Leah Strolowitz Adler: An American Immigrant Success Story

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Amy

As I have written before, one of the fascinating aspects of doing this research is what I’ve learned about the experience of Jewish immigrants in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. It is remarkable to me how children who arrived without speaking English and living in poverty were able to assimilate successfully into American society and make a good life for themselves and their children in this country.

Leah Strolowitz Adler is a good example of this remarkable transformation from a poor Romanian immigrant to an American success story. Thanks to her granddaughter Jean, I’ve been able to learn a fair amount about Leah and to obtain several pictures of her. Leah was born on May 25, 1900, in Iasi, Romania, the seventh and youngest child of Jankel Srulovici and Tillie Rosenzweig. She was only seven years old when she immigrated with her parents and siblings to New York City, where soon afterwards her father either died or disappeared. She lived with her mother and siblings and her two cousins, Isadore and Betty Goldschlager, in a tenement in East Harlem. While her older siblings went to work in sweatshops to support the family, Leah went to Public School 101 in Harlem on 109^th Street, where she completed eighth grade in 1915. Jean recalled that Leah told her that although she was happy to leave Romania, she found the transition to America difficult. Leah remembered standing on line at the public school in NYC and being teased for speaking Yiddish. Obviously, however, Leah soon learned English and even went on to Julia Richmond High School.

After she finished school, Leah lived with her mother and sisters, working in a millinery shop, until she married Ben Schwartz on June 26, 1921. Jean shared with me the story of how Leah met Ben. Leah had been friendly with or briefly dated Ben’s brother Emmanuel. While Emmanuel was overseas during World War I, Leah dropped by his optometry office for an eye exam and met Ben. Ben asked Leah out for a cup of coffee. The family story is that when Leah finished her piece of cake, Ben offered to buy her a second piece, and she knew right then that “he was a keeper.” Ben was American born and also an optometrist, according to his draft registration and various census reports.

Here are some photos of Leah, taken by Ben, during their courtship around 1920. She looks like a genuine American woman of the 1920s. She certainly seems to have left her poor immigrant beginnings behind her.

Leah c. 1920

leah

This is Leah and Ben around 1920:

1920 Leah with Ben Schwartz

Here is a photograph of Leah around 1921, reading a Yiddish newspaper, the Jewish Morning Journal.

Leah c. 1921

Leah and Ben moved to the Bronx and had a son Ira (named for Isidor, Leah’s oldest brother), born in 1923, and a daughter Theodora (“Teddy”)(named for Tillie, Leah’s mother) born in 1927. Here is a photograph of Leah, wearing a fur coat and holding Teddy in February, 1929, when Teddy was two years old. Notice the price of the baby clothes in the window of the shop behind them: 79 cents.

Leah and Teddy February 1929

Sometime in the 1930s, Leah’s divorced sister Bertha came to live with the Schwartz family for a number of years (at least until 1940, according to the US census of that year). Teddy still remembers her mother Leah commenting that it was a good thing that her father Jankel could not see them all working on Shabbos, suggesting that Jankel must have been an observant Jew.

According to Jean, Bertha taught Teddy to sew, but Leah was upset because she wanted her daughter to do more with her life than the sewing work that Leah and her sisters had done. I found this remarkable, given that women had so few choices back in the 1930s, but Leah clearly had a progressive vision and did not want her daughter to limit herself in anyway.

Teddy and Leah and Ben
1944 after her high school graduation

Teddy did grow up to be independent. After graduating from Taft high school in 1944, she attended NYU and became an occupational therapist, a professional woman long before that was common. Because she hated the cold, she moved by herself to Atlanta, Georgia, after seeing an advertisement for a job there. She soon met the man who would become her husband, Abner Cohen, whose family had deep roots in Atlanta. Teddy and Abner stayed in Atlanta where they raised their three children.

Jean recalled that Leah was scared to death to fly and so she and Ben would take the seventeen hour trip by train from NYC to Atlanta once or twice a year. Jean remembered, “At the station, while we waited for the train to arrive, we placed copper pennies on the track and after she disembarked and her train left, we would collect the flattened Abe. Grandma baked wonderful rugelach and some round brown sugar cookies. We made such a to do about her cookies that she would arrive toting the dough already mixed and formed ready to bake.”

