reorganized as theMandel Brothers store whenKlein retired and Emanuel wasbrought in as a third partner.

The Mandel Brothers storewas then located near Clarkand Van Buren Streets. Whenthe Chicago Fire destroyed thebuilding in October 1871, justsix months after Emanuel andBabette were married, theMandels re-established theirstore on the South Side.

In 1875 they moved to the Colonnade Building onState and Madison, owned by Marshall Field. Intent onbuilding up State Street, Field persuaded the Mandelsto stay by means of a generous, long-term lease, andsoon the business was flourishing again.

The Mandels were active members of Sinai Temple,and in 1888, at a meeting held at Sinai, Leon andEmanuel were among those who pledged money tofound the Jewish Manual Training School (later theJewish Training School). The idea behind the Schoolwas to give immigrants manual skills that would enablethem to support themselves, while also promotingAmericanization. Located on the West Side, the Schooltaught cooking, sewing, woodworking, English and

citizenship to Eastern Euro-pean immigrants.

Babette Mandel wasprominent among those whoorganized the School, at firstserving as a director, and thenas its president. The JewishTraining School closed in1912; the inrush of immigrantsthat had made it so essentialwas largely over by then.

C hicago Lying-In Hos-pital and Dispensarywas founded in 1895

with the help of BabetteMandel. She also served on itsboard. This was a maternityclinic at first housed in fourrooms on Maxwell Street. Itwas later renamed the ChicagoMaternity Center.

Inspired by the success ofHull House, Mrs. Mandel andothers established the MaxwellStreet Settlement in 1893 as acultural center for newly-arrived Jewish immigrants.

Babette Mandel around the time of herwedding, 1871. Chicago Jewish Archives.


Babette Mandel was a leader in many other organi-zations as well: Chicago Women’s Aid, Sarah Greene-baum Lodge (United Order of True Sisters), theChicago Section of the [National] Council of JewishWomen, and others.

T he achievement she is best known for, however,is the establishment of the West SideDispensary in 1903. Originally opened in 1899

at Clinton and Judd Streets, this building wasinadequate, and Babette Mandel gave $10,000 to re-establish it at Maxwell and Morgan Streets. Most of thepatients were Russian or East European immigrantsfrom the West Side. In 1910, she again gave a large sumof money to establish the Dispensary in new quarters-and at this time, the Dispensary was dedicated to thememory of her husband, Emanuel Mandel, who haddied in an accident in 1908. Mrs. Mandel continued tosupport the clinic with large gifts over the years, and in1928 it was incorporated into Michael Reese Hospitalas the Emanuel and Babette Mandel Clinic.

Most of Babette Mandel’s charity work was carriedout while she raised their three children: Frank, Edwin,and Rose. When she died on March 12, 1945, she left$50,000 to the Jewish Charities of Chicago and$25,000 each to Michael Reese Hospital and theChicago Maternity Center, among other bequests.

Her son Edwin became president of MandelBrothers department store and was also president ofMichael Reese Hospital. In 1960, Mandel Brothers wassold to the Weiboldt Corporation, which closed thestore in the 1970s.

At a time when women were not expected to workoutside the home, Babette Mandel, like many womenof her generation, found a vocation and purpose thatallowed her to extend her role as mother beyond theconfines of the home. Her significance lies in the wayshe used her position of wealth and privilege to help theJewish community at a time when immigrants were indesperate need.

Babette Mandel is one of many women featured inthe current exhibition, “Shaping History: ChicagoJewish Women in the Twentieth Century,” now onview in the Gallery of Chicago Jewish History atSpertus Institute of Jewish Studies. The Gallery islocated on the 6th floor and is open M-Th 9-5, F 9-3,and Sunday 11-4:30 (for Sunday access, go to the AsherLibrary reference desk on the 5th floor). ❖

JOY KINGSOLVER is Director, Chicago Jewish Archives, Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies.

Report on CJHS Open Meeting: The Shomrim Society of Illinois

“The History of the Shomrim Society” was thesubject of our program on Sunday, February 9 atTemple Sholom. The guest speakers were Lt. BruceRottner of the Chicago Police Department andRabbi Moshe Wolf, chaplain of the CPD.

Lt. Rottner is past president of the ShomrimSociety of Illinois, an organization of Jewish lawenforcement officers. The Hebrew word forwatchman is shomer and the plural is shomrim.

