Hammerslough, Philip_1974, Oral History, August 29, 1974, August 30, 1974

JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF GREATER HARTFORD ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION

Tape No.: 79 No. of Tapes: Interviewee: Philip Hammerslough Date of Interview: Aug. 29,1974 Occupation: Tobacco business Date of Birth: Jan. 20,1891 Place of Birth: Kansas City, Mo. Transcript (yes/no): Yes No. of pages: 22

Abstract: Mr. Hammerslough comes from one of the most prominent families in Hartford. He has one of the largest collections of American silver in the country, and at the time of the interview the silver was on loan to the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. The tape does not indicate that later it was given to Yale University. His grandmother came to the United States from Holland at the age of 3 months. His maternal grandfather, Philip Ayers, came from Holland in 1849 at the age of 19 together with his brother, Louis Ayers and went to work in a very large cigar factory in Suffield, CT.; they went into the leaf tobacco business in 1853. The grandfather moved to Kansas City, MO. because of health reasons and died in 1902. He and his mother moved back to Hartford to join her great uncle and two uncles in the tobacco business. His paternal grandfather, Louis Hammerslough, a German immigrant, was the second Jew to move to Kansas City in the 1850s where he had a clothing business. There is a description of his civic activities and prominence. His oldest uncle, Benjamin Haas, moved back to Hartford, where he went into the tobacco business with his uncle, Willis Haas in 1885, together with Felix Haas he formed the H.B. Haas & Co. His uncle, Ben, was one of the founders of the United Jewish Charity of Hartford, and also Chairman of the cemetery committee of Beth Israel. His aunt, Christine, was the first president of the sisterhood of Beth Israel. She donated the money for the Benjamin L. Haas auditorium in the Temple. His mother was the founder of Deborah. His father's first cousin was Julius Rosenthal who was one of the first presidents of Sears Roebuck and Co. and instrumental in the tremendous growth of the company. His mother was a well known poet, a welfare commissioner, in the sisterhood. Philip went to West Middle School and Hartford High School where he was the first Jewish captain of the track team. After graduation he went into the tobacco business until he entered the army in 1917 and served with the Old B Troop Machine Gun Company for 2 years. In June, 1919, he married Minna Strauss of Lowell, MA. They were married for 47 years. He has one son, Philip, who is married to Edith Krassler and has four sons, Phillip III, John, Bruce and James. Philip started collecting American silver in 1935. He spoke in detail about his collection, describing unique pieces of silver, their history and acquisition. He sought the advice of experts, among them Mr. Phillips, who was curator of the Garvin collection at Yale University and Hollis French. He has written three Books on his own collection, a book on Connecticut silver with Peter Bowen and is writing a book on his collection with Rita Feingarban of the Albany Museum. He has given the Award of Merit of the Association of State And Local History. Philip mentions two outstanding Jewish silversmiths of the 18th century, Myer Meyers and Joseph Pinto. He has lectured all over the country, he served as trustee of the Atheneum, also as honorary curator of silver, and a patron of the Historical Society.

Subject Index: Authors – American Silver Civic activities (in the greater non Jewish community) Oral History Business - Tobacco Community Leadership (in the Jewish community)