Queen City Heritage Five Cents Carfare from New York: A Memoir of a Immigrant Boyhood in the 1890s

H. Joseph Hyman (1888-1967) and Myra Saturen

Introduction by Myra Saturen

Between 1881 and 1914, close to three million Eastern European Jews — fully one third of their number — immigrated to the United States and Canada.1 Driven from the Russian Empire by system- atic oppression and inspired by the hope of a more decent life, these newcomers poured into the harbors of New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.1 The majority of these immigrants remained in the eastern cities to work in garment factories and sweatshops.^ Many, however, moved on to the towns and cities of the Midwest, where different kinds of opportunities beck- European Jewish population was steadily growing and oned. reached about 15,000 in 1904.6 Relations between My grandfather, H. Joseph Hyman (1888- these ethnic groups were amicable, with neighbors of 1967), was one of those whose families, in the 1890s, different faiths — Lutheran, Catholic and Jewish — adopted Cincinnati as their home. Like many Eastern sharing in each others' festivals and social events.7 European Jewish immigrants, Joseph's father, Pinchas Pinchas secured a tenement apartment (Phineas) Hyman, preceded his family to America, for his family in the Over-the-Rhine district, the area working to bring his wife and five children over a few north and east of Central Parkway, named for its years later, in 1894. He first settled on New York's thriving German population and culture. The neigh- Lower East Side but soon became dissatisfied with borhood also contained an Irish community and a work in a sweatshop. Hearing that another way of life very few Jewish families.8 was available further west, he set out for Cincinnati Contemporary descriptions of the district — in the words of an acquaintance — "five cents car- picture a lively place, especially noted as a musical fare from New York. "4 center of singing halls, beer gardens, and concert Pinchas arrived in Cincinnati, a city of halls.9 The Hymans lived on Thirteenth Street, around 255>139 people, 71,6$9 of whom were foreign born, the corner from the city's most famous musical site, mostly from Germany and Ireland.* The city's Eastern the Music Hall, home of the May Music Festival.

Myra Saturen followed in her H. Joseph Hyman recalled his grandfather's and mother's journey to the United States footsteps and became a and his Cincinnati youth in a social worker. She lives in memoir he began in the mid- Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1960s. This picture of Joseph and more recently has been a was taken about 1918. (Photo freelance writer, newsletter courtesy Myra Saturen) editor, and publicist. Spring 1998 Five Cents Carfare From New York 3 Although Joseph never entered the in the United States of America, in order to have Music Hall for a performance, the thirsty carriage enough from his meager earnings to bring the family drivers tending their horses outside suggested to the - his wife, Hannah and children, Samuel, twelve,- young entrepreneur the perfect business. His days as Leah, nine,- Jacob, eight; Joseph, six and Minnie, three a "newsboy" plunged him further into the life of the — to America. city. Finally, his involvement with the new Jewish Joseph's father started life in America as Settlement House opened the door to a distinguished a "customer peddler"— but more about him later. career in social work. Joseph's first memory of him was not in the flesh; it H. Joseph Hyman recalled his was of feeding the Sabbath dessert to his photograph, Cincinnati youth in a memoir he began in the mid- a splendid work of art from the New World. 1960s. He was still working on it at the time of his Another recollection was his first visit death in 1967. Written in pencil on sheets of tablet to the Hebrew School. It was his grandfather, a little paper, it was given to me thirty years later by his man with a gray beard and pockets full of such good daughter and my mother, Ellen Hyman Fisher. The candy — little squares filled with jelly — who took memoir relates Hyman's departure from Lithuania him to the school early one morning. Joseph remem- and his boyhood in the Over-the-Rhine district. He bers trudging alongside his grandfather, holding his was a marvelous storyteller with a keen sense of little basket containing his lunch in his hand. He was humor, traits evident in his narrative which vividly impressed by the schoolroom, the other pupils and portrays the life he and other immigrants lived in the teachers with long black coats, long black beards Cincinnati 100 years ago. Except for the Introduction and horn-rimmed glasses. and Epilogue, this article is the manuscript as writ- Only one more incident stands out ten by H. Joseph Hyman. vividly in connection with the school: Joseph had learned to recite the evening prayer from memory. It was a real achievement. One night he awakened sud- Voyage to America denly. All was quiet. His brothers, with whom he

In contrast to most memoirs, Joseph Hyman wrote his in the third person.

