Look (o che eock [.eo'': a^rhich Uoa .tteee }'e.un DI'J..J ft ''r tJ-9t* tvrr;r FORMERLYSOCIETY NEWS cbrcocoft Je(rlrsl.) l.lrstctnrcol soclc)tJ volumexiii. no.3,April, 1990 Adler:The Rabbi's Son Who ReprintingUnderway Designedthe AuditoriumTheatre On LandmarkLocal Fame of Partner Sullivan Unjustly Overshadows JewishHistory Book Ac'hieyementof Loc'alArchitectural Genius Lavish 850-PageVolume by WilliamO. Petersen By MeitesDue Out in Fall he life and work of DankmarAdler was an interestin the back of eprintingby the Societyof a long unavailableclassic local my mind for a numberof yearsthrough my involvement of Jewish with the history is currently under way. Auditorium. It wasa passionof mine which startedyears ago, due accordingto PresidenrWalter Roth. to my havingbeen broughtup in a family whereevery performance of By fall. it is expectedthal Tlrc operabrought a latercomment from my grandmotherand mother:"If it Histo,- of the Jeu'sof Chitugo. a volumi- had only beenin the Auditorium!"A flood of reminiscencewould then nous.lavishly illustrated and surprisingll, follou endingwith the time thatMorher and her close high schoolfriend completehistory of the ChicagoJewish HesterWentworth climbed to theirfifty-cent gallery seats to seeand hear communityduring its firsreighty years will Mary Gardenas Melisande. be generail)avriluble for rhelirsr lime in In my schoolyears I thoughtI would be an architectuntil I real- half a century.Members of theSociety will izedthat drawing,calculus and analyticalgeometry had eludedme. Yet I be permittedto buycopies at a discount. princely spentthe then sumof five dollarsI hadwon asan academicprize (|u t?d oI pugt 2 on thefirsl bookto comeout on LouisSullivan-Hugh Morrison'sLo,ls Sulliyan.Prophet oJ h4oJtrtt Arthitedure. Morrison-and every wriler on DankmarAdler, distinguishedson Sullivansince that time paidrribute to Adler for his engineeringand busi- of a distinguishedfather, has been cast in the nessability and then promptly left him behind. shadow by his more famous and more fasci- nating partner.Louis Sullivan. Yet, as lhis Christian-.1ev'ish Relationships among Immigrants arlicleclearly proves. lhe archilecluralgenius However,when I startedon Adler,another phase of my boyhood of Adler was basic to all of Sullivan's major openedup: the Chicagoof my grandparentsand great-grandparentswho achievementsand was patently evident when emigratedfrom Germanyafter the 1848revolutions. As I went through Adler worked on his own. Adler's life as a the Adler papersthere appeared the namesI wasbrought up with-very son, soldier, husband,father and Jew are also of inleresrro much a part of the liberal and philanthropicgroup in which the Adler srudenlsof localJewish history. Both his career and his life are treated family and the Schmidtfamily (to which I belong)parricipated. in this Rabbi article by Chicago Artorney William 0. Emil G. Hirsch spokeboth at DankmarAdler's and my great-grand- Petersen.like its subject a member of an old father'sfunerals. I havebeen told by WalterRoth that my grandfatherwas Chicagofamily. The arricleis an amplifica- a pupil at the schoolof Adler'sfather, Rabbi Liebman Adler. (Walter also tion of the addressgiven by Mr. Petersenat reportedthat Grandfatherliked the schoolbecause he was given both the the March CJHS meetins. (r nuc4 o Dakc4 of someK.A.M. membersin the Union TheInterwoven Web cause.In 1861,there had come 1o the pulpit oi K.A.M. a forcelulpersonality and great Of JewishHistory or or. RubbiLiebman Adler. Born in a smalltown in Germanyin I {l12, he had Se e mi ngl y Sepa rate Event.s emigratedto Detroit in lli54. alreadya prominentscholar. His new rabbinical posr- Relate to Each Other tion at K.A.M. enabledhim lo deliverpas- sionatepatriotic sermons, abolitionist in appropriatepages otherwise devoted to a he currentexhibit. "A HouseDivid- nature,which are containedin a publica- narrativehistory of Jews in Chicago.a ed."at theChicago Historical Soci- tion. Fitc A.Lr'eii?J to the K.A.M.. Rabbi recordol Jewishpanicrpation in thevarious ety is a splendidpresentation of the Adler'soldest son enlistedin the Union arts,professions and businesses.and the U.S.years before and during the Civil War Army at lhe age o[ eighteenand fought in historiesof Jewishcommunal institutions The exhibit concentratesupon the issueof many battles of the war before being includingindividual congregations. clubs slavery.and. contrary to somehistonans. woundedat lhe Baltle of Chickamauga. and charities.Remarkably in a book pub- takesthe position that the abolition of slav- The presidentof K.A.M. at this lishedover sirty-five yelrs ago.a norice- ery was the dominantcause of the Civil lime, AbrahamKohn, was alsoa staunch ably largepercentage of the biographiesarc War.There are many originaldocuments