The first Shomrim Society was founded inNew York City in 1924 at a time when Jews werejust beginning to enter the law enforcement fieldin numbers. A national Conference of Shomrimwas formed in 1958.

Lt. Rottner was impressed by a collection ofessays he read in college, by Arthur Niederhoff ofJohn Jay College. Included was “The JewishPatrolman.” Jewish immigrant mothers, it seems,were embarassed by their sons’ going into lawenforcement. They would say, “My son is apoliceman, but he teaches in the trainingdivision,” or “He works with children.” (To them,“cop son” sounded too much like koptsn—theYiddish word for pauper or beggar.)

Bruce Rottner’s college-educated parents stoodbehind his career choice. His late mother servedfor many years as librarian at Anshe EmetSynagogue. (As for his sports hero father, MickeyRottner, see the article on page 11.)

The local Shomrim Society was founded in1959 by Lt. Peter Harlib of the CPD. In 1967sheriff ’s police and suburban officers wereadmitted to membership. Women were admittedin 1975, the first year that women of the CPDwent on patrol—they were formerly matrons oryouth officers. There are 500–600 Jewish officersin the CPD. The Shomrim Society numbers 300.

The organization sponsors social events andsupports philanthropic causes. Gun afficionadosparticipate in the annual Lox and Bagel Shoot.(“That’s how the holes get in the bagels,” Lt.Rottner once explained to his young daughter.)

Rabbi Wolf spoke of how, after 9/11,firefighters were lauded as heroes, but policeofficers were often forgotten. He reminded us tohonor those who “serve and protect.”

Sonny Saken(1916--1994) Following areexcerpts from letters andclippings sent to us fromCJHS member Leonard(Babe) Saken of NorthHollywood, California,abouthis late brother.

N athan (Sonny) Saken ispictured fielding a 16-

inch softball, something hedid expertly as a Windy Cityplayer, along with HermieCohen, Marty Singer, BenBranman, Shorty Lipmanand dozens of others.

He was a gifted all-around athlete, beginning asa little kid on the West Sideat Lawson playground.There he met Frank Heiden-reich, the legendary directorof playgrounds, who becameSonny’s athletic mentor andclose colleague in later years.

When the Saken familymoved to the North Side, Sonny starred on the SennHigh School baseball team. He later played minorleague ball at Freeport, Illinois. He was on the firstB’nai B’rith basketball team to compete against theCYO. Although he was a fine student, the direconditions of the Depression required him to work andhelp with family expenses, and he didn’t go to college.

Mr. Saken became a successful businessman. Heformed the Macy Jewelry Company on Van BurenStreet, later renamed S&N Jewelers and located onDearborn Street. His partner was his softball pal, Ben(Nicky) Branman. For a time they catered to the sportsprofessionals, and their store was decorated withautographed photos of those celebrities. A Cubs or Soxplayer who hit a home run was rewarded by S&N witha gift to charity in his name or a piece of jewelry.

He was a founder of the B’nai B’rith Sports Lodge,where he helped create scholarships for needy andworthy young men. He was posthumously inductedinto the Lodge’s Jewish Athletes Hall of Fame in 1996.

Through a generous memorial donation from theSaken family to the park district of Highland Park, thebaseball diamond in that suburb’s Lincoln Park hasbeen beautified and renamed Sonny Saken Field.


Sonny Saken. Collectionof Leonard B. Saken.

Commandos continued from page 1

League and the champions of the Catholic League.(James S. Kearns, Chicago Sun, March 28, 1943.)

“Junior” and “Senior” were not school year classi-fications. Since the 1920s the Chicago Public Schoolsand the Catholic Schools had organized basketballleagues. In order to involve as many students aspossible, two varsity divisions were created, classifiedby weight—“lights” and “heavies”—but that plandidn’t work. Height became the criterion—Juniors,under 5’7” in the Public League and under 5’8” in theCatholic League, and Seniors, the taller boys.

T he West Side, specifically Lawndale, was aterrific training ground for young basketballplayers. Instruction was provided at two

popular boys’ clubs—the American Boys’ Common-wealth (ABC), funded by Jewish Charities, and theBoys’ Brotherhood Republic (BBR), funded by privatephilanthropists, where club and league play preparedyoungsters for higher-level competition. The JPI(Jewish People’s Institute), a complete recreation andsocial center, had a fine gymnasium. Facilities werealso available at the church-funded Marcy Center, theNathaniel Institute (NI), and the city parks.

