Interview with Rose Tarbis, November 3, 1990

Partial Transcript: Good afternoon...

Segment Synopsis: In this segment of the interview, Mrs. Tarbis introduces herself and begins the interview with her very first memory of her life. She provides details on when and where she was born in the city as well as briefly discusses growing up with musicians coming to her home. Her mother had been approached to provide their home as a practice space for children learning to play instruments and Mrs. Tarbis provides her memories of all of them coming to their home and practicing.

Partial Transcript: Rose, what were...

Segment Synopsis: In this segment, Mrs. Tarbis provides details about her parents and her family tree. She talks about her parents and their siblings and parents, providing details about their lives. She talks about her family that lived in Latvia, who had been told by a relative living in Louisville that they should come to Louisville. She talks about how her grandfather and her grandmother got to America, including how her grandfather had gone to South Africa to make money. They came to America and the port that they went to was in Baltimore, instead of Ellis Island, from Manchester, England.

Partial Transcript: And who else...

Segment Synopsis: In this portion, Mrs. Tarbis returns to her information about when her family lived in Louisville, including how her parents met and were married. She talks about her siblings, including her first memory of her brother's birth. She talks in depth about her neighborhood and the people that lived around them and the surrounding areas. She talks about Charlie's, the ice cream parlor, that her and her friends would go to along with the store across the street from there.

Partial Transcript: Rose, tell us about...

Segment Synopsis: Mrs. Tarbis talks about where she went to school. The first school she attended was Morris School that she walked to as a child and how at Morris she began to go by Rose. She then went to Eastern Junior High at age 10 after scoring highly on the achievement test. She also talks about how as a child she loved to entertain and how her and her friends started at WALP, a radio station, when they were 11 years old.

Partial Transcript: Rose, tell me...

Segment Synopsis: She talks about the synagogue that her parents and her grandparents went to on Jefferson St. At Floyd and Jacob was the Sunday school that Rose attended and after she graduated, she was called back to teach at the Sunday school because of her seven years of Hebrew language learning.

Partial Transcript: Rose, tell me about...

Segment Synopsis: Mrs. Tarbis talks about what she used to do as recreation when she was a child. She talks about her mother signing her up for classes and activities at the YHMA. She talks about her parents and her involvement with the Zionists and when the first young group came to Louisville, Rose joined. She then begins to talk about the rabbis that she knew when she was younger. She goes further into the activities of the YHMA as well, describing all of the activities that were available for children and teenagers to participate in.

Partial Transcript: Rose, tell me about...

Segment Synopsis: Mrs. Tarbis talks about her marriage to Mr. Raymond Tarