In the picture, Leona (Isadore's sister-in-law) and her daughter Anita, are in the backyard of the Mike Gordon's Ely store: the steps in the background lead to the family home upstairs. Mrs. Rosenbloom, another Jewish Ely resident, is at the right of the picture. The Gordon family was one of the first Jewish families to settle in Ely. Isadore Gordon left Lithuania and traversed Canada before arriving in Duluth. He worked in the shipyards, and peddled the Range. His customers liked him so well that they loaned him money to open a clothing store in Ely. The Rosenblooms raised seven children in Ely, and most of them continued on to college at the University of Minnesota. When the Rosenblooms moved to Minneapolis in 1943, the family store became the Ely American Legion Hall.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
The Mains family were photographed in Russia before their move to the United States. Alexander Mains, seated at the far left, eventually settled in St Paul, Minnesota, where he married his wife Daisy and ran a successful shoe store.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
The Oreckovsky family migrated to the United States from Russia the 1880s. The first-generation pioneers of the family--Joseph and Israel-- undertook the journey to Minnesota across Canada by foot, peddling clothes to rail- and mine-workers as they moved westward. The picture features the second generation, Israel's children, later in life. "Big Joe" Oreckovsky, seated in the middle on the couch, ran the First Street Store, a well-known Duluth department store. He was best known for his support of the Duluth Children's Home, and for hiring newly arrived Russian immigrants, both Jews and gentiles. "Big Joe" is surrounded by his sisters, clock-wise from left; Sarah, Channa, Pearl, Ida and Riva.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Loretta (Lucky) Bellman escaped Nazi Germany in 1939 and settled in New York, where her father started a successful furniture business. Butch Levy met and fell in love with Lucky, marrying her in 1944. Peter Bellman, Lucky's brother, had been sent to Britain on a children's transport in 1938, and was finally reunited with the family in America 1939. He enlisted in the U. S. Army in 1941, and died in the Battle of the Bulge. Peter, Lucky and Butch are shown together on a leave during the war.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Portrait photograph of Rabbi Joseph Hurvitz and his wife, Rebbetzin Rae Hurvitz. Known in his St. Paul Lowertown community as "Der Roiter Rov" (the Red Rabbi), Rabbi Hurvitz lead the Sons of Jacob and Adath Yeshurun congregations from the 1910s through the 1950s. Though he was a traditionalist, he consciously used both English and Yiddish in worship and congregational gatherings to help validate his immigrant congregants sense that both languages and the cultures they represented were of equal importance in their new home.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
The Kronicks were close-knit family from the Iron Range. Several other Jewish Range families are represented in this photograph, including the Grais', Gordons, Garbers, and Londons.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
The Lipschultz family sitting on a blanket outdoors. Frema Lipschultz is flanked by her two daughters, Rose (left) and Ruth (far right), and her two grandchildren, Harold and Maurice.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives