Object of the Month: October 2011

Archives Record
Object #: NNCF48
Description: Photograph of the exterior an early Giant supermarket, 1940s. Courtesy of Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation

Background: Nehemiah Cohen, a grocery store owner, and Samuel Lehrman, a food distributor, met in Pennsylvania, at Lehrman’s Harrisburg Wholesale Grocery Co. warehouse.  Eventually, they partnered to start a supermarket business and chose Washington for their new business venture.  They hoped federal workers would provide a strong market even during the Depression.

Samuel Lehrman and Nehemiah Cohen
shake hands

Their first Giant supermarket opened at Georgia Avenue & Park Road, NW, in February 1936.  Giant Food soon became one of the leading businesses in the Washington region as well a leader in corporate philanthropy.  By the 1950s, Giant Food had grown into a regional chain with more than 50 stores in the city and suburbs. Giant remained a locally owned family business until 1998 when it was sold to Royal Ahold, Inc.

Society archivists recently completed a five-year project funded by the Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation to preserve the history of Giant Food through oral histories and archival cataloging.  The Giant Food Archival Collection includes corporate records, correspondence, marketing and publicity files, and an extensive set of photographs and negatives. The project also includes 17 oral history interviews.  A selection of the photographs may be seen on the Jewish Historical Society’s online catalog here.

Birthday cake from Giant’s Heidi Bakery
made in celebration
of Israel’s bar-mitzvah birthday, 1961

Nehemiah Cohen’s granddaughter Nina Cohen, added Giant material to the Society’s archives earlier this year.  Her donation includes papers and photographs (such as the one seen here) documenting the activities and philanthropy of her grandfather as well as her father, Emanuel Cohen.

Join the Society at Adas Israel Congregation on Sunday, November 6, 2011, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., when we will celebrate the Giant Food Archival Project at our annual meeting. Visit our Programs page for more information!

L'Shana Tova/Happy New Year

May you have a year of health, happiness, and peace.

From the Board and Staff of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington and its Lillian & Albert Small Jewish Museum.

We hope to see you at an upcoming program!

Visitors from Everywhere

August and September seem to be our "high season" at the Lillian & Albert Small Jewish Museum. We've had several walk-in visitors each week, including some from overseas. In the last two months we've had the privilege of giving tours to people from:

• North Carolina
• Colorado
• California
• New York
• Michigan
• Pennsylvania
• Florida
• Missouri
• Slovenia
• Czech Republic
• The Netherlands
• Germany

A lovely couple from the Czech Republic sent me some nice photos after their tour, two of which I've posted here. It's been a great experience meeting people from so many places--I've learned a lot through the back-and-forth with our visitors.

Want to come visit our synagogue? Bring your friends or family when they're in town? Just get in touch--we'd love to have you visit.

And a Happy New Year to all!

Object of the Month: September 2011

Archives Record
Object #: 2001.07.1
Donor: Sol Lynn
Description: Flier for Aleph Zadik Aleph’s Yom Kippur dance, 1939

Background: Starting in 1933, the local Alpha Zadik Alpha (AZA), a Jewish boys' fraternity affiliated with B'nai B'rith, sponsored an annual post-Yom Kippur Dance.  AZA was one of one of the more than 60 fraternities, sororities, clubs, and Zionist youth groups around which the social lives of Washington's Jewish teenagers revolved for nearly half a century. These organizations provided settings where teens could mingle and forge an American identity.  Jewish teens canoed on the Potomac, danced in Glen Echo's pavilion, and organized Purim Balls at the Jewish Community Center.

Excluded from the sororities, fraternities, and clubs of their non-Jewish classmates, Jewish teenagers created their own social sphere blending their Jewish identity with secular activities.  AZA's mission was "to provide athletic, social, and educational programs, to serve both community and Judaic interest, and to host oratory and debate competitions." Members met on Sunday afternoons at the Jewish Community Center at 16th & Q Streets, NW.

