RHODE ISLAND JEWISH HISTORICAL NOTES VOLUME 11 NOVEMBER 1992 NUMBER 2 PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE Seebert J. G oldowsky, M .D ., C h a irm a n Stanley Abrams Sidney G oldstein, P h .D . Geraldine S. F oster Eleanor F. H orvitz B onnie N. G oldowsky Terry K antorowitz Shaffer Jerome B. Spunt The Library of Congress National Serials Data Program (NSDP), Washington, D.C. 20540, which operates the U.S. Serials Data System, has assigned the following International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) to the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Notes, a publication of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association: ISSN 0556-8609. F r o n t C o v e r Beach and Boardwalk at Narragansett Pier, August 1940. See “Summers Along Lower Narragansett Bay: Narragansett Pier and Nearby Areas,” pages 180-217. Foreground, Bernice Ganzer Axelrod. Front row, 1. to r., Claire Stone Auerbach, Deana Robinson Litwin, Norma Berger. RHODE ISLAND JEWISH HISTORICAL NOVEMBER, 1992 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2 Copyright © 1992 by the RHODE ISLAND JEWISH HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 130 SESSIONS STREET, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND 02906-3444 RHODE ISLAND JEWISH HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 130 Sessions Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02906 David Charak Adelman (1892-1967), Founder EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Stanley Abrams.......................................................................................................President Bernard Kusinitz................................................................................First Vice President Aaron C ohen.................................................................................. Second Vice President Ruth C. Fdcler......................................................................................................... Secretary Milton L e w is........................................................................................Associate Secretary Alfred Jaffe, D.D.S.....................................................................................Treasurer Honorary M embers of the E xecutive C ommittee R abbi Eli A. Bohnen Lynn Stepak B onnie N. G oldowsky Past P residents Geraldine S. F oster Benton H. R osen Seebert J. G oldowsky, M.D. Beryl Segal (1898-1980) R obert A. K otlen Jerome B. Spunt M arvin Pitierman, P h .D . E rwin Strasmich M embers-at-large of the E xecutive C ommittee Jeffrey Brier T oby R ossner Herbert Brown A lvin R ubin Sidney G oldstein, P h .D . Edith Salhanick Jeremiah J. G orin L illian Schwartz R osalind G orin Selma Klitzner Stanzler Sidney D. L ong Samuel J. Stepak M elvin L. Z urier Judith W eiss C ohen, Editor Seebert J. G oldowsky, M .D., Editor Emeritus E leanor F. H orvitz, Librarian-Archivist Charlotte I. P enn, Newsletter Editor Printed in the U.S .A. Published for the Association by Dow C ommunications, Palm Bay, Florida FROM THE EDITOR Notes on the Notes I have been asked to include in this issue of the Notes some of my remarks at the May 3,1992, annual meeting of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association on the work of an editor. I began with a couple of negative quotes about editors, which I hope do not apply to the editor of the Notes: From Adlai Stevenson— “an editor is one who separates the wheat from the chaff and prints the chaff.” “Editing is the same as quarreling with writers,” by Harold Ross, the famous New Yorker editor. A more positive quote from Malcolm Freiberg in the William and Mary Quar­ terly: A writer said to him, “You make me look so much more scholarly than I am. Thank you.” Freiberg said, ‘To edit was to teach— on a different level. Now one’s students were peers and superiors, dealt with individually rather than collectively. Preparing their monographs for publication required all of one’s skill, knowledge, and intelligence, to say nothing of tact and diplomacy. In the process, you learned as much as you taught” To which I say, Amen. A copy editor at a university press writes, “I try not to stand in the way of the author’s voice, especially if it is barreling down the page like a Mack truck. If the author has a nice feel for language and a sense of direction, I’m content just to point out the few bumpy phrases to avoid.” To be specific about what I do for the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association: The first step in editing is acquisition, that is, collecting articles for an issue. Some, I am happy to say, come in like delightful gifts, such as those from Geraldine Foster, Seebert Goldowsky, and Eleanor Horvitz. Our Association ’ s close relationship with the faculty at local colleges, especially Sydney and Alice Goldstein and Calvin Goldscheider at Brown, brings articles from them or their students. More often, though, I