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Memories of Work
P A G E 4
“[E]very time [Frances] was interviewed by a principal, [the question would be] “And what is your religion?” And when she said, “Jewish”... that would interfere... [She] finally wrote a letter to [a friend]... teaching in Grand Rapids, Minnesota... He answered “You’ll get a job. Just don’t answer that question. Put anything down but Jewish.” And sure enough as soon... as there was another possibility she put down Unitarian. What else could she do?”
Blanche Halpern Goldberg, oral history, 1976. Goldberg was recalling the difficulty her sister, Frances, had in finding a job after graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1924. Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.
“I... attended Miss Wood’s kindergarten training school in Minneapolis [then] taught school in Wells, Minnesota, where my parents lived until 1921. My father died suddenly. In the fall of 1921, my mother and I moved to St. Paul. I started working for the Jewish Family Welfare [Association]... part time and attended the University of Minnesota... This was during the time of a large Russian immigration... I practically learned to speak Yiddish... I would accompany [Russian Jews with health problems] to the Wilder Dispensary [free clinic]. I acted as the interpreter.”
Eva Levy, oral history, 1978. Levy served as a social worker until her retirement in the 1960s. Courtesy of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest.
top photo: Frances Halpern standing in her classroom in Onamia, Minnesota, 1924-25. Courtesy of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest.
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