In 1934, the local AZA hosted more than 500 members from across the country at the 11th annual national convention at the Willard Hotel.  Six years later, they welcomed some 300 members from neighboring states to the nation’s capital for a conference and party at the Raleigh Hotel (12th & Pennsylvania Ave, NW).  The four-day event included oratorical and debate contests and bowling and basketball tournaments, as well as a banquet and dance.

Do you have material documenting local Jewish teen life that you'd like to donate to the Jewish Historical Society’s collection?  Please contact us at info@jhsgw.org or (202) 789-0900.

Telling Jewish Washington's Story

Last week I was honored to visit Revitz House, part of Charles E. Smith Life Communities, to speak to the Haifa Group of Hadassah of Greater Washington. When I arrived in Rockville--unfortunately a few minutes late, thanks to the joys of Connecticut Avenue--I walked into a room full of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed people ready to learn--at 8 p.m.(!)--about the history of Jewish Washington, from 1795 to the present day.

Over the next 40 minutes, we exchanged in a lively give-and take. The group did not hesitate to ask questions, and many shared their memories with this 31-year-old non-native Washingtonian. I was sad to leave, as we were all ready to continue, even at 9 p.m.!

A special thanks to Marsha Werner, who arranged the talk. Want a speaker from JHSGW to come to your group? Just let us know!

Sending Books with Rabbi Howard Gorin

Rabbi Howard Gorin and me
with the donated books

A few weeks ago, we boxed up around 70 books about Judaism or Jewish history that we had accumulated in the office.  We wondered if we'd find one person who'd want them all, but we needn't have worried -- Rabbi Howard Gorin stepped up and very enthusiastically, too!

Not only does Rabbi Gorin serve the local congregation of Tikvat Israel, he's also involved Jewish communities throughout the world.  He'll sort through these books and send some to developing Jewish communities in Nigeria, some to a new Judaica collection in a university library in India, and he'll keep others for book sales, whose profits will help ship other books  When Rabbi Gorin picked up the books from our office, we were intrigued to learn about their potential futures.

If you're interested in Rabbi Gorin's various book projects, visit his website and read this article.

An Interactive Internship

This summer, I had the privilege to intern at the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington. I hope to one day work in a Jewish museum, and have served as an intern at the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee and as a volunteer docent at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. As a museum studies student with many interests, what attracted me most to the Society was the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects instead of being restricted to one department as is often the case at larger institutions. Some of my projects included:

• Developing a cumulative timeline of local Jewish history
• Adding new sections to an online exhibit
• Helping set up and take down traveling exhibits
• Leading tours of the historic Adas Israel synagogue
• Assisting with public programs and special events
• Collecting content for an informational fundraising packet

My experiences at JHSGW showed me how small museums meet the challenges that larger museums may never need to worry about. I was thoroughly impressed by the creativity staff members used to collect, preserve, and share local Jewish history to the public. The staff invited me to share my input and become part of the program-building team. I even got to go on staff field trips to visit the Jewish Museum of Maryland and the German-American Heritage Museum, where we shared ideas and experiences with our colleagues. This hands-on approach enabled me to apply what I learned in my scriptwriting, marketing, fundraising, and history classes to real-life situations and tasks in the museum. I really enjoyed being able to work with every member of the JHSGW staff at some point over the course of the summer, whether it was assembling mailings, brainstorming new organizational logos, or leading a tour. 

My favorite undertaking this summer was leading tours of the 1876 Adas Israel Synagogue because I loved interacting with the visitors. The tours gave me the opportunity to share what I had learned about local Jewish Washington with the visitors. I loved the connections that I could draw between national and local history. I loved the discussions and dialogues that often began between the visitors and the museum staff, enabling both audiences to actively participate. More than anything, I loved the wide-open eyes and grins of amazement that the visitors made when I told them that the synagogue had moved three blocks on wheels, and would be moving again. The visitors asked all sorts of great questions, and I had a lot of fun answering them or in some cases throwing the questions back to the audience for ongoing discussion.

I am not ready to leave this internship, but alas my time is up. I plan to continue as a volunteer tour guide for both synagogue and walking tours in the fall, and I look forward to seeing what the Society does next!

Samantha Bass is a second-year Master’s student at The George Washington University, where she studies exhibit development, museum administration, and history.