abolitionisland supporterof Lincoln.He of women.There is also an index of names and artifactson display.Chicago, of course, wa\ appoinledCiry Clerk of Chicagoin and organizations. wasthe home of SenatorStephen Douglas; 1860and is well-rememberedby Civil War No expensewas sparedin the andit washere that the Republicansnomi- buffs becauseof the satinAmerican flag preparationof the original printing. and natedLincoln as their nomineefor presi. containingin Hebrew letterinBverses 4 there are severalinsened plates-some in dent in 1860,meeting in a largewooden through 9 from the first chapterof Joshua full color -and speciallydesigned large building locatedat Lake and Market (now which he sent to Lincoln in 1861just artistic initial lettersat the start of each WackerDrive) Streetsand known as the beforeLincoln left his home in Springfield cnapter. Wigwam. to go to Washington.Kohn's daughterlater The exhibitmakes no mentionof maniedRabbi Adler's oldest son. As you New Price Kept Low ChicagoJews who were activein the aboli- may havesurmised, the oldestson of Rabbi The currentprinting, a full-sized tionistcause prior to and during the war Adler, the Civil War hero and husbandof facsimileedition, will not be quite so lavish akhoughthere were many.The only men- the daughterof the presidentof K.A.M., but will be well-producedwith a heavy tion of a Jewishinvolvement in the enrire was DankmarAdler, who would go on to paperbackcover so that it can be sold at a exhibit comesin a displaycase near the end b€comethe renownedarchitect and the sub- reasonableprice to our membersand at a in a programlisting Chicago organizations ject of our March 4 programat lhe Audito- higher,yet still modest,price to the general that participatedin the paradethat accom- rium Theater.Such as always are rhe inter- public. paniedLincoln's body after it had arrived twiningsof historyand our people. Although the book naturallypays by train from Washingtonon its way to WalterRoth major attentionto the achievementsof Cer- Springfieldfor burial. The two listed orga- Presideirt man-bomJews and their familiesduring the nizationsare the "HebrewCaha Ubecut earlyyears, careful attention was paid to the Clrarrllri' (sic) and the HebrewBenevolent Association.(The actualnames of these Repri]ltingundelwayif:;' ffi ,n[Tfi:,i'J:T',xrH: organizationswere the Cheva Kaddisha &ntnu?drt'om pag? I of themare included. Meites himself was a Uhikkur Cholin and the Hebrew Benevo- The monumentalvolume, edited Russian-bomprinting executive who pub- lent Society.)The funeral march took the by Hyman L. Meites and publishedby an lished fie Lau.ndale Press, The Jeu'ish marchersfrom the railroadstation west on earlierversion of the Societyknown as the Re.ord and, later. The Chitago .leu,ish Lake Streetto LasalleStreet and thento JewishHistorical Society of Illinois,was Chronicle.He wasactive in the JewishPeo- the Court Housesquare at RandolphStreet. printedin an elaborale,limited edirionand ples Instituteand Zionist circles. His asso- The two ChicagoJewish fratemal has been impossibleto find, even in used ciateeditor was David E. Hirsch,son of panicipated organizationsthat in the funer- bookstores,for decades.Occasionally a RabbiEmil G. Hirschof SinaiCongrega- al march originatedin true Civil War fash- copy surfacesin the usedbook marketand tion. ion: one representeda schism from the isquickly sold for hundredsof dollars. other The membersof the HebrewBenevo- The history,an oversizednine-by- Gift Made Printing Possible lent Societywere of the samegroup that twelve-inchvolume of some850 double- The republicationof the history createdK.A.M., the first Chicagosyna- columnedpages, contains literally thou- uas madepossible by a generousdonation gogue,lhen also known as the Bayerische sandsof brief biographiesof individual from the Meites family and particularly Shul.The othergroup, mainly [Bavarian] ChicagoJews, usually illustrated with a from Thomas and Jerry Meites, following of Prussianextraction, had secededfrom photoand listingimmediate family mem- in the traditionof their grandfatherby con- the Societyand would laterform another bersby name. tributing to rhediffusion of ChicagoJewish synagogue. historyto newel generalions. Unfortunately,the exhibit orga- Original Printing Lavish Detailsconceming the actualpub- nizersdid not includein their storythe role The biographiesare insertedin lication date,the cost of copiesto members 2 and proceduresfor placing orders will be oversawits initial expansionon a national As usual,the brunchwill also fea- announcedat a later date.The Societyhas basis.See "How ChicagoansStarted the ture a brief annualmeeting at which mem- arrangedfor the Wellington Publishing Hillel Foundations,"in SocietyNer.r,s, bers will be electedto the Societyboard of