Joseph Hyman was born in Schaad, a lit- tle village in Lithuania.10 His early memories are still vivid. His mother: a little, buxom woman all soul, all kindness, all industry. How vivid the marketplace in the little town in Lithuania! The men in high boots, muddy,- the women rotund in their great number of petti- coats. The horses, the stalls where various good things were sold. And his mother's stand, with its candles and the barrel of herrings. His mother's busi- ness was that of candle-making and, to add to the meager income from that occupation, she also sold herring — the national dish of Lithuania. You will ask about Joseph's father. He was not dead. Quite the contrary: he was traipsing the countryside in the vicinity of Cincinnati, ,

Pinchas Hyman, father of his grandson Arthur in 1918. Joseph, immigrated to (Photo courtesy Myra America before his family. By Saturen) 1894 he had earned sufficient funds to send for his wife and five children and have them join him in Cincinnati. Pinchas is pictured here with Queen City Heritage slept, were sound asleep. All was so dark. A fear Leah to take good care of their younger brothers and gripped his heart. He let out a shriek. His mother sister until she returned. She did not return until late awakened and hurried to him. at night, after Joseph and Minnie had already been put "What is wrong, my little lamb? Did you to bed. have a bad dream?" The next day Mother was unusually busy "No, Mother. I forgot to recite the baking breads and cakes, although there was no holi- evening prayer." day in the offing. Strange performance, thought And he stood up in the bed made of pine Joseph. boards against the wall and recited his evening "Mother, are you going to send the cakes prayers. to Father?" His mother fondly held him close and "No," said Mother. "The cakes are for said, "My little Josele, you will be a rabbi perhaps." us. We will soon be going to Father." "Mother, is Father far from here? Will we be going in a wagon with big horses?" At which Mother replied, "Yes, my little lamb. We are going far, far away from here, from Grandfather and all of our friends to a new and strange land — on a big boat on the ocean." "And will we ever come back to Grandpa?" Joseph thought of the candy with the jelly centers. Mother only shrugged her shoulders and a tear rolled down her cheek. "Who knows?" The last Sabbath in Lithuania will always be in mind. On Friday Mother had scrubbed the floor of the little one-room house. As before the major holiday feasts, good aromas pervaded the house — the gefilte fish, the potato pudding, and instead of stewed prunes — compote! The Friday night meal had been sad, however. Mother had little to say and her mood influenced all the others. Guests came after din- ner — the rabbi, the teacher, the druggist, others less prominent. The next day more visitors came and as Soon after this event, something hap- night fell and the first stars appeared in the cloudless pened which became more important than any previ- sky, a wagon drove up to the house. Then there was ous incident in Joseph's life: The postman brought a great commotion. There were bundles of bedding, letter from America that started a series of events. utensils, and edibles piled into the wagon and a crowd Then Grandfather came, and although he brought the gathered around the little house. Mother was in tears, little squares of candy with the jelly centers, he was bidding farewell to one after another of neighbors and much more serious than he had ever been before,- he friends. Then grandfather was directing the placing of paid much less attention to the children than usual. bundles into the wagon. Then Minnie and Joseph His conversation with Joseph's mother was long and were hoisted into the wagon and a place found among serious. After he left, Mother got dressed in her best, the bedding for them. The older children climbed up. kissed all the children goodbye, and bade Samuel and Finally mother was helped up. There was a prayer by