have to think of ideas for an article and try to find writers. For example, last year’s Benefit Street article occurred to me because of an interesting vignette I heard about the area. I asked the subject of the vignette and someone who had done research on the area to write an article, but, unfortunately, they were unable to find the necessary time. Meanwhile, I was collecting names of possible contacts for interviews. Then I offered the Benefit Street area as a subject to several Brown University interns who had volunteered their services to the Notes in return for some training, and one became the author of the article. An important part of acquisition is evaluation. Papers are judged mainly on historical relevance, suitability for a journal about Rhode Island Jews, accuracy, and preferably on whether the events occurred at least fifty years prior to publication. Since David Adelman, the founder of theNotes, envisioned the journal as one that should provide not only history but notes for future historians, you may find items that may not seem to meet all these requirements. I have not yet turned down an article for lack of writing skill. I am willing to work with an author and try to make him or her look good. I do, though, send many articles back for suggested revisions. The next phase is copy editing, which includes making sure of the correctness and consistency of punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and style, and checking the accuracy of names, titles, citations, dates, and other facts. Once the article is copy edited, it is sent for typesetting. The returned copy is then subject to proofreading, the most time-consuming and tedious part of editing, and one that even publishers of scholarly books are skimping on these days. I try to read or have read each article four times. Fortunately, I have found some volunteer proofreaders who help out — Bonnie and Seebert Goldowsky, Terry Kantorowitz Shaffer, Geraldine Foster, Violet Halpert, Barbara Levine, andRosalind Gorin, who also helps with research. Of course, your editor takes full responsibility for any errors. To use another of the quotes on editing I have collected, “The author will always open the book to the only typo.” And I must tell you, the worst day of the year for me is the day the finished book arrives — I always find some little mistake, often in something that has been read not four but perhaps fourteen times. The final step, which takes time all along the way, is arranging for printing. That includes negotiating with the printer and setting deadline dates, checking the layout, selecting and writing captions for pictures, planning covers and introductory pages, and a final review of the entire book layout. To get back to acquisition you, the members and friends of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association are the key to the editor’s acquiring good articles. If you would like to be a writer or if you have any suggestions for articles, I urge you to call or write me. Special thanks for help with the editor’s job this year are due to Anne Sherman, Association Office Manager, and loyal volunteer members Stanley Abrams, Aaron Cohen, Maurice B. Cohen, Jack Cokin, Sylvia Factor, Eleanor F. Horvitz, Bernard Kusinitz, Lowell Lisker, Toby Rossner, Alvin Rubin, and Lynn and Samuel Stepak. I also thank the volunteer writers of articles in the Notes and the many people who provided information. Judith Weiss Cohen TABLE OF CONTENTS M arking Another A nniversary: The Diaspora of the Sephardic Jew s............................................................................112 by Robert L. Carothers, Ph. D. Black-Jewish Relations in E ighteenth C entury N ewport...................................117 by Joshua Rotenberg The C ontribution of N ewport’s C olonial Jews to the American W ay of L if e ........................................................................................ 172 by Bernard Kusinitz Summers Along L ower N arragansett Bay: N arragansett P ier and N earby Ar e a s .......................................................................180 by Eleanor F. Horvitz and Geraldine S. Foster The Jewish H erald— Happenings of Interest at L ower B ay V acation P laces..........................................................................215 Alone, A Jew is N othing — Jewish C ommunity in P rovidence in the M iddle to L ate N ineteenth Century.............................................................. 218 by Michael Goldstein Editor E meritus G oldowsky H onored by B rown U niversity School of M edicine............................................................................................................ 233 Sons of Zion Synagogue — M emories.........................................................................235 by Melvin Zurier 100m Anniversary of Temple B eth-El L ibrary ................................................ 240 by Seebert J. Goldowsky, M. D. American