Leah and Ben

Leah in 1968 with a cousin Margie

Leah and Ben’s 50th anniversary 1971

Eventually Teddy’s parents Leah and Ben moved to Atlanta, where they lived the rest of their lives.

So Leah Strolowitz Adler, who was born in Iasi and moved to America at age 7, not speaking English and living in a Harlem tenement, grew up and lived a comfortable life in New York, raised a daughter who became a health care professional, and retired with Ben to Atlanta, where she was able to get to know her grandchildren, including Jean, my fellow family historian. To me, it is a remarkable story, another example of the amazing resilience and persistence of the immigrant generation who made life possible for all of us today.

Family resemblance?

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Amy

I know that often the mind plays tricks, and you see things that aren’t there but that you hope are there. When a baby is born, some people will say, “Oh, he looks just like his mother, ” and others will say, “Oh, he looks just like his father.” Since we all have certain common physical traits–two eyes, a nose and a mouth, it’s not that hard to find a similarity with anyone if you look hard enough for it and want to see it badly enough.

So I need some help from objective eyes. Here are two photographs, one of my great-grandmother Ghitla Rosenzweig Goldschlager, and the other of Gustave Rosenzweig, who I believe to be her brother. The more I look at these two faces, the more I am struck by the similarity—in particular, the shape and deep-seatedness of the eyes and the nose. What do you think?

Ghitla Rosenzweig Goldschlager

Gustave Rosenzweig

I also find the same eyes in my grandfather, Ghitla’s son, and in Murray Leonard, her great-nephew, and in David Adler, her nephew, Tillie’s son:

Isadore Goldschlager

David Adler and his wife Bertha

Murray Leonard

So it is just me? Or do the Rosenzweig descendants share this common trait of deep-set, down-turned eyes? Do you see that trait in your family if you also are a descendant of Tillie, Ghitla, Zusi or Gustav?

Another new relative: Gustave Rosenzweig

Mystery photos

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Amy

A small diversion for a day when I am not up to staring at the computer screen for more than about 30 seconds: mystery photos. These are all photos of my Aunt Elaine with unidentified others. I don’t know when these were taken, where they were taken, or who took them. I assume these are her friends, but perhaps these are cousins, family members? If any of these people look familiar to you, please let me know.

The Family Album continued

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Amy

For those who love old photographs, here are a few more to enjoy.

First, this is a photograph of my two big cousins, Jeff Lehrbaum and Beth Goldschlager. They are younger here than I would remember them. (I was probably younger than two when this was taken.) I don’t know where this was taken, but I love how young and innocent they both look. Beth and I used to compete for Jeff’s attention; she would point out that she was closer to him in age, but I would respond that I lived closer by and saw him more often. Here I see how those extra two years gave her a headstart.

Jeff and Beth c. 1954

Here is one of Barry and Karyn Kenner with their father Irving. According to Barry, this was taken when they were visiting their grandmother, Betty Goldschlager Feuerstein, at her home in Levittown, New York. I love that I get a sneak peak into her home and its furnishings as well as a picture of my newly-found second cousins as children.

Barry, Irving and Karyn Kenner

And here’s one of my aunt and uncle, Elaine and Phil Lehrbaum, canoeing somewhere, perhaps on their honeymoon. My aunt always would talk about how athletic Phil and his family all were, skating, swimming, biking, and, it seems, canoeing. She would tell funny stories of her attempts to compete with the Lehrbaums —or more accurately, her inability to compete. I think this photo captures that—she seems to be holding that paddle as if she had no idea of what to do with it and with no intention of using it.

Phil and Elaine Lehrbaum

Finally, one that’s of more recent vintage—probably around 1987—of three little cousins, my daughters Maddy and Rebecca surrounding their second cousin, Mark, Jody and Joel’s son. May they remain connected and always part of each other’s lives.

Maddy, Mark and Rebecca

Thanks to Barry, Jody and Robin for these pictures.

