The value of autographs

Did you have an autograph book in grade school?  When you were a senior in high school, did you have a yearbook that you wanted everyone to sign? If you do not have the grade school autograph book, I am sure most of you still have your high school yearbook. I know I still have mine. These autographs, the signatures and comments, bring back memories. Some are from old friends we have lost touch with, and some bring back memories of events or experiences that will always be cherished.

Many people collect the autographs of celebrities – sport figures, famous actors or famous people – as a hobby or perhaps for financial gain. There is another kind of autograph that is of interest to historians and history buffs. These are handwritten letters by famous people. This personal touch is what makes them particularly valuable. The Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association is fortunate to have two autographs of this sort, personal letters written to residents of Rhode Island.

The first letter was written to Alvin Rubin by Cecil Roth (1899-1970), a British Jewish historian and educator. Roth, a fellow of  both the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Society of Literature, was editor-in-chief of the “Encyclopedia Judaica” from 1965 until his death. Rubin corresponded with Roth while he was a Ford Foundation Fellow at Yeshiva University.

In 1956, Rubin wrote a letter to Roth and Roth replied. It is this reply that we have in our archives. Roth invited Rubin to a lecture he was giving at the Jewish Museum in New York. Rubin went to the lecture and described Roth’s appearance. “He was a slim, tall man with a shock of black hair. He talked with an upper-class British accent (no Yiddish here).”

The second letter was written by David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, to Ida Silverman (1882-1973). This letter was found in an antique shop in Boston by Stanley Abrams. Silverman was an ardent advocate for Israel even before there was a state. She traveled extensively all over the world, logging more than 600,000 miles as the “Voice of Israel.” She was elected vice president of the Zionist Organization of America and vice president of American Jewish Congress, the only woman to hold these offices. She was also awarded the “Silver Medal” as the woman who had done the most for the building of Israel. The letter was written in 1970 to “My dear Mrs. Archibald Silverman.”  Ben Gurion promised to escort her personally to any place in Israel she wanted to visit and urged her to “come as soon as possible.”

Some autographs have monetary value as do the above two letters, but most are valuable only to the person who received them. Hold on to those yearbooks. Maybe someone in your class is famous.

ANNE SHERMAN is the office manager of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association. To comment about this or any Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association article, email info@rijha.org.