D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections and University Archives

Jewish Heritage in Western North Carolina
Oral History Collection
[OH-JHWNC]

Rabbi Julian Morganstern, Jewish Heritage in Western North Carolina Oral History Collection,
D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, UNC Asheville

TitleJewish Heritage in Western North Carolina Oral History Collection
CreatorDavid Schulman [interviewer], Sharon Fahrer and Jan Schochet [from the non-profit History @ Hand], Judith Shulimson [from Center for Jewish Studies, UNCA]
Identifierhttp://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/oralhistory/JHWNC/default_jewish_heritage.htm
Subject Keyword Congregation Beth Israel ; Beth HaTephila Congregation ; Helen Benninga ; Leo Finkelstein ; Sylvia Fishman ; Sarah Goldstein ; Robert Katz ; Anne Michelove Kolodkin ; Stanley Levine ; Isaac Jack Levy ; Joseph Lichtenfels ; Carolyn Lipson-Walker ; Ruth Lowenburg ; Estelle Marder ; Ed Petterson ; Helen Pozner ; Gerald Rubin ; Sidney Schochet ; Theodore Weinberger ; Lee Shai Weissbach ; David Schulman ; Sylvia Straus ; Center for Jewish Studies ; Jewish culture ; Jewish heritage ;
Subject LCSH Jews -- Genealogy -- Archival resources
Jews -- North Carolina -- Asheville -- History
Jews -- North Carolina -- Asheville -- Identity
Asheville (N.C.) -- History
DescriptionAs stated by David Schulman in 1994, summarizing Phase One of the project:

"My overall emphasis was to gain a social history of the Jewish experience in Western North Carolina, not so much dates and absolute facts as to what was that person's 'take' on living here. Some interviewees were born here, some not. For those that were not, I asked for their first images of what is was like when they came, why they came, and what has been their experience since. Some of the topics included in all interviews were memories of specific rabbis that were here and discussions of which ones made the greatest impact. Many people were very candid. I wanted to know where the interviewees lived, who were their friends and neighbors and how did they interact socially, etc. I asked genealogy questions as many families were related to each other. There were special moments that almost everyone mentioned such as when the "Army boys" from Camp Croft in Spartanburg came each weekend to the JCC during WWII and the many marriages that developed from this. I also asked for memories of William Dudley Pelley who was based in Asheville during the 30's and called himself 'America's Hitler.' I have done much research on this matter, and there is is a very unique and warm story surrounding the Asheville community and their important role in ridding the entire nation itself of this man's hate.

The interviewees are in order: Mrs. Helen Benninga before her departure to Israel, Mr. Leo Finkelstein whose family dates back to the turn of the century in Asheville, Mrs. Sarah Goldstein whose maiden family (Sheptowich) and married family go back to the 1920's, Mrs. Helen Pozner who came in the 1950's and says through her management of Coleman Apartments she met just about every Jewish family who moved here at one time or another, Mr. Ed Patterson of Hendersonville whose family arrived in 1903 and was the second Jewish family in Hendersonville, Mrs. Anna Mottsman Michelove Kolodkin of Hendersonville who gave me much information on the Michaelove and Pearlman families, Mrs. Ruth Lowenburg whose family ran the Manor for a number of years, Mr. Sid Schochet who was born in Asheville and whose family also dates back also to the turn of the century and is related to the Bloomberg family, and Estelle Marder, one of the leading ladies of the community leadership in the 40's and 50's and even now."

