Women in the Performing Arts: Molly Picon by J.D. Arden, M.L.I.S. candidate, Reference Services Research Intern, Center for Jewish History The transition of the performance industry of America from stage to film was difficult for many to manage. One of the most beloved Jewish American actresses who managed that transition successfully was Molly Picon. We all remember her as the elderly but impish Yente in…
Out of the ArchivesYiddish Artists Relax in the Catskills, circa 1938by Rachel Harrison, Processing Archivist, Center for Jewish History The Adler Family Papers (P-890) at the American Jewish Historical Society contain a wealth of photos of figures from the heyday of the American Yiddish theater, from the 1880s and running to the 1970s. These include Jacob P. Adler, the patriarch of the Yiddish acting…
Women in the Performing ArtsBertha Kalich: Star of the New York Stageby J.D. Arden, M.L.I.S. candidate, Reference Services Research Intern, Center for Jewish History Above image: Yiddish theater poster for Bertha Kalich in Midway at Irving Place Theatre. c/o American Jewish Historical Society. Bertha Kalich was born in 1874 in Lemberg in the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia, what is today Lvov, Ukraine. Her father…
Purim Party at Ludwig Satz’s House in Sea Gate, Brooklyn, ca. 1925. American Jewish Historical Society. Yiddish Theater actors, among them Celia Adler, at a Purim party. The Purim party took place at Ludwig Satz’s house in Sea Gate Brooklyn, ca. 1925. The boy in front is the son of Celia Adler and Lazar Freed (also a Yiddish theater actor). From the Celia Adler…
Molly Picon in Bublitchki Year: 1938Type: PhotographRepository: American Jewish Historical Society Moshe Leib-Halpern had this to say about Yiddish theater in America: “There was once a vulgarian who went to synagogue … when he wanted to weep, and to a bawdyhouse … when he wanted to be gay. But once, when he wanted to weep and be gay at the same time, he put…
Yiddish Theaterby Anna Khomina, Research and Special Projects Intern, Center for Jewish History The tradition of Yiddish theater in America began in the 1880s and flourished into the 1920s, as Jewish immigrants streaming in from Eastern Europe yearned for a taste of the old country as well as a mode of entertainment and a gathering space that distracted them from the bustle and drudgery…
From the partners’ collections: Molly Picon aboard the ocean liner Lloyd Triestino Creator/Photographer: Lloyd Triestino Servizio Fotografico. Mailed via Cartolina Postale.Medium: Black and white photographic printDate: undatedPersistent URL: digital.cjh.org/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=172106Repository: American Jewish Historical SocietyParent Collection: Molly Picon PapersCall Number: P-38Rights statement: Click here. Visit our Flickr photostream for more from the partners’ collections.