In the autumn of 1939 a Marshall High Juniorteam with that background worked out for the firsttime under their new basketball coach, LouWeintraub. They went undefeated that season, and thenext, and the next, and again! Marshall Junior teamsamassed 80 straight wins before the 1943 game at theStadium. (The streak went on for a record 98 games.)

Coach Weintraub and the physical educationdepartment had instituted a conditioning program theprevious year, to prepare all the boys in the school fortheir future service in the armed forces. When aBritish commando raid on the French coast madeheadlines, the coach was inspired to name studentswho passed his rigorous program “commandos” andalso to suggest that the nickname of Marshall athleticteams be toughened—from Orioles to Commandos.

The 1943 championship twin bill was played in athrilling patriotic atmosphere. The teams wereoutfitted in contrasting red, white, and blue satinuniforms and warm-up jackets. The Seniors of MountCarmel trounced Kelvyn Park 48-24. Mount Carmel’sJuniors used a stalling defense against the usuallyhigh-scoring Marshall team, but the Commandos beatthem at their own game, 21-12. —Bev Chubat

Thanks to Martin “Red” Mottlow. His book, Fast Break to Glory: Marshall High School’s 98-GameBasketball Winning Streak (self-published, paper, 83 pages), provided the basis for this article.

Ruffy Silverstein(1914-1980) Following are excerptsfrom a column by Bill Gleason in theChicago Sun-Times, June 26, 1979.

“Ralph (Ruffy) Silverstein hadstarted wrestling as a juvenile

at Lawson playground, on 13thStreet between Homan and St.Louis. He polished his skills at theBBR, the JPI, and Crane Tech.

“Dr. Ralph Gradman, one ofSilverstein’s teammates…said theother day, ‘He had a very low centerof gravity and tremendous strengthin his upper body. There wasn’tanybody he couldn’t take downfrom the standing position…’

“Eddie Gold of the Sun-Timessports staff recalled a time a fewyears later when Ruffy was theswimming coach at the JPI. ‘Hewould lie flat on the floor and let 10or 12 of us young kids jump on himand pin him. Four on his ankles, sixon his chest, two on his thighs.Then he’d slowly rise from the matand catapult us all over the room.’

“In his prime Ruffy weighed


Mickey RottnerFollowing are notes from my phoneinterview with Mickey Rottner onMarch 24, 2003, the day after hecelebrated his 84th birthday.—B.C.

Mickey Rottner played highschool basketball at Tuley,

graduating in 1936. In the depth ofthe Depression, as the youngest ofnine children raised by theirmother, he couldn’t afford college.He worked at any job he could getuntil 1939, when he was awarded abasketball scholarship to LoyolaUniversity Chicago.

Mr. Rottner was an outstandingbasketball player at Loyola, and wasnamed All-American in 1942, theyear he enlisted in the Army.

After four and a half years in theservice, during which he played ballfor top Army teams, he returned toLoyola, attended night school onthe GI Bill, and completed hiscredits for a degree in Economics.

A new pro basketball league wasformed in 1946-47, the BasketballAssociation of America, (later tobecome the NBA). The teamsplayed in large arenas in big citiesand looked to sign college stars whohad made their reputations in thosesame venues. One of the charterteams was the Chicago Stags. Theirhome was the Stadium, and theysigned Loyola’s Mickey Rottner.

The Stags won the WesternDivision title, but lost the champi-onship to the Philadelphia Warriors.

Ruffy Silverstein.Evelyn Silverstein, Ruffy’s widow,

gave us this photo and the Gleasoncolumn some years ago. Evelyn

Silverstein died on March 6, 2002.

Three pro seasons were enoughfor veteran Mickey Rottner. (Hiscurrent NBA pension is larger thanhis pro contract of $8,000.) Heretired as a player and became ascout for the Stags’ successors, thePackers and the Zephyrs. Amongthe owners were prominent ChicagoJewish businessmen Charles Lubin,Dave Trager, Sam Karlov, HenryMann, and Art Ludwig.

As Mr. Rottner closed out hispro career he was honored by theB’nai B’rith with a “Night” at theChicago Stadium, and he was giventhe gift of a car. The keys werepresented by his dear friend, Rev.William A. Finnegan, S.J., dean ofLoyola’s college of arts and sciences—to “Michael O’Rottner.” ❖

225 pounds. He was only 5’-8.” Hewas near his prime when he wrestledfor the University of Illinois. Inthree years of varsity competition hedid not lose a match. He wasNCAA champion and nationalAAU champion.