In Schaad, Lithuania, (Photo courtesy Myra Joseph's birthplace, his Saturen) mother Hannah, pictured here about 1903, added to the family's income by making candles and selling herring, the national dish of Lithuania. Spring 1998 Five Cents Carfare From New York: 5 the rabbi, a last farewell from the grandfather, and the were large warehouses and, in the new part of the wagon started into the night. The air was crisp and city, the strand with villas and gardens — all magnifi- cold. The trees along the road were like moving cent. Joseph was to see Libau many years later, [in his ghosts. The stars overhead were like great lanterns. work — described later in this paper — with refugees Mother sobbed quietly and Joseph, overcome by the of World I] harbor neglected, warehouses empty, the excitement of the day, the awesomeness of the pre- cathedral in ruins, people dejected — all these the sent scene and the cold, fell asleep. consequences of World War I. From Libau they set sail Soon Joseph was awakened out of a deep for Bremen. sleep. It was still dark. It was cold. He felt so numb, Joseph remembers the ship he and his he could hardly move. He awoke and saw his mother family boarded in Bremen — an immense house on helped from the wagon by the driver and another man water with he, his mother, sisters and brothers living dressed in a heavy pelt coat and boots. His older in the basement! They slept on double decker beds. brothers were already on the ground, standing by the His mother was always ill, lying in bed pale, and giv- many bundles that had come from the wagon. First ing orders in a weak voice, sometimes moaning. And his sister Leah climbed down over the wheel. Then he he recalls what a wonderful time he had racing along was lifted from the wagon and he ran to his mother the deck with other boys, and once what a terrible and held onto her skirts. In front of them was a build- fright he gave his mother when his cap blew off into ing all lit up — a place of awe. It was the train station. the ocean, causing reports to spread that he had fallen Into this station everyone went. It was warm in the overboard. Joseph thinks back upon that journey in waiting room. His mother had opened one of the bun- steerage — the sea-sickness, the bad food, the crowd- dles and placed a heap of rolls and cakes on the table. ing. He especially remembers the storm that one The sleepy waiter brought steaming hot tea in glasses. night sent such fear through the passengers in steer- The tea warmed them all. age that the Catholics said a special mass and the There seemed then to be an interminable Jews chanted the prayers led by a red-bearded man time. More people came and soon the room was who was said to be a rabbi. crowded, the air smelly and hot. He soon became The Hymans arrived in New York to be drowsy and dozed off, his hand on the table. He was welcomed by Joseph's uncle, who had settled there, again awakened. There was great commotion. Loud probably a few years earlier. Like the starlit journey talk, running back and forth. Everyone was tense. The from his village, the arrival at the train station ablaze train was coming, the door to the station was opened with lights and the adventure-filled ocean voyage, the and a cold blast of air chilled him. There was a great city made a dazzling impression on a six-year-old boy. rattle, a noise of steam as if a kettle had boiled over. Joseph was fearful and ran to his mother and held tight to her skirts. He climbed the steps to the train Arrival and his mother became panic-stricken. When all had settled down in a dark compartment on hard benches, To Joseph New York was the fair in his Mother discovered that Jacob was missing. native little Lithuanian town multiplied several mil- Hysterically, she called for him. Then he suddenly lion times. Crowds, noises, the rush of people — it was appeared. He had climbed up the stairs. But instead of all one kaleidoscope out of which emerged a very kind- entering the coach, he had gone over to the other side! ly man — Uncle Daniel, who bade mother and chil- The train took its passengers to the dren to stoop down and shovel up the gold. Yet Joseph Latvian harbor of Libau, an old town with winding saw nothing but snow, and very white snow at that! streets and curious little houses. Libau, before the But the new suits and shoes and caps First World War was a wonderful city, a busy harbor with flaps over the ears! And it was not near any holi- and one of the few that froze up in the winter. There day. And the bananas! The latter was so good, espe- Queen City Heritage

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cially after one threw the interior away and ate the Irish made the kind of business that a new immigrant peel! engaged in sufficiently profitable for a livelihood and New York, however, was not destined to Joseph's father — like many another immigrant from be Joseph's home. His father learned soon after his Eastern Europe in the eighties and nineties — threw arrival that America really began "5$ carfare from all European pride of family toward learning to the New York." He had tried his hand in the sweatshops winds and started out to support himself by shoulder- but found it very distasteful. He had heard that some ing a pack of merchandise and peddling them to of his countrymen had gone to a place called workingmen and farmers. Many such peddlers were Cincinnati, "5$ carfare from New York," and he fol- pioneers of the installment business, which made it lowed them there. possible for the working man to furnish a home Cincinnati already had a Jewish commu- decently, even if he pledged his days to regular pay- nity of note. Reform Judaism had begun there.11 The ments out of his income. Hebrew Union College had been founded there. Installment selling was not a mean and Moreover, the general community of Germans and useless service. Small wages do not permit the accu-