More Family Photos

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Amy

Another day of “new” old family photos to enjoy.

First, some from the Goldschlager side: Robyn, Estelle Feuerstein Kenner’s daughter, sent me these two wonderful photos of her mother Estelle.

Estelle Feuerstein, Betty’s daughter

You can see why my grandfather described her as a princess—what an adorable little girl. Here she is an adult:

Estelle

I love the hat! I wonder what the occasion was and what year this was taken. So elegant. I also see something of my mother in her eyes here.

Now one for the Brotman side. Jody found this picture of Sam Brotman as a young man:

Sam Brotman

He looks like a teenager here. Can you imagine a teenage boy today dressing up like this for a studio photograph? Well, maybe if it was his bar mitzvah. Hmm, maybe this IS a bar mitzvah picture. Why else would my great-grandmother have spent money for a fancy picture of her son?

Finally, here is one of two young women who share both Goldschlager and Brotman genes—my mother and her big sister, my Aunt Elaine. As you can see, they both had a sense of style. I love how they both have the large buttons and a scarf like attachment to their sweater/coat. And you can’t miss those Bessie Brotman cheekbones!

Florence and Elaine Goldschlager

That’s it for today. I’d love more photos so if you have any old pictures of your parents or grandparents or aunts and uncles, please scan and send them, and I will share them here with everyone. Thanks!

Family pictures

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Amy

While I am waiting to receive further documentation for my genealogy research, I thought I would share some more of the photographs that I received from my cousin Robin and also some that my cousin Jody sent me last week. These are almost all pictures I’d never seen before and that I found very touching. Today I want to post some new (to me) photographs of my grandparents, Gussie Brotman and Isadore Goldschlager.

I would love to know more about this photograph. My grandfather is the young (and short) man standing in the center of the rear row in this picture, but I have no idea who these other young people are or where or when this picture was taken. Isadore looks like a teenager, but could be in his early 20s, so perhaps this was in Iasi, perhaps in New York City. Since he was 16 when he came to New York, my guess is that this is in New York City. But who are these people? Could any of them be his Strolowitz/Adler cousins? Or Nathan Mintz? I don’t see anyone who could be Betty or David. Maybe these are just his friends. I wish I knew.

Isadore Goldschlager and unknown others

Here are two more of my grandfather, one alone and one with my grandmother:

Isadore

Gussie and Isadore

And here are several of my grandmother with her grandchildren. The first one is of her holding Jeffrey, her first grandchild. I don’t think I have ever seen a photograph of her looking so happy.

Gussie and Jeff 1946

The remaining photographs are pictures of my grandmother with her West Hartford grandchildren:

Gussie and Beth 1954

Gussie with Robin Sue and Beth c. 1958

Lynn, Robin and Gussie 1958

Gussie and Robin 1958

Thank you to Robin and to Jody for sharing these. More to come in the days ahead.

Betty Goldschlager and Her Daughters Frieda and Estelle: FOUND!

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Amy

Betty Goldschlager

I have written about my grandfather’s younger sister, my great-aunt Betty, and her experiences arriving in New York City the day after her father had died of tuberculosis. But until now I knew very little about her life after those early days. I knew that she had married Isidor Feuerstein, had two daughters Frieda and Estelle, and had moved to Long Island, where Isidor had a dry goods business near Levittown. Most of that I knew from my mother, who has clear memories of her aunt, uncle and cousins visiting her in Brooklyn when she was growing up. My mother commented on what an astute businessman Isidor must have been to have opened a business near Levittown when it was a new community. She also remembered that her two cousins were beautiful young women, described by my grandfather as Romanian princesses.

But that was all I knew. My mother thought that Betty and her daughters had all moved out west at some point, and she had lost touch with them long ago. My search for them turned up a few details—a death certificate for Betty from Phoenix, AZ, census reports from 1930 and 1940, but little else. Then several months ago, I thought I had a hot lead. I located a great-nephew of Isidor Feuerstein on ancestry.com, and he knew that Frieda had married a man named Abe Albert and even had a wedding picture of her as well as one taken several years after the wedding. He believed that Frieda had a daughter named Gail, but was not sure. He knew that Estelle had married a man named Kenner with a first name that started with I, but did not know whether she had had any children. He did not know whether either Frieda or Estelle was alive or where they might be living.