“Ruffy’s wife, Evelyn, remem-bered that his superiority enabledhim to introduce showmanship tointercollegiate wrestling…

“He became a professionalwrestler after he was graduated fromIllinois [in 1937]. Pro wrestling stillhad credibility then…and Ruffy wasthe ideal ‘good guy.’

“After service in World War IISilverstein returned to wrestling[but]…he was too good, too muchthe pure wrestler to become worldchampion. Ruffy became a Chicagoschool teacher, passing on what hehad learned on the playgrounds, theboys’ clubs and the schools of theWest Side.

“About two years ago, as he waspreparing to retire from teaching, hebegan to notice a loss of coordi-nation. In November of 1977

Ruffy’s physical problem wasdiagnosed as amyotrophic lateralsclerosis, ‘Lou Gehrig’s Disease.’…”


Oral History Excerpt: SOL BRANDZEL

Sol Brandzel Z’L in 1984.Chicago Jewish Archives.

Attorney Sol Brandzel, 89, died Wednesday, March 19 in his Lincoln Parkhome after suffering two strokes in the last year. He was a former president of theChicago Board of Education, a former chair of the city’s Board of Ethics, and aprogressive and gentle union reformer with the Amalgamated Clothing and TextileWorkers, of which he was international director until his retirement in 1980.

Mr. Brandzel, with his late wife, Ruth, was a founding member of the ChicagoJewish Historical Society. He was a member of our board of directors until recentyears, and on our advisory board until his death. He served as on-screen moderatorof the CJHS Stashover videotape, a project he organized. It was an interview of tenformer residents of the Staszow area (see below) who had survived their concen-tration camp experiences and later became Chicago residents. He addressed ourDecember 5, 1994 open meeting on the topic “Jewish Labor Union History.”

Mr. Brandzel is survived by his devoted life partner, Esther Zackler. Othersurvivors include daughters Merle Brandzel Geller and Lisa Fierce, son Joel,brother Louis, and five grandchildren.

This interview took place on Sunday, January 29, 1984at the home of Sol and Ruth Brandzel. The CJHSinterviewer was Sidney Sorkin.

CJHS Mr. Brandzel, where were you born?

SB I was born in Poland, in a little town calledStaszow [STA-shov]…

CJHS And what year was that?

SB 1913. The year was recorded, but usuallymeasured only as “summertime” or “winter.” I chosemy birthday arbitrarily—June 5, 1913—when we cameto this country in 1920.

CJHS And your entire family came at that time?

SB No, my father had been here. He had comeoriginally around 1907 or 1908. I don’t know why hecame to Chicago—there must have been somelandsmen here at the time. He got a job at HartSchaffner & Marx, although he had been a shoemakerin Europe, not a tailor, and he became involved inorganizing the workers there. In 1910 they had thestrike that led to the formation of the unions, and hewas ostracized—blacklisted—for his union activities.He couldn’t get any job in the tailoring trade, so hewent back to Europe in late 1910 or 1911.

He chose to return to small town life in Poland,where he didn’t have the freedom that he had here. Hewas unhappy after having a taste of what this countrywas like, although it was hard work and all that. So heleft for America again, around 1913, before I was born,intending to bring his whole family here. But the war

intervened, and I never saw my father until I got here. Icame with two older brothers—I was then six and theywere nine and twelve—and my mother.

CJHS And you came right to Chicago?

SB We came via steerage to Ellis Island—the wholeimmigrant bit—in April of 1920. In fact we celebratedPesakh at Ellis Island. The Pesakh we celebrated therewas notable for me. It was the first time I had tasted anegg. I remember vividly that first taste of an egg.

Ellis Island was quite an experience. I was originallyrejected. I was malnourished and had a big [distended?]stomach. They were undecided about whether or not Iwas going to be admitted into the country. If not, mymother was not going to come, and I doubt whethermy brothers would either. But after I was separatedfrom my family for a few days in the hospital facilitieson Ellis Island, [the doctors] finally decided to pass me.We came to Chicago via train from New York.…

CJHS Do you remember where you lived—your firstresidence—in Chicago?

SB We lived in Wicker Park, which at that timewas a very heavily Polish Jewish area—Orthodox. It hadto be Orthodox because most of the Jewish people justcame off the boat. With its little stores and shtibelekhand the people who lived in that area, it was like aPolish shtetl relocated in America.