The Hymans lived on Thirteenth Street in Over-the- Rhine, a neighborhood com- posed mainly of Germans but also with an Irish community and a few Jewish families. (CHS Photograph Collection) Spring 1998 Five Cents Carfare From New York 7 mulation of sufficient funds to dress a house with The second day after the newcomers' rugs or pianos. The risk of the "customer peddler" arrival, Father stated that the children must be taken was great, even though his profit may have been large. to school. Here in America everyone must attend Few customer peddlers ever became wealthy. Only school — free school, a marvelous system —and those who afterwards embarked on the supply busi- Joseph, Leah, Jacob and Samuel were taken to the dis- ness or opened stores or became jobbers ever really trict schoolhouse six blocks away.14 For Joseph this prospered. Joseph's father was not destined to become was a momentous occasion. It was a cold day. The wealthy. By temperament he was rather the modest, snow crunched when the wagon wheels ran over it. unaggressive, not very ambitious type. He really had As Joseph trudged alongside his father, he suddenly no business. He simply developed a number of friends heard an unusual noise and saw a trolley car, the first who purchased merchandise from him. Eventually the he had ever seen. Sparks flew from the trolley as it trade became a family inheritance; grandfather, father, touched the wire, and he was thrilled. Some day he son or daughter continued to trade with Mr. Hyman, would ride in one of these trains. to call at his house or be visited by him. After every- In school, the first day, he did not fare one else had been paid, Mr. Hyman reserved what very well. The teacher evidently was not pleased with remained, if anything. a greenhorn so late in the session. She seated him So Cincinnati was destined to be Joseph's next to the class bully and proceeded to forget him. home in the New World. It was an interesting city in However, the bully was more observant. He annoyed the late nineties — not a model for government to be Joseph, finally spitting in his pencil box. In great fear, sure — with Boss Cox and his henchmen in full Joseph scrambled out of his desk seat to the cloak power.12 But trade was brisk and there was much room, snatched his hat, and rushed out of the room opportunity for the small businessman; the chain and back home as fast as he could, crying all the way. store movement and the great department stores had The school did not impress itself much not yet monopolized business. on Joseph's mind. It was his sister Leah who was the The Hymans settled in that portion of far better pupil, very devoted to her homework. She Cincinnati called Over-the-Rhine, a tenement house was much liked by her teachers. School work was section occupied mainly by German Lutherans, with a always in her mind, although she helped Mother with sprinkling of Irish and German Catholics. the housework. Several incidents bear this out: Once, Playgrounds were as yet unknown. The streets, the she awoke in the middle of the night and announced many alleys, the little park several blocks away13 that "the way to a place is direction." Another time, served gangs as their domain. The Fourteenth Street arising on a cold morning, she wanted her bloomers. and Fifteenth Street Gangs were bitter enemies and But first she asked her mother for her language book; many a fight was waged over the entire ground of she was determined to ask for her bloomers in Pleasant Street. English, her new language. The family was met in Cincinnati by the It was later Joseph's regret that Leah father and a host of countrymen, who conducted the could not continue her education after grade school. "greenhorns" to the third floor tenement that became The principal had come to the house and urged the Hymans' habitat for many years. Mother to send her to high school. But the means To the newcomers the apartment was were not available. Times were hard. Seven mouths to elegant — the furniture, the strange-looking beds and feed, clothes to buy, rent to pay, books, medicine, doc- — marvels of all marvels — the rocking chair! And tor bills — it was all too much for Father. The family the table was set with a spread for kings! Cake and needed another wage-earner. So Leah was apprenticed wine and fruit and chopped herring and gefilte fish! to a dressmaker — a great loss. Never was there a We had thought all these things were unknown in more devoted student and her great desire had been to cowboy land! be a teacher. Queen City Heritage The Newsboy Days wares as well as the next newsboy — on Sunday mornings too well — and he was often cautioned by In this section, Joseph Hyman describes the policeman to pipe down. the most glamorous part of his boyhood — the news- There was adventure in selling papers in boy days. He also relates other schemes he and his those days. One met interesting people. On Sunday friends devised to earn a few pennies. morning a gentleman in a cutaway and a gray derby hat would purchase his morning paper, have his shoes One afternoon, Jacob and Samuel disap- shined at the corner, and book a streetcar to the sub- peared. They were not at home, not in the street. Nor urbs. Who this elegant gentleman was, Joseph never did they appear at supper. Late in the evening they ascertained. came, each carrying a large sack over his shoulders. Sunday mornings in the summertime What did that mean? They were ravenously hungry, were particularly interesting. Early in the morning and Mother served supper for them. After supper they when it was still dark, Mother would awaken Joseph. sat down at the table and pulled a great many pennies After a glass of milk and a roll, he would go to the out of their pockets — 20, 30, 40, 43 pennies. Where newspaper offices for the Sunday papers. Some of the had it all come from? From selling newspapers. They newsboys had slept on benches or on the floor in the had earned 43 cents! stuffy room in the newspaper offices set aside for them. With a stack of papers under their arms, as many as they could carry, Jacob and Joseph walked through the deserted streets to the river front, the , for the excursion boats, the steamers that made trips to Louisville. These adventures were the most profitable for the newsboys. Soon the passengers came down the cobblestone streets to the waterfront, mostly in pairs. They had a long day before them and the newspapers were most welcome. It was not long before the newspapers were sold out, and Jacob and Joseph returned to the newspaper offices for a fresh 1 supply to sell on the streets, which were now showing i more life. HI The evils of selling newspapers were not unknown to Joseph and his brothers. But they held no Nothing in Joseph's life had quite the temptation for them. The crap-shooting in the alleys glamor of the newsboy days — the heartaches, the was not at all attractive. Joseph mingled very little joys, the sophistication, the worldliness! The first day with the other boys. One night, however, after Joseph marked a real tragedy that ended happily, however. and Jacob had sold out their supply and were ready to With a large sack almost completely around his little go home, some of the newsboys had a scheme that body, he stood on the busy corner of Fifth and Vine, was enticing. Joseph, being the smallest and the most too shy to yell his wares. The afternoon passed and no forlorn in appearance, was sent to the large bakery to papers were sold. A gentleman, evidently a newsboy "buy" cakes. The proprietor, seeing the little waif himself when a boy, saw Joseph and sensed his with a large news sack, took pity on him and for a few predicament. He purchased two newspapers, giving pennies filled a large sack with cookies, honey cakes, him a nickel and refusing the change. He gave him a lady fingers, and little chocolate squares. What a feast silk handkerchief to wipe his eyes, besides. This gave it was! Never before or afterwards did cakes taste so Joseph courage. Afterwards he learned to yell his good.

