RIJHA displays historical items from its archives

PROVIDENCE – Dozens of Rhode Islanders got a peek into the state’s Jewish past on Dec. 11, at the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association’s “Afternoon in the Archives” event.

Attendees “ohhhed” and “ahhhed” as they gazed at the archival displays, which included the Victorian-era mannequin “Bessie,” decorative pins from the Silverman Bros. jewelry company, a Flink grocery store account book in both Yiddish and English, and a stunning scherenschnitte.

RIJHA’s Beryl and Chaya Segal Archives are on a lower level of the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center; the event was held in the JCC’s Melvin and Patty Alperin Board Room.

Bessie, who is at least 130 years old, was not up to a public viewing, so RIJHA instead displayed photos of her and a model of what she will look like when she is restored to health and beauty, as the group plans. The photos show a mannequin that is looking its age – Bessie’s head, made of wax, sags on her chest, she’s missing a finger here and there, and her splendid silk-and-cotton outfit is ripped, worn and faded. But the pint-sized model of the nearly 3-foot mannequin is beautifully dressed in a replica of Bessie’s original apple-green clothes, as created and sewn by RIJHA past president and current secretary Ruth Breindel.

Bessie is believed to have been modeled after Bessie Abramowitz, or Abrams, the wife of Abraham, who owned a tailoring business on Westminster Street in Providence from 1900 to 1905. RIJHA representatives are currently meeting with restoration experts.

Russian immigrant Archibald Silverman, along with his brother Charles, started the Silverman Bros. jewelry company on Eddy Street in Providence in 1897. For the next 60 years, the company would produce “Cuff, Ribbon, Beauty, Veil Pins and Photo Frames,” as well as award-winning insignia for the Armed Forces and other decorative items. Colorful pins from the 1919 Silverman Bros. catalog were on display, including bluebird and cameo brooches and enamel bar pins.

The Flink grocery store moved from Fall River to Providence in 1899. RIJHA’s archives have an account book for the thriving business, which it displayed with notes that began: “This account book, dated 1898-1900, has entries in both Yiddish (made by Benjamin Flink, the founder) and in English by his son, Abe. The Yiddish entries are in the back of the book, the pages moving right to left, and the English ones are in the front, the pages moving left to right.”

Scherenschnitte is the art of cutting paper into designs, and the roughly 2-foot-square example on display was created by Samuel Shore, the first president of the Sons of Jacob Congregation, and is on loan to RIJHA from the congregation and the Rhode Island Jewish Museum.

The scherenschnitte is a collage of paper, ink, tempera and graphite, and has been restored to show its colors and intricate design, which includes the signs of the zodiac, the Ten Commandments, Hebrew verses and more.

The Dec. 11 event was put together by RIJHA Program Committee members Ruth Breindel, Cliff Karten, Anne Sherman, Kate-Lynne Laroche and Jaime Walden.

Laroche, who is RIJHA’s executive director, said the archives hold “hundreds of thousands” of items, organized into collections, such as businesses, families, obits and Jewish organizations. RIJHA frequently gets requests to scour the archives for people, information and things from Rhode Island’s Jewish past.

“It’s so interesting, you never know what you’re going to research,” Laroche said. “You never know the amazing discoveries you’ll find.”

Chartered in 1951, the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association is the oldest Jewish historical society in continuous operation in the United States. To become a member or make a donation, go to rijha.org.

CYNTHIA BENJAMIN is the copy editor for Jewish Rhode Island, a writer and a chef. She is a member of Congregation B’nai Israel, in Woonsocket, and is on the board of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association.