CJHS Would you recount your education?

SB I can’t recall ever not knowing English, but Iobviously could not have known the language when I


started kindergarten. My father spoke English, but witha strong accent. He had virtually no education, and mymother had no education whatsoever—not in Poland,and certainly not here. At home they spoke Yiddish.

My father could read the English section of theYiddish Forverts, but had to struggle with it. One of thereasons he never attained a high office in his union,[the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America], wasbecause he could not read and write and speak a goodEnglish. Those were important requirements.

After about four years we moved to a building at711 North Monticello, which my father and hisbrother-in-law had bought. That was interesting to me,because my father, although he was not philosophical,understood fully what being a socialist was. He knewthe difference between a worker and an owner—and Icould never conceive of him as an owner.

The neighborhood was largely Italian, my motherhad to travel to the old neighborhood to buy kosherfood, and I was harassed and sometimes beaten [by theItalian kids]. It didn’t make sense to live there. So aftera year they sold the building and we moved to LoganSquare, a congenial Yiddish neighborhood, where welived on the first floor of a three-flat my father anduncle owned. It was their last capitalist venture.

I graduated from Chopin grammar and went toCrane Tech High School. I would walk to Crane alongOakley Boulevard, and pass through two neighbor-hoods, Italian and black, both of which frightened me.Interestingly enough, I received virtually no harassmentfrom the black community.

CJHS Were there any special activities or interests thatyou had as a teenager or young man?

SB I loved baseball—softball and hardball. TheJewish boys played Sunday mornings on a sandlot nearTuley High. I played semi-pro during the summer for acouple of years in Peoria and places like that.

My family led me to my love for classical music—my older brother, particularly. He had a fairly decenttenor voice and was given lessons for a while. He usedto be in the chorus of the old Civic Opera and sang inthe synagogue on the High Holidays. I listened to agreat deal of music at home as a result of his involve-ment. He bought a piano for the house and arrangedfor me to take lessons from the daughter of a landsman.

CJHS And after you graduated from Crane?

SB I went to Crane Junior College, in the samebuilding, for two years.…Since I was the only one inmy family who could handle a screwdriver, I beganattending night classes at Lewis Institute, which later

became part of the Illinois Institute of Technology. Butthen I decided to study law.…

CJHS What law school did you attend?

SB I went to DePaul night school for four years,graduating in 1938. I worked from 1930 to 1938 at avariety of clothing companies…I was conditioned agreat deal by what I saw in those factories. The workerswere relatively well paid as compared to other industrialworkers at the time, since they were among the firstwho were organized, but they worked at a pace that wasamazing and heartbreaking. True, they did have a littletime for themselves—a rest period in the morning anda break in the afternoon—but unlike a break you get inan office when you work on an hourly basis, it was attheir own expense. It was piecework.

CJHS What impelled you to go into law?

SB I always wanted to work for the union—to be alabor lawyer. In fact, when I graduated from law schoolI applied to [the Amalgamated] for a job. But they feltit was not ethical to let children of union officersbecome involved. Since my father was an officer—albeit an unpaid officer, a shop steward—I was turneddown. It wasn’t until years later, in 1950, when theunion was short of potential future leadership that theysought me out.

CJHS Did their sense of ethics come from Judaism?

SB Well, the people I was applying to wereprimarily the Jewish leadership—men like Sam Levin,the leader of the union in the City of Chicago, andvice-president of the International—and incidentally, amember of the Chicago Board of Education back in the1930s—and Frank Rosen, secretary-treasurer of theInternational. I think they had a general sense of socialethics and secondarily a Jewish identification.…

I was admitted to the bar in June of 1938… Therewas a great deal of unemployment, so I applied to theChicago Relief Administration. They hired me, but notas a lawyer. I was an intake worker, taking care of all theemergencies that [desperately needy] people mighthave. It could be a person was short of food or did nothave a place to stay. It was a valuable experience—reallyon the front line of needs in the city of Chicago.

One important thing—it was at that office I metRuth, my wife, who was then a student in the School ofSocial Work at the University of Chicago…

In June of 1939 I got my first law job—with theNational Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. Iapplied for the job and sought the assistance of SamLevin, and through him, [received a recommendationfrom] Sidney Hillman… continued on page 14


CJHS Mourns Elaine SulowayElaine Fox Suloway, 81, of Chicago and formerly

of Oak Park, died of kidney failure on March 25 inKindred Hospital Lake Shore in Chicago.

