From the Pages

150 Years Ago
Wood’s Theater closes this season with the performances this Friday evening. This has been the most prosperous of any season at this cozy little place of amusement. Indeed it could not well be otherwise under the efficient corps of gentlemen connected with it — Messrs. Wood, Collins, Gilbert and the entire company — male and female — constitute a band rarely excelled at any theater.

The theater will be completely renovated and shortly be ready for another season. — July 4, 1862

125 Years Ago

Miss Josie Gottlieb, who for eight months has been visiting her sister, Mrs. Joseph Andrews, at Memphis, has returned home. The young lady speaks in glowing terms of the Memphis hospitality.

Mr. Jacob Ezekiel, the courteous and efficient Secretary of the Hebrew Union College, celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday last Tuesday. Mr. Ezekiel is still vigorous, physically and mentally, and bids fair to remain at his post for many years to come.

Mr. and Mrs. M. Tuch, of West Seventh Street, celebrated their silver wedding anniversary on Wednesday evening, June 22nd. Mr. Tuch is Vice-President of Sherith Israel congregation, and a longtime resident of this city, and both he and his wife are honored and beloved by all who know them. Rabbi Davidson performed the ceremony, assisted by Cantor Rappapart, who chanted some old Hebrew melodies There were many valuable presents and a number of floral tributes, among them a large piece on an easel, surrounded by twenty-five silver bells. Among those present was the mother of Mrs. Tuch, a hale and hearty old lady of sixty-five. The festivities were kept up until a late hour, and the pleasant affair will be long remembered as an event by the Tuch family, their relatives and friends. — July 1, 1887

100 Years Ago

Clarence l. Fernberg, who was the class orator of Hughes in 1908, has graduated with honors from Harvard College after completing the acedemic course in three years, one year less than the usual time.

Among the notable men who received honorary degrees from Harvard at the annual commencement services was Dr. Fred Forchheimer of Cincinnati. In giving the doctor a degree as Doctor of Science, President Lowell said to him: Frederick Forchheimer, who, in his practice, by his teaching and with his pen, has contributed to the marvelous advance of medicine in our day, is a man, in the judgment of his peers, worthy to preside over the Association of American Physicians.”

The fine bronze statue of King David, the work of Moses Ezekiel, the scuptor, together with its marble pedestal, which ornamented the foyer of the Cincinnati Club for so many years, was presented by the members of the Club (which ahs been dissolved) to the Union of American Hebrew Congregations President J. Walter Freiberg accepted the gift on behalf of the Union. The building committee has already received the statue and it will probably be placed in the great reading room of the new Bernheim library of the Hebrew Union College. — June 27, 1912

75 Years Ago

Mrs. Burt Weil of Losantiville Country Club won the woman’s metropolitan championship for the third consecutive year Saturday June 26th, at the Cincinnati Country Club, defeating Mrs. Mont Reid, Camargo, 2 and 1, on the 17th hole.

Protests against Poland’s treatment of her Jews were adopted by resolutions Tuesday evening, June 29th, at the Cincinnati Jewish Center.

Speakers included the Rev. Dr. Jesse M. Halsey, president of the Cincinnati Federation of Churches; John D. Ellis, city solicitor and acting city manager; and Rabbi Samuel Wohl of Wise Temple, chairman of the Emergency Committee for Jews in Poland.

The meeting was called by Oscar Berman for the American Jewish Congress and Rabbi Wohl for his Emergency Committee.

Mr. Ellis said in part: “No decent man can sympathize with physical mistreatment or economic boycott such as the Poles are practicing against their Jews.”

As a friend of the Poles — who was in Poland after the World War, and helped in her economic revival — I say that Poland owes its welfare to Jews. — July 1, 1937

50 Years Ago

Psychiatrists at the UC Medical Center have launched a training program for physicians to help them recognize emotional problems in patients, know what to do about treatment, and do preventative work.

Dr. Maurice Levine, professor and director of the department of psychiatry in UC’s College of Medicine, announced June 23 the University has received $150,000 from the National Institute of Mental Health of the U.S. National Institutes of Health to back the program for the next five years.

Mr. and Mrs. Mitchel Better, 3821 Winding Way, announce the forthcoming Bar Mitzvah of their son, Stanley Lee, Saturday, June 30, at 9 a.m., at Adath Israel Synagogue. A kiddush will follow the services.

A reception will be held in Stanley’s honor on Saturday June 30, at 8:30 p.m. at Ohav Shalom Synagogue, 1834 Section Road. Friends and relatives are invited. No cards.

Stanley is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Morris Hazen and the late Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Better. — June 28, 1962

25 Years Ago

Rabbi Stan Meisels is the new principal of Yavneh Day School, Ron Wise, president, announced.

Meisels and his wife, Carol, will be moving here in mid-July, officially beginning his duties at Yavneh on Aug. 1. Meisels holds a bachelor’s degree in Jewish education, a master’s degree in Hebrew letters and a rabbinic degree from Heberew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati.

The Carl H. Lindner Educational and Cultural Center is presently under construction on the grounds of Givat Katznelson, Cincinnati’s Project Renewal neighborhood in Nahariya, Israel.

The center is being built as a tribute to financier Lindner for his friendship and support of the Cincinnati Jewish Community. Financed entirely by contributions to Cincinnati’s Project Renewal campaign, the center will serve the educational, recreational and cultural needs of the Givat Katznelson residents.

Due to be completed in early Nov., the center will house a sports facility, library and seminar rooms. — July 2, 1987

10 Years Ago

On May 28, The Hillel Jewish Student Center celebrated the unveiling of the parochet, a Torah ark curtain, from Stadttemple, the only synagogue in Vienna to survive Kristallnacht.

Miriam Abrams (nee Rubin), 87, passed away June 11. Mrs. Abrams was born in Cincinnati. She was a daughter of the late Harry Michael and Rachel (Hirschfeld) Rubin. Mrs. Abrams is survived by a daughter, Debby Abrams, and a son, Mark Abrams. Mrs. Abrams was the youngest sister of Ethel Shafer and Gruna Bernstein, both of whom predeceased her. She is also survived by an extended family, which includes many nieces and nephews.

In 1933, Mrs. Abrams graduated from Hughes High School, by 1937 she had earned a degree from The University of Cincinnati’s College of Design Architecture and Art. Her talents as an artist found expression in the many sketches and patterns which she created for The Gibson Greeting Card Company, with which she was associated until 1942, when she married. From 1967, until her retirement in 1985, she worked as a licensed insurance agent for Frederick Raugh and Company. — June 27, 2002