Joseph and his siblings prob- ably attended Tenth District School at Elm and . The school's name was later changed to Raschig after H.H. Raschig, the school's princi- pal in the 1890s. (CHS Printed Works) Spring 1998 Five Cents Carfare From New York 9 The May Music Festival was the gala Another method of earning money was event of Cincinnati. Artists of renown were engaged calling cabbies after the performance. on its programs. Operas were performed.15 Great con- Joseph never entered the Music Hall, ductors conducted the programs. The great Music except through the rear entrance, until much later, to Hall, just around the corner from Joseph's home, was attend the high school graduation exercises. There renovated in honor of the festival. was, however, one exception, an incident which bears retelling. Joseph's sister Leah was very fond of cats. On the days of the festival, horses and The house always had at least one. The latest acquisi- carriages lined the streets for blocks. Joseph and other tion was dubbed "Mealy Potatoes" after one of enterprising youngsters in the neighborhood found the Dickens' characters.16 festival an opportunity to earn a few pennies. The Mealy Potatoes was a fine she-cat and we coachmen, having to sit for several hours (they could were all fond of her. Just before May Music Festival not leave their horses) and the weather being often time, Mealy had a litter of kittens. By the time the hot, the youngsters would secure cans of beer for the festival started, the kittens had grown to considerable coachmen from the neighboring saloons. The trade size and appetite. They became a nuisance and the became quite brisk. The beer was 50 plus 2$ for the family wanted to be rid of them. None of the neigh- service. bors wanted them, so Joseph struck upon a plan to get rid of them. One evening, returning from the beer- selling business, he had Leah get ready: "We are going to the festival." He secured a basket, rounded up the cats and put them inside. Then he and Leah were off to the festival. At the stage entrance, they engaged the watchman in conversation. They begged to be admit- ted for just a minute to peek at the show. The watch- man was kind. Joseph and Leah returned, but the bas- ket was empty. Joseph cannot remember whether the show was "Madame Butterfly" or something else. At any rate, the cats did not come back.

The Miami and

Another neighborhood feature that was an important part of Joseph's boyhood was the Miami and Erie Canal. The canal connected Cincinnati with , terminating at Toledo. Packets, bearing ice from Lake Erie as well as lumber and coal, plied its waters. By the 1920s, the canal had fallen into disuse and in 1928 Central Parkway was built over it.

The Hymans' home was one block from the Miami and Erie Canal. In the late nineties the canal was still a useful artery of transportation, with mule-pulled packets carrying heavy freight a common

Music Hall was just around horses. They also called the corner from the Hymans' "cabbies" for patrons after home. At May Festival time the performances. (CHS Joseph and other youngsters Photograph Collection) earned extra money by get- ting beer for the coachmen who could not leave their IO Queen City Heritage