In earlier years Mrs.Suloway had played anintegral role in CJHS,serving on the board ofdirectors, as recordingsecretary, and as amember of the publica-tions committee. Shewas a diligent andexacting proofreaderand typist for ChicagoJewish History duringthe decade that herhusband Irwin Sulowaywas its editor.

Elaine and Irwinhad gone to high school

and college together, and were married in 1947. Ill health forced their retirement from CJH, but

they continued their involvement in the Society onour advisory board.

It was so good to seethem, smiling, arm-in-arm, at the CJHS 25thanniversary program atSpertus last November.

For over 30 yearsElaine Suloway recordedhundreds of books forEducational Tape Re-cordings for the Blind.

She is survived byhusband Irwin, sonStephen, daughter AnneE. (Timothy Baker),and grandson AsherSuloway-Baker.

My job in the NLRB legaldepartment lasted for about ayear…until the budget of the laborboard was reduced, because of theexpansion of the military effort.Many of the socialists were havingtheir budgets reduced.

Fortunately, I had taken theCivil Service exam, and after abouta month I was hired by the IllinoisDepartment of Labor in the Officeof Unemployment Compensation…where I worked until I wasdrafted on June 11, 1942.

I was sent to Officer’s CandidateSchool and graduated as a SecondLieutenant….They shipped me outto the Quartermaster Depot inJersery City, NJ where my primaryduty was as a Labor RelationsOfficer…to resolve any labordispute that impeded warproduction. Every now and then we

were ordered to give priority to the“Manhattan Project.” None of ushad any idea what it was about.

We used to have prisoners ofwar, mainly German and Japanese,used primarily as farm workers. Iremember going to an agriculturalcamp that was being given an awardfor production and seeing how themigrant workers lived, as opposedto the way we were taking care ofthe POWs. I recall one time, amajor company…I came back andtold [my superiors] not to givethem an Army-Navy Award becauseof the way they treated theirworkers. I had my head chewed off.

In September or October of1950 the president of the unionhappened to run into my father atthe Amalgamated Bank, then onthe second floor of a building onthe southeast corner of Monroe andDearborn. The union hierarchy wasgetting older—there was no youngJewish leadership coming in. Sothey began making inquiries of

Elaine Suloway Z’L and Irwin Suloway in 1987. Photograph from The Chicago Jewish Historical

Society: A Ten Year History, 1977-1987.

their trusted assistants. Where werethe young people? As soon as hefound out about me, he wrote me aletter. In a matter of weeks I washired. At long last, I was hired to dowhat I wanted to do. ❖

Sol Brandzelcontinued from page 13

CJHS WelcomesNew MembersMr. & Mrs. Harold BlechmanDr. Morris FishmanMr. & Mrs. Aaron GordonShirley GerardGeoffrey GrossmanMargaret KuhnFrieda LandauAllan LesserLily LevyAbner J. MikvaSherman RosenMr. & Mrs. Calvin SutkerMr. & Mrs. Joseph TesherHoward Warady


Summer Tours 2003: Reservations

Make check payable to: Chicago Jewish Historical SocietyMAIL TO: LEAH AXELROD · 2100 LINDEN AVENUE · HIGHLAND PARK, IL 60035-2516

Name

Address

Phone (Day)

Phone (Eve)

❏ Aug. 24 Heartland $60/70

❏ July 20 Back Yard $40/50

❏ June 29 Jewish Roots $30/40

Membership: ❏ ❏ DSI ❏ None

❏ Marriott

The Chicago Jewish Historical Society––in cooperation with the Dawn Schuman Institute–– has planned three exciting summer day trips to Chicago area and downstate Illinois sites rich in Jewish history.

Tours are conducted in the comfort of an air-conditioned bus with restroom facilities.

CHICAGO JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Summer Tours 2003

CJHS

SUNDAY, JUNE 29Chicago Jewish Roots GUIDE: DR. IRVING CUTLER.

The author of The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb leads a sentimental journeyto the Maxwell Street area, Lawndale, Logan Square and Humboldt Park.

PICKUP 12:00 noon — Bernard Horwich JCC, 3003 West Touhy — Return 5:00 pm$30/Member of CJHS or DSI $40/Nonmember

SUNDAY, JULY 20In Our Own Back Yard GUIDE: LEAH AXELROD.

