Goldberg, Kate_1974, Oral History, February 6, 1974

GREATER HARTFORD JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION

Tape No.: 68 No. of Tapes: Name of Interviewee: Katie Goldberg (Mrs. Michael) Date of Interview: Feb. 6, 1974 Occupation: Housewife Date of Birth: Aug. 14, 1884 Place of Birth: Majurit, Russia Transcript (yes/no): yes No. of Pages: 33

Abstract: Mrs. Goldberg came to the U.S. with an older sister when she was 12 years old and settled in N.Y. for a few years. She met her husband through her sisters’ father-in-law who lived in Hartford. She married Michael at the Germania Hall in Hartford when she was barely 16 and moved to Hartford. She had four children, a daughter Fifi, three sons, Handel (Henry), Irving, and Julie. She was an indefatigable worker for nine different organizations during her life. Together with eleven other women she founded Hadassah in Hartford, went door to door to raise money and obtained 300 new members. She was also active in founding the Old Peoples Home (the Hebrew Home). Other organizations in which she was active and life member were the Jewish Women’s Council, Jewish Theological Seminary, and cancer organizations. Her husband was philanthropic to many organizations. She met Henrietta Szold when she visited Hartford. A brother-in-law, I.E. Goldberg did a lot of work for Israel. She was a board member of Temple Emanuel and was influential in changing the confirmation age from 12 to 14. In 1912 she and her family went to Europe and Russia for 4 months. Most of her family had died, but a sister and five children who still lived in Russia were brought to the U.S. the following year. Mrs. Goldberg had two cousins, one was an engineer and the other a pharmacist, who had left Russia for Palestine and Mrs. Goldberg and her brothers sent money to help them. Her three brothers, Joe, Julius and Zisma Gold came to Hartford and had a wholesale dairy business after Mrs. Goldberg married. Some of the names of the eleven women, besides Mrs. Goldberg, who founded the Hartford Hadassah were Mrs. (Annie) Zeman, Mrs. David Kaplan, (Jennie) Silver, Harris, Cantaro, Levitow, Rome.

Subject Index: Hartford History – General Hartford History – Jewish Eastern European Jewry Business Hebrew Home Hadassah Emanuel Temple Community Activities (in the Jewish community) Zionism Oral History