sight. The canal, which would freeze in winter, was Bathing after dark was in the nude. Few, if any, of the also a source of ice. The kids in the neighborhood gang owned bathing suits, which were sissified any- made a little money by following the packets carrying way. One night when Dutch was swimming, Joseph's this ice, which came in large slabs. In unloading, gang carried off the bully's clothes and he was forced some of the pieces fell off; Joseph's pals bought a little to wait until late at night to get home — in the nude. toy wagon, loaded it with pieces of ice and peddled The canal was certainly not sanitary,- it them in the alleys. was polluted with all sorts of debris. People dumped The canal also served as a swimming their garbage in it. It was not unusual for a young pool. On summer days it attracted the street urchins swimmer to find himself floating alongside a dead rat. for a swim, just as the old swimming hole did in the Although swimming was forbidden, the canal, espe- country. cially in the late afternoon, was crowded with swim- Several events stand out in connection mers. It was here that Joseph learned to swim. with the canal. One of these involved the bully of the Eventually, Joseph paid dearly for swimming in the Fifteenth Streeters, someone nicknamed Dutch. He dirty canal with a case of typhoid fever. was a big fellow and he dominated the Fifteenth It was during his illness with typhoid Street gang. It was the ambition of the Thirteenth that Joseph had a dream which made a deep impres- Streeters, to which Joseph belonged, to get even with sion on him. He dreamed that a figure in black came this bully; the canal furnished the opportunity. into his bedroom and opened a book, then closed it

In the summer the canal noon. (CHS Photograph served as a swimming pool. Collection) Although swimming was for- bidden and the canal was very polluted, it was often crowded with swimmers, especially in the late after- Spring 1998 Five Cents Carfare From New York 11 again. Several weeks later, Joseph's oldest brother, York School of Philanthropy (now The Columbia Samuel, passed away, leaving a wife and three small University School of Social Work) in 1911 and The children. Jewish Chautauqua Social Service School in 1915. After his graduation from the New York School of Philanthropy, Hyman became Executive Call to Service Director of the Jewish Educational Alliance and Federation of Jewish Charities in Atlanta, Georgia Joseph Hyman's memoir concludes with (1911-1915) and headed the Federation of Jewish "Call to Service" describing his participation in the Charities in Columbus, Ohio (1915-1920). Jewish Settlement, an involvement that lead to his On September 25, 1920, Hyman set sail life's work. He also mentions the Jones Oratorical from New York for Europe, where, as Director of the Contest while a student at the University of American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee for Cincinnati. the Baltic States, his job was to organize a relief mis- His notes contain a rough outline of his sion to people left destitute by World War 1. A few subsequent career and indicate that he was intending weeks after his arrival, he was joined by Boris Bogen, to continue his life story, when he died in 196J. his mentor from his days at the Jewish Settlement in Cincinnati. Joseph began his social work career while in high school, at the Jewish Settlement House17 on Elm Street, where he met one of the leading social IN ORATORICAL CONTEST workers in America, Boris Bogen.18 Joseph devoted many evenings to the settlement, managing the boys' club. While working at the settlement, Joseph also attended the University of Cincinnati. He also worked at a clothing store. He was shocked by the policy of the store, which was rather common then, of charging two or three times more to farmers than to other customers. (The store had cabmen pick the farmers up at the railroad station.) As a student at the University of Cincinnati, Joseph was in an oratorical contest in which he came in third His oration, based on "Letters of a Chinese Official," concerned the history and cul- ture of China.19 Over the course of three years in Latvia and Lithuania, he wrote hundreds of letters to his Epilogue father and siblings in Cincinnati, describing the con- by Myra Saturen ditions he found as he visited schools, orphanages and villages. He encountered thousands of refugees — H. Joseph Hyman's love of people and many with typhus and tuberculosis — subsisting in dedication to human service continued throughout boxcars, malnourished children and adults struggling his life. Although he received a degree in civil engi- to survive. The countryside reflected the recent war, neering from the University of Cincinnati, he soon with roads torn up by shell-holes and hand grenades returned to social work, graduating from the New still lying about. To help the war's survivors, Hyman