Visit Aurora and Naperville synagogues. Tour Jewish Waldheim with the administrator, Ilene Bass, and learn themeaning of traditional Jewish gravestone symbolism and design. Discover the synagogues and organizations ofearly Chicago, represented by sections in this historic cemetery. Bring a picnic lunch—cold drinks provided.

PICKUPS AT TWO LOCATIONS: 9:00 am — Bernard Horwich JCC, 3003 West Touhy — Return 5:00 pm9:30 am — Marriott Hotel, 540 North Michigan (Rush Street Entrance) — Return 4:30 pm $40/Member of CJHS or DSI $50/Nonmember

SUNDAY, AUGUST 24Jews in the Illinois Heartland GUIDE: LEAH AXELROD.

Travel across the prairie to Bloomington, Champaign and Danville. Visit the synagogues and hear the history ofeach community. The University of Illinois is the home of the first Hillel, founded in 1929. We will tour the UIUCcampus and meet with faculty. Bring a picnic lunch—cold drinks provided. Dinner included.

PICKUPS AT TWO LOCATIONS: 8:00 am — Bernard Horwich JCC, 3003 West Touhy — Return 9:00 pm8:30 am — Marriott Hotel, 540 North Michigan (Rush Street Entrance) — Return 8:30 pm $60/Member of CJHS or DSI $70/Nonmember

For Information phone: CJHS Leah Axelrod (847)432-7003 or DSI (847)509-8282

Advance Payment Required.Amount enclosed: $

Register Today!Last Year’sTours Sold Out!

❏ BHJCC

✄

Pickup at:

❏ Marriott❏ BHJCCPickup at:

618 South Michigan Avenue • Chicago, IL 60605


Look to the rock from which you were hewn

MembershipMembership in the Society is opento all interested persons and organi-zations and includes a subscriptionto Chicago Jewish History, discountson Society tours and at the SpertusMuseum store, and the opportunityto learn and inform others aboutChicago Jewish history and itspreservation.

Dues StructureMembership runs on a calendaryear, from January throughDecember. New members joiningafter July 1 are given an initialmembership through December ofthe following year.

Life Membership...................$1000Historian...................................500Scholar ......................................250Sponsor .....................................100Patron or Family .........................50Individual or Senior Family.........35Synagogue or Organization .........25Senior Individual or Student .......20

Make checks payable to the ChicagoJewish Historical Society, and mailto our office at 618 South MichiganAvenue, Chicago, IL 60605. Dues are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

� PROGRAM COMMITTEEDo you have a great idea for a meetingtopic? The Program Committee wouldwelcome your input. Join in theplanning, implementation, and presentation of our bi-monthly andannual meetings. Call CharlesBernstein (773)324-6362.

� MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEEThe Society’s membership continues togrow, and you could help us introduceChicago Jewish history to even morepeople. Share your ideas and energy!Call Clare Greenberg (773)725-7330.

� TOUR COMMITTEEBring your knowledge of our area tothe planning, enrichment, andpromotion of our popular roster oftours on Jewish history. Contact LeahAxelrod (847)432-7003.

� EDITORIAL COMMITTEEContribute your writing to ourquarterly publication, Chicago JewishHistory. We are eager to receive articlesand memoirs from our members—reports and reminiscences of events andunique personal experiences in yourown Chicago Jewish history. ContactEditor Bev Chubat (773)525-4888.


About the SocietyWhat We AreThe Chicago Jewish HistoricalSociety was founded in 1977 and isin part an outgrowth of local Jewishparticipation in the AmericanBicentennial Celebration of 1976.Muriel Robin was the foundingpresident. The Society has as itspurpose the discovery, preservationand dissemination of informationconcerning the Jewish experience inthe Chicago area.

What We DoThe Society seeks out, collects andpreserves appropriate written,spoken and photographic records;publishes historical information,holds public meetings at whichvarious aspects of Chicago Jewishhistory are treated; mountsappropriate exhibits; and offerstours of Jewish historical sites.

Volunteer OpportunitiesWould you like to become moreinvolved in the activities of theChicago Jewish Historical Society?We’d love to have you! Following arethe various committees on whichyou can serve. Contact the Societyat (312)663-5634 or any of theChairpersons listed here.

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Documents

chicago jewish historychicagojewishhistory.org/pdf/2003/CJH.1.2003.pdf · Left: Gravestone of Myrtle and Theodore Shabad. Inscribed: “Beloved and only children of Henry and Fanny