By Austin W. Cox, HJHA Intern.
This semester has been filled with quite a bit of changes. As we began to reopen campus and have in person events, one thing remained the same, Archive Thusdays! Here at the HJHA we wanted to share some of our favorite spotlights of the semester! For the actual posts please visit our instagram page: @ricejewishstudies.
On December 2nd, the HJHA wished the community a happy Hanukkah! This program from a December1915 Congregation at Beth Israel Houston Hanukkah Dance came to us in the scrapbooks of William Max Nathan ’16, a member of the first graduating class of Rice University and the first to graduate with honors.
To mark Veterans’ Day on November 11th, Archive Thursday honored Hyman Rosenzweig ’28. Hyman Joe Rosenzweig was born December 6, 1906 in Houston. He graduated from Rice in 1928 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Rosenzweig joined the U.S. Army in 1942 and served for the duration of the war, receiving an honorable discharge in 1945. During his time overseas he participated in campaigns in Italy and North Africa. Documents and memorabilia from his military service were donated to Fondren Library and Rice University by his nephew. Rosenzweig is one of more than 200 Houston Jewish veterans honored with a star on the Beth Jacob Banner, shown here.
The week of October25th, we spotlighted a wonderful family photo donated to the HJHA by Fred Sklar: a multigenerational gathering for the 50th wedding anniversary of Meyer and Esther Moore, front center, in January 1935. The photo was taken in front of the home of Max Moore, a son, at 1902 McKee. The family created a key to identify all the children and adults in the photo, which was also published in the Houston Chronicle! We at Rice Jewish Studies are honored to be able to preserve important Houston Jewish family memories such as this.
On September 30th, we spotlighted a Cookbook! Did you know that the Houston Jewish History Archive Rice University collects cookbooks from synagogues and Jewish organizations all over Texas? Cookbooks reveal how Jewish Texans have adapted to life in the Lone Star State while preserving their culinary traditions. The oldest cookbook in our Fondren Library collection is from Congregation Beth Israel in Houston, the oldest Jewish house of worship in Texas. Check out this 1909 recipe for preparing a possum dinner!