PICK OF THE ARCHIVES (reprinted from Fall 1998 Generations )
Never Give Up was the name of Harry Goldie's favorite poem. A South Side boy, Goldie was a member of the Atlas Club. He boxed at the University of Minnesota and even worked as an instructor. In 1916 he and his wife Ethel honeymooned in a tent pitched on land behind what later became the Calhoun Beach Club. Goldie ran a training camp for boxers on the land. For a time, he also sold life insurance, but his real love was real estate.
Goldie as a boxer, ca 1914
His longest-lasting real estate deal involved the building and opening of the Calhoun Beach Club. Begun in 1928, it was nearing completion when the stock market crashed. The building stood empty; its only tenants were pigeons. In 1940, club members developed plans to complete it, but our country's entry into World War II meant that materials were scarce. Finally in 1946, the building opened with great fanfare. According to Goldie's daughter Maxine Smiley, her father wanted to build a club that would be an asset to the total Minneapolis community. He felt that this club would help decrease the anti-Semitic structure of the city because it welcomed both Jews and Christians. It was Goldie's vision and perseverance that helped open the bronze doors of the Calhoun Beach Club in 1946.
Calhoun Beach Club in 1928. Note lack of windows.
PICK OF THE ARCHIVES (reprinted from Winter 1998 Generations )
St. Paul Workmen's Circle Loan Association, 1926. From left, seated: Harry Lax, Louis Levi, Harry Roast, Ben Volensky, Sam Smoliak; standing, Max Goldstein, Nathan Ward. Joe Liebman, Morris Latzer.
This photo of a group of earnest men was given to us by Jeannette Rabinovitz together with many other interesting photos. Her father, Louis Levi, was a St. Paul cap maker and a member of Workmen's Circle.
Workmen's Circle or Arbayter Ring was a fraternal socialist organization founded in the early 1890s in New York to provide social and cultural activities in a Yiddish-speaking environment. Its other function during a period of weak or non-existent unions was to provide benefits to workers.
The St. Paul branch was founded in 1910 and once occupied club rooms at 14th and Canada Streets. It never appeared as strongly socialistic as the parent organization in New York, and, beyond card playing, its main activity was providing sick benefits and insurance.
The Workmen's Circle Loan Association was founded in 1920.
It was independent of Work-men's Circle, although St. Paulites often belonged to
both. The group was a co-operative, and immigrant help was its aim. It made a
pool of money available to Jews who needed loans to tide them over, such as
money to feed a horse during the slack winter months. The loan association
existed at least until the early 1990s, although by then its clients were no
longer Jewish.
