Adams, Janet

Abstract The Berger interview provides detailed accounts of living conditions (markets and outhouses) and neighborhood life in East Baltimore with comparison to West Baltimore, in particular. He recounts his parents hunt for employment, children at work and at play (“city springs,” vaudeville shows at the Palace Theatre, picnics along the wharf), and the importance of access to transportation (Riverside Park, Tolchester beach, Betterton beach). There is also some talk of the unifying nature of work...

Abstract

The Hackerman interview offers a comparison of the neighborhood where she grew up (Mondawmin area) to the neighborhood where her children grew up (Park Heights area), especially in demographic terms of race, schools, and transportation. There is some discussion of interracial business and social relationships also.

Abstract The Land interview provides extensive details about the narrator’s growing sense of her Jewish-American identity against the backdrop of local and national history. National events are discussed, including the Great Depression, the Holocaust, Pearl Harbor, and World War II, and Vietnam. The interview provides excellent descriptions of the narrator’s family and their immigration experience, their living conditions, their customs (Yiddish language, Sabbath, mitzvah) and their perceptions of...

Abstract

The Levy interview provides details about discrimination against Jewish people and anti-Semitism, social and living conditions for African American West Baltimoreans in the 1920’s, and business practices from the 1920’s-‘40’s. It also provides a comparison of life in America to that in Scotland. There is discussion of interfaith interactions in the Mt. Washington neighborhood (Christian Science, Judaism, Roman Catholicism) as well.

Abstract

The Levy interview provides extensive information on the history of the Park Heights area from the 1920’s to the 1950’s (Mt. Washington 1925-1932). The narrator also assesses the differences between orthodox and reform Judaism. There is also much information about the Jewish Community Center and the Association of Jewish Charities.

Abstract

The Mendels interview provided great details about German and German-American identity struggles, about the close ties in a mixed Christian and Jewish neighborhood, and about the Baltimore Jewish population’s reaction to Zionism. It also offers an assessment of Baltimore during the 1940’s and 1950’s from a person with a European perspective.

Abstract

The Weinberger interview provides many details about the immigration experience, growing awareness of her Jewish identity, and anti-Semitism in relation to housing and hotel accommodations. There is also some discussion of historical events such as the Holocaust, World War II, and the United Nations.