As a student at the University (Photo courtesy Myra of Cincinnati, Joseph partici- Saturen) pated in the Jones oratorical competiiton. His oration, "Lectures of a Chinese Official," concerned the histo- ry and culture of China. 12 Queen City Heritage disbursed funds collected by American Jewish groups ticipated in several interfaith and interracial councils for overseas relief, helped rebuild destroyed homes, in Indianapolis. distributed medicine and provided other services. He was an accomplished painter, whose While in the Baltic States, Hyman paintings were included in exhibitions. His artistic returned to his native village of Schaad and visited work in four media won prizes at the Indiana State the neighboring villages of Twery and Telshe, where Fair. He and his wife, Olga, were enthusiastic sup- the Hyman family still had numerous relatives. porters of music and he served on the board of direc- tors of the Spring Chamber Music Festival in Indianapolis.20 Joseph Hyman loved a good story and was known for his keen sense of humor. These traits were much in evidence during his semi-annual visits to his daughter and grandchildren in New York. (Although Joseph's father chose Cincinnati — 5$ car- fare from New York — as home, Joseph's daughter, Ellen, married a New Yorker, Seymour Fisher, in 1946 and raised three children, Myra, Evan and Alice, there.) His visits were a great treat, and I remember his gentle patience, the sparkle in his blue eyes, and the chuckle in his voice. Although his career took him to several American cities and across the Atlantic, H. Joseph Hyman retained close personal and familial ties to He returned to the United States in Cincinnati. His brother Jacob and sisters Leah and November, 1923, with his bride, Olga Daneman, a Minnie were lifelong residents of the city. With their beautiful young woman he met in Riga and married father, (Joseph's mother had died in 1906) they even- there on September 23, 1923. The couple had one tually moved to a three-story Victorian house at 861 child, Ellen, born on January 12, 1925, in Baltimore, Hutchins Avenue in Avondale, then a blue-collar Maryland. Jewish neighborhood. The addition of Jacob's wife, Hyman assumed the Directorship of the Ethel, and sons, Arthur and Henry, created a three- Association of Jewish Charities in Baltimore (1924- generation household. Leah and Minnie, who both 1928) and of the Jewish Welfare Association of remained single, enriched the home as loving sisters Indianapolis, (1928-1945). and aunts. While in Indianapolis, Hyman''s concern Joseph's daughter, Ellen recalls visits to for the poor inspired him to found the Jewish the Avondale house, whose mix of personalities cre- Community Credit Union, to enable economically ated a lively atmosphere. Jacob, a shoe salesman, was disadvantaged people to start their own businesses. an actor by avocation. He displayed his talent for He also served as the Director of Camp Zion, an mimicry and his zest for fun as a member of an ama- Indianapolis summer camp for Jewish youngsters. teur acting group. His and Joseph's sense of humor In addition to these activities, he headed made family seders merry events. Their jokes kept the Kirschbaum Center, a cultural and educational the family laughing into the night. institution in Indianapolis, and did fundraising for Leah, who was apprenticed to a dress- the United Palestine Appeal. After world War 11, he maker as a girl, became a seamstress who took pride served on a committee to help Jewish refugees from in her meticulous work and in keeping a comfortable Europe who had settled in Indianapolis. He also par- home. She was also a marvelous cook; her niece,

Joseph Hyman travelled widely as Director of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. (Photo courtesy Myra Saturen) Spring 1998 Five Cents Carfare From New York Ellen, recalls her hammentaschen that melted in the 1. Irving Howe, World of Our Fathers (New York, 1976), p. 26. mouth and her challah, adorned with an extra braid 2. Howard Morley Sachar, The Course of Modern Jewish History (New York, 1958), p. 316. on top. A kind, nurturing person, Leah was deeply 3. Ibid., p. 316. loved by her nieces and nephews. 4. According to the 1890 edition of The Encyclopedia Minnie was a vivacious, stylish woman Britannica, there were in that year twelve lines of railway who for many years was a secretary at Hebrew Union entering the city, including one that originated in New York. (Ninth Edition, The Encyclopedia Britannica, [New York, College. Ellen remembers her aunt taking her to out- 1890], p. 783). door summer performances of the opera — at the 5. Population numbers were obtained by The American Cincinnati Zoo, where the lions' roars competed with Supplement to The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1888 edition, the singers' voices! from census figures of 1880. (Ninth Edition, The American Supplement to The Encyclopedia Britannica, [New York, 1888], Today, many descendants of the Hyman p. 244). family still reside in Cincinnati. Among them is 6. Jonathan D. Sarna and Nancy H. Klein, The Jews of Samuel's grandson Senator Stanley Aranoff, former Cincinnati, (Cincinnati, 1989), p. 78. 7. The Writer's Program of the Works Projects Administration president of the Ohio State Senate. Jacob's descen- in the State of Ohio, Cincinnati, A Guide to the Queen City dants include Jacob's son and daughter-in-law, Henry and its Neighbors, (Cincinnati, 1943), p. XXII of "Cincinnati and Esther Hyman; his son Arthur Hyman; his grand- Profile." children, E'dde Hyman David and Barry Hyman; and 8. The immigrant Jewish population was mostly located west of the Over-the Rhine area, centering on Sixth and Mound streets. great-grandchildren Justin, Diana and Maxine David. Sarna and Klein, The Jews oj Cincinnati, p. 78.

POLAND BRANCH. JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN FUNDS FOR JEWISH WAR SUFFERERS. PERSONAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT. TELEPHONE 12-06.