Feuerstein Family (Betty at far left)

With that new information, I started searching again, and although I was able to locate an Estelle Kenner living in Pembroke Pines, FL, I had no way to be sure that this was the same Estelle. I could find no real evidence of Frieda. I searched as many different ways and as many different places as I could, but kept hitting that proverbial brick wall. So I moved on, focused on David, Isadore, the Strolowitz family, the Schwartz family, etc.

Then the other night I mentioned to Renee (my friend and mentor) in an email that I was still searching for my mother’s two first cousins, Frieda and Estelle. I woke up the next morning, and there in my Inbox was an email from Renee providing me with Estelle’s wedding announcement, her husband’s obituary, and the names of their three children. So after months and months of finding nothing on my own, Renee in one evening had solved one of my most frustrating searches. How did she do it? She had access to yet another database that I was not aware of—something called ProQuest available at certain libraries.

So I was off and running, finding the three Kenner children on Facebook and sending each a message about my research. Within five minutes, Barry Kenner sent me back a message, and we then spent over an hour on the phone, exchanging information and getting to know each other. He also gave me contact information for Frieda’s daughter Gayle, and I have now had several email exchanges with her as well. There is still a lot to learn and more photos and documents to share, but I have answers to many of my unanswered questions. I have also had an email from Barry’s sister Robyn and hope to hear from his other sister Karyn. I have lots of new names to add to the Goldschlager family tree and am awaiting more photographs and information about my family.

Betty Goldschlager 1969

First, Frieda and Estelle are both still alive. Frieda lives in Arizona, and Estelle in Florida. Both of their husbands ended up in the same fabric importing business as Isidor Feuerstein. Irving Kenner had taken over the Long Island business, and Abe Albert started his own business in Arizona. Frieda and Estelle each had three children—two sons and a daughter for Frieda, two daughters and a son for Estelle. There are also many grandchildren and great-grandchildren descended from Betty and Isidor.

Frieda and Abe Albert at their wedding in 1943

I have already learned a few interesting facts that I did not know before. Gayle told me that her grandmother was very proud of her father Moritz, who she said was very dapper and a lamplighter for the theater. She said that there was even a story that before he married, he had run away to the circus! That gave me an entirely new perspective on Moritz and his life. Remember he is my great-grandfather who was an orphan by age six. I had wondered whether he had experienced any happiness in his life. I thought he lit street lamps This little snippet—a daughter’s memory of him as dapper and of being proud of his occupation, of a man who loved the circus and the theater—gave me a whole new insight into who my great-grandfather was. Even better, she later sent me a photograph of Moritz. Just the other day I wrote that I would never see a picture of him or know what he looked like. Never say never! Here he is:

Moritz Goldschlager

I assume this was taken in Iasi, not New York. I can see why Betty described her father as dapper. His clothing, his watch chain, the stance, the mustache, the furniture behind him—all this gives me a far different impression of the man who was my great-grandfather than I had imagined. Somehow I saw him as a peddler, a poor immigrant, because that was what he was in New York, but perhaps their life in Iasi was far more comfortable than I had assumed.

Gayle also said that her grandmother talked about having a tall brother whom she referred to as Uncle Gadalia. I told her that that must have been David, since Isadore was not tall at all. She also remembered that she had met David’s son Murray and his wife when they came to Phoenix from Tucson for her brother’s bar mitzvah, but that they lost touch after that.

Barry recalled visiting his grandmother on Long Island and her house with the grand entry staircase that they would slide down as children, using her silk pillows as seats. He described Betty as a sweet and petite woman whom he recalls making them mashed potatoes with chicken fat instead of butter. It’s amazing how little stories, little memories can bring alive someone whom I never knew. Barry shared this picture of the Feuerstein family at his parents’ wedding in 1951.

Betty, Irving’s mother, Irving’s sister-in law, Frieda, Estelle, Irving, Irving’s brother, Abe Albert, and Isidor Feuerstein at Estelle and Irving’s wedding

Estelle Feuerstein, Betty’s daughter

Estelle and Irving Kenner 1951

The photos on this page are a combination of the few photos I had of

Frieda and Abe Albert at their wedding in 1943

Betty, Isidor and their daughters and some pictures that Barry shared with me through his Facebook page and some that Gayle sent me. I am excited to see others and to learn more about these newly discovered cousins.

Frieda and Abe

Estelle

Estelle’s children Barry Robyn and Karyn 1963

Frieda and her children Robert, Gayle and Richard

Barry Kenner’s family

The Stories behind a Photograph

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Amy

No real time to write this weekend, so I thought I would just post one more of the pictures that Robin sent. I don’t know when this was taken, and it was a great surprise to realize that there was a photograph of my mother that I had never seen. I’d love to know more about the picture. It looks like a formal photograph, but it’s not a school photograph because I have seen her high school graduation photograph. So when was it taken? Why was she sitting for a formal photograph? What is the necklace she is wearing? I will have to ask her when I speak to her. But it’s a fascinating photograph. It captures her in so many ways that I know so well, but also sheds a new light that is different from other pictures I’ve seen before. That’s what makes photographs so interesting—they let you see someone at a particular moment in time, a moment when perhaps you didn’t know them, and let you see who they were then as well as who they are now.

Memories

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Amy

As I wrote earlier, my cousin Jody sent me some new pictures yesterday—pictures I had never seen before. These are pictures taken in the 1940s, except for one that was taken in 1953. Here are the first three.

First, a picture of my grandparents, my uncle Maurice and my aunt Lynn, and my aunt Elaine. My Uncle Phil probably took this picture because he is not in the picture, plus he was always the one taking family pictures, thank goodness. Jody, his daughter, has taken over that role in our generation.

Next is a picture of my grandparents, apparently taken the same day. You can tell how short he is, since my grandmother was only about 5’2 herself.

: Isadore and Gussie

Here’s a picture of my grandmother Gussie alone—notice those remarkable Brotman cheekbones.

The next two are very special to me. First, this is my grandmother Gussie with my cousin Jeff, Jody’s brother. She is obviously proud of her first grandchild. She was never much of a smiler, but you can tell (well, I can tell) that she is happy in this picture. This picture was probably taken in 1946 or 1947, as Jeff was born in April, 1946.

: Jeff and Gussie c. 1946

Finally, my favorite, a picture of my grandfather holding me on his lap with Jeff lying in the kiddy pool at his feet. This is my favorite for two reasons. First, it shows how much I loved my grandpa and vice versa. As I’ve said before, he died before I was five, and I only have vague, non-specific memories. Pictures like this one reinforce my emotional sense memory that my grandfather and I loved each other.

: Jeff, Amy and Grandpa 1953

Also, these last two pictures are special because they bring back memories of my cousin Jeff. It’s ten years ago yesterday that we lost Jeffrey, and it still seems unbelievable that he is gone. He was my first crush (after my father, of course), my role model, the one who teased us, the one who helped at every birthday party because he was the oldest cousin, the one who tolerated having seven younger cousins and a sister all chasing him around. He taught many of us to swim, to ski, to dive. He was always making us laugh; he was always fun. We all adored him, and despite the fact that we probably drove him crazy, we all knew he loved us. We miss you, Jeff.

Family resemblances

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Amy

I have a lot to report about the Adler family research, but no time to write a lot tonight. So instead I am going to post these two photographs. One is of my grandfather Isadore Goldschlager; the other is of his nephew Murray, David Goldschlager’s son.

The genes are amazing, aren’t they?

Brotmanblog: A Family Journey

Adventures in Genealogy

Category Archives: Photos

Leah Strolowitz Adler: An American Immigrant Success Story

Family resemblance?

Mystery photos

The Family Album continued

More Family Photos

Family pictures

Betty Goldschlager and Her Daughters Frieda and Estelle: FOUND!

The Stories behind a Photograph

Memories

Family resemblances

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