Jewish Historical Society of Morris County

2010 The Jewish Historical Society of Metro West, All Rights Reserved

http://www.jhsmw.org/index.php?id=6

“To give life to the past and to make certain that it is neither lost nor forgotten, the Jewish Historical Society of Metro West has opened the doors of its archives to bring history to the people through a series of traveling exhibitions that recreate Metro West’s and New Jersey’s greatest memories of the twentieth century.” (Robert Max, JHSMW past-president) Weequahic Memoirs:

Celebrating Newark’s Legendary Neighborhood features 44 panels containing hundreds of photographs that tell the story of Weequahic from the 1930s through the 1960s. There are showcases of artifacts and memorabilia, a Great Map of Weequahic, a vintage clothing gallery, and a video documentary that transports the viewer back to this legendary neighborhood made famous by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Phillip Roth. It’s great Metro West history! This is the story of Elving’s Metropolitan Yiddish Theater, located at the corner of Charlton and Montgomery Streets, in Newark’s Prince Street neighborhood from 1921 to 1944. Bernard Elving was the owner, operator, and principal star of the productions. Its cast included Yiddish greats Molly Picon, Moishe Oysher, Aaron Lebedeff, Jennie Goldstein, and Hollywood star Paul Muni.  Who’s Minding The Store: From Mom and Pop Merchants to Supermarket entrepreneurs.

This is the story of the founding of New Jersey’s premier supermarkets Kings, ShopRite, and Pathmark. A portion of the exhibit is devoted to mom and pop merchants who started family businesses in Essex, Morris, and Sussex Counties, New Jersey, as early as 1886. The exhibit is accompanied by a fully-stocked grocery store with items from the 1930s and 1940s in original packaging. The store is courtesy of Metro West resident Jerry Rudy.  The history of the Jews of Morris and Sussex Counties dates back to the Civil War. The earliest Jewish residents settled in Morris County towns of Morristown, Dover, Pine Brook, and Mount Freedom, and in the Sussex County towns of Franklin and Newton. The exhibit features towns and synagogues, hotel resorts, and lake communities that were home to Jewish settlers before and after World War II.  Daughters of Israel is the first Jewish home for the aged in New Jersey.

The home was located in Newark on Stirling Street starting in 1906, moved to High Street and purchased the vacant hospital building that was formerly Newark Beth Israel Hospital, and relocated to West Orange in 1962 where its buildings have undergone numerous additions and renovations. This exhibit celebrates Daughters of Israel’s one hundredth anniversary.  Jewish Family Service of MetroWest is the oldest Jewish social service agency in New Jersey. This organization was started in 1861. The founders were young men, primarily German Jews, who felt it was their obligation to take care of Jewish orphans and needy Jews who needed the basics of food, housing, and a decent job.