WARSAW, ®°Z'-?..y3.?. : 1920. Gal, Luxenburga m 1, Dear Min:- I am leaving tomorrow for another trip into the Provinces, this time nearer to Warsaw and in a Diatriot known as Congress Poland. I think it will prove to be anlnteresting trip and will require at least two weeks to oover. '•Then it is finish** I am promised to be sent to Riga, the Capitol of Latvia, where 1 am to have a permamnent post. I hope the plans will not be changed as I am rather anxious to go to Riga and be able to have an office all to myself and be entirely upon my own. mettle* I have besnresting for the past several days after my strenous trip to the Ukraine. I am ready now for another trip and really anxious. There is a certain amount of charm and vigor in these trips thwi the Polish froests and thru the interesting little towns on the way. They are very gloomy however. The people are so very poor. One sees childrebn without shoes in this bitter cold their clothing reduced to rags, they all look uiidsrnourished. Many of them get bit one meal a day and that from a soup kitchen. Life here now is very tragic. She stories one hears in the little towns are almost unbelievable. T J Hafc*a I have not p±?*to yet received any news from home. J?or the Lord sakes, WRITE. v \\ f '7\;

In letters to his father and sib- lings Joseph described the conditions he found in the vil- lages and towns which he visited after World War I. (Letter courtesy Myra Saturen) Queen City Heritage 9. The Encyclopedia Britannica, the 1890 edition, gives a movement was a response by the older, mostly German-Jewish detailed description of the Over-the Rhine district, p. 244. community, to the varied needs of its newly-arrived Eastern 10. The following memoir by H. Joseph Hyman is in the my European kin in cities across the eastern and Midwestern possession. United States. Cincinnati's Jewish Settlement opened on 11. Reform Judaism actually originated in Germany around November 4, 1899, in rented quarters on Liberty Street. Later it 1810. The first Reform synagogues in America were in New was moved to a house on Elm Street, and in 1906 settled into a York City and Baltimore. Thereafter there were Reform congre- three-story house at 415 Clinton Street. Its programs included a gations scattered around the country. But it was Rabbi Isaac M. vacation school for teaching hygiene fundamentals in the sum- Wise (1819-1900) of Cincinnati who consolidated these congre- mer; the distribution of food, clothing and medicine,- and a gym- gations into the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in nasium and outdoor playground. It also offered meeting space 1873. Hebrew Union College, for the training of Reform rabbis, for Jewish organizations of all kinds and hosted dances, plays was founded in Cincinnati in 1883. Solomon Grayzel, A and concerts at nominal prices. History of the Jews (New York, 1968), pp. 502-506. 18. Boris Bogen (1869-1929) was a well-known social worker 12. George Barnsdale Cox (1869-1929), Republican leader of a who served as the director of The Jewish Settlement House in political machine noted for its corrupt practices. WP A Guide the early years of the twentieth century. Boris Bogen, Born a pp. 113-122). Jew, (New York, 1930). 13. The park was probably Washington Park, bordered by West 19. The subject of Joseph's oration reflected an interest in world Thirteenth Street, Elm Street and West Twelfth Street. affairs that continued throughout his life,- later in his career, 14. Probably the Raschig School, located at the northeast corner Hyman played an important role in aiding displaced people of of Elm Street and Central Parkway. World War I as the director of the Joint Distribution Committee 15. Cincinnati, A Guide to the Queen City mentions perfor- for the Baltic States, in Riga, Latvia. mances of Saint-Saens' "Samson and Delila," 1896, and "La 20. Sources for H. Joseph Hyman's career and for Hyman family Boehme," "Siegfried" and "Romeo and Juliette,", 1899, p. 82. history include Ellen Hyman Fisher; Henry Hyman; Who' Who 16. Mealy Potatoes is a character in David Copperfield. in American Jewry (New York, 1928) and H. Joseph Hyman's 17. Joseph Hyman was introduced to social work via his obituary, The Indianapolis Star, June, 1967; Hyman's letters involvement with the Jewish Settlement. The settlement house from Europe to his father and siblings, Oct. 1920-Nov. 1923.

Joseph's brother, Jacob, and Joseph Hyman and his wife Joseph's sisters, Leah (left) his sisters, Leah and Minnie, Olga had a daughter Ellen. and Minnie (right) are pic- were life-long residents of Ellen (on the right) is pictured tured with Ethel Hyman, wife Cincinnati and lived in with her Aunt Minnie who, of their brother, Jacob, in Avondale. This photo taken for many years, was a secre- 1949. (Photo courtesy Myra about 1925 pictures Jacob tary at Hebrew Union Saturen) (seated) with one of his sons, College. (Photo courtesy Arthur, and his wife, Ethel. Myra Saturen)