The collection includes: Eleven interviews and nine conference recordings. Not all items include transcripts. On-site access ONLY at this time.
PublisherD.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, NC, 28804
ContributorHistory @ Hand and all interviewees
Date digital2009-04-06
TypeSound ; Text
Format1 linear ft. ; One carton containing nineteen folders, with cassette tape and transcript in each.
SourceOH-JHWNC
LanguageEnglish
Relation Leo Finkelstein oral history in Voices of Asheville Oral History Collection, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA ; Hyman Dave oral history in Voices of Asheville Oral History Collection, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA ; Leo Finkelstein Papers 1903-1998 - Digital copies of personal photographs and microfilm copies of Leo Finkelstein's scrapbooks and manuscripts at Appalachian State University, W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection Archives, Boone, NC. ; Sol Schulman Collection, a small collection of material related to Jewish businesses in the western part of the state. Includes material on Sol Schulman, a businessman in Waynesville, NC. ; The Ada and Lou Pollock Collection contains rich material on many of the individuals and businesses mentioned in the Beth-Ha-Tephila collection and also contains supplementary material related to the Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila ; "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), D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA ; Louis Blomberg Family Papers, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA ; Schandler Family Papers, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA ; Schochet Family Papers, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA ; Choosing to Remember - From the Shoah to the Mountains, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA and the Center for Diversity Education ; Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, UNC Chapel Hill ; American Jewish Historical Society ;
Coverage Temporal1880-2013
Coverage SpatialAsheville, NC ; Sylva, NC ; Hendersonville, NC ; Brevard, NC ; Western North Carolina
Rights Some interviews are RESTRICTED and have no written release form. See table below.
For the rest: no restrictions. Any display, publication, or public use must credit the D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville. Copyright retained by the authors of certain items in the collection, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
AcquisitionDonor number: 183 ; Date of acquisition: 2005-08
Processed BySpecial Collections staff
Interview Date1988 ; 1993-1994 ; 2013
List of Names
Interviewee Date of Interview Source Folder Items Restrictions
Benninga, Helen 1994-02-03 OH-JHWNC
.B46 H4		 cassette
TRANSCRIPT		 none
Finkelstein, Leo 1994-02-10 OH-JHWNC
.F56 L4		 cassette
CD		 none
Fishman, Sylvia 1988-04-17 OH-JHWNC
.F57 S9		 cassettes none
Goldstein, Sarah 1994-03-04 OH-JHWNC
.G65 S2		 cassette
TRANSCRIPT		 none
Katz, Robert 1988-04-16 OH-JHWNC
.K38 R6		 cassette none
Kolodkin, Anne Michelove 1994-03-22 OH-JHWNC
.K65 A5		 cassette
TRANSCRIPT		 none
Levine, Stanley 1988-04-16 OH-JHWNC
.L48 S7		 cassettes none
Levy, Isaac Jack 1988-04-17 OH-JHWNC
.L489 I8		 cassette none
Lichtenfels, Joseph 1994-04-25 OH-JHWNC
.L53 J6		 cassette
TRANSCRIPT		 none
Lipson-Walker, Carolyn 1988-04-16 OH-JHWNC
.L57 C3		 cassettes none
Lowenburg, Ruth 1994-04-19 OH-JHWNC
.L69 R8		 DVD
cassette
TRANSCRIPT		 none
Marder, Estelle 1994-03-30 OH-JHWNC
.M37 E8		 cassette
TRANSCRIPT		 none
Panel Interview 1988-04-17 OH-JHWNC
.P36		 cassette none
Petterson, Ed 1994-03-22 OH-JHWNC
.P48 E3		 cassette
TRANSCRIPT		 none
Pozner, Helen 1994-03-10 OH-JHWNC
.P69 H4		 cassette
TRANSCRIPT		 none
Rubin, Gerald 1988-04-16 OH-JHWNC
.R83 G4		 cassette none
Schandler, Deborah and Jack 2004-03 OH-JHWNC
.S34 D43		 DVD
VHS-C		 none
Schochet, Sidney 1994-04-10 OH-JHWNC
.S36 S5		 cassette
TRANSCRIPT		 none
Straus, Sylvia 2013-04-02 OH-JHWNC
.S77 S9		 CDs ; digital images none
Weinberger, Theodore 1988-04-16 OH-JHWNC
.W45 Th4		 cassette none
Weissbach, Lee Shai 1988-04-16 OH-JHWNC
.W457 L4		 cassettes none

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