D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections and University Archives

Lipinsky Family Collection
M2006.1.1

"Solomon Lipinsky, portrait" [lip0005] Lipinsky Family Collection,
D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNC Asheville 28804

Title Lipinsky Family Collection
Creator Lipinsky family [Eva Rae Lipinsky Solomon and Bobbie Solomon Siegel] ; Joanne Lipinsky Edwinn
Alt. creator Jan Schochet ; Sharon Fahrer
Identifier http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/mss/lipinsky/lipinsky.html
Subject Keyword Jews ; Solomon Lipinsky ; merchants ; business ; Jewish business ; economics ; Asheville, NC ; Buncombe County , NC ; religion ; oral history ; Jewish life; Jewish cultural history ; Western North Carolina ; postcards ; department stores ; Montford; Eva Whitlock Lipinsky ; Louis Lipinsky, Sr. ; Louis Lipinsky, Jr.; Morris Lipinsky, Sr. ; Rae Lipinsky ; Morris Lipinsky, Jr. ; Whitlock Lipinsky ; Whitlock Lees, Sr. ; Whitlock Lees, Jr. ; Clara Nathan Lipinsky ; Sally Lipinsky ; Eva Rae Lipinsky ; Mary Parker ; Frank Edwin ; Joanne Lipinsky Edwinn ;
Subject LCSH Jews -- North Carolina -- Asheville, N.C. -- Sources
Life cycle, Human -- Religious aspects -- Judaism
Lipinsky, Solomon -- Family
Lipinsky, Eva Whitlock
Lipinsky, Morris, Sr. -- Family
Merchant -- North Carolina -- Asheville -- Sources
Beth Ha Tephila (Asheville, N.C.) -- Sources
Description A collection of material related to the lives of members of the Lipinsky family of North Carolina.
Publisher D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina Asheville 28804
Contributor History @ Hand Partnership [independent historians consulting firm]
Date digital 2005-07-08
Type Text ; Image ; Collection
Format digital photographs ; postcards ; newspaper clippings ; 1 small manuscript box
Source M2006.1.1
Language English
Relation Sherrill's Inn Collection, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA ; Choosing to Remember: From the Shoah to the Mountains, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA ; Ada and Lou Pollock Collection, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA ; Leo Finklestein Oral History in Voices of Asheville Oral History Collection, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA ; Beth HaTephila Congregregation (Asheville, NC), D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA ; Sol Schulman Collection, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA ; "Jewish Roots in the Carolinas: A Pattern of American Philo-Semitism,", Charlotte, N.C.: The Charlotte Israelite, 1955, in the D. Hiden Ramsey Collection printed material - various publications (M80.5.2.6) ; Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, UNC Chapel Hill ; American Jewish Historical Society ; "A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life," Documenting the American South, UNC Chapel Hill ; The Family Store Project: A History of Jewish Businesses, 1880-1990, a 12-panel exhibit displayed in a variety of locations in downtown Asheville in the fall of 2006 by History @ Hand.
Coverage Temporal 1850-present
Rights Some items may require permission to exhibit/publish to be obtained from History @ Hand Partnership, contact : 828 253-0982.
Copyright retained by the authors of certain items in the collection, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Donor Donor number:
Acquisition 2005-07-08 ; Addition on 2006-02-06
Citation Solomon Lipinsky Family Papers, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina Asheville 28804
Processed by Special Collections staff, 2005
Last update 2005-07-07 ; Addition on 2006-02-07 ; 2012-02-01, HP ;
Biography Solomon Lipinsky appears in the Asheville census in 1880. He was born in Richmond, Virginia, on February 23, 1856 and at the age of 21 he moved to Tarboro, North Carolina and remained there for four years. He came to Asheville when he was 25 years old with his wife, Eva Whitlock Lipinsky and his brother-in-law, Solomon Whitlock. Sol and his brother-in-law opened a dry goods store at various locations on S. Main Street (now Biltmore Avenue) during the 1880s and 1890s. One of his first stores was Lipinsky and Ellick, a partnership with his half-sister, Eva Ellick. Sometime around 1911 or 1912, he had moved his store, by then called Bon Marche', to the northwest corner of  Lexington and Patton Avenues (19-23 Patton Avenue).  In 1928, Bon Marche' moved again to the northwest corner of Haywood Street and Battery Park Avenue and in 1933, the store moved across the street to 33-35 Haywood Street. His three sons followed in their father's footsteps and Morris and Whitlock ("Whit") worked in the local Asheville store, while Louis was placed in charge of the store in Charlotte, North Carolina, founded by Solomon in 1920. Another Bon Marche store had been opened in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1916 but closed in 1921 and a Columbia, South Carolina Store was operated between 1920 and 1923.

Solomon was active in many civic organizations. As Director of the National Bank of Commerce, he played a major role in the economic construction of Asheville. He was an active member of the Knights of Pythias, the Masons, and the Odd Fellows. He played a central role in the administration of the Congregation Beth HaTephila as its President. His work as president of the local Institutional Service Committee, was well known and his attempts at social reform in Buncombe are well-documented. His obituary notes that his "many activities show that he did not concern himself solely with business. His love for his fellow man was demonstrated by many acts of kindness. Asheville has had few citizens who have been held in greater affection than Mr. Lipinsky. His kindness and courtesy, his unfailing consideration for others, made him one of the most beloved of Asheville citizens."

Solomon's home at the time of death was at 156 Cumberland Avenue in the Montford section of Asheville. Previous to that he and his family lived at 36 Montford Avenue.

Solomon Lipinsky's name appears in the Vol.2_Sherrills_Inn ledgers which are found in the D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections. D.H. Ramsey, who annotated the ledgers, notes that "... S. Lipinsky who founded Bon Marche' was a frequent visitor to Sherrill’s Inn. He has just moved to Asheville and gone into the Mercantile business here when his name first began to appear on the register. His wife was a Whitlock. S. [Solomon] Lipinsky was the father of Clara, Morris, Whitlock, and Louis Lipinsky."
Context Bon Marche', once the leading department store in Asheville, was modeled on the famous Parisian store of the same name. Located at 37 South Main St., Asheville, N.C., Bon Marche' was a "Dry Goods, Fancy Goods, Ladies and Gents Furnishings, Materials for Artistic Needle-Work" department store.
Series
  • Newspaper clippings
  • Photographs
  • Biographical information
Items List
Box Folder Description
M2006.1.1 1 Solomon Lipinsky
  2 Louis Lipinsky
  3-4 Newspaper Clippings, Misc.
  5 Bon Marche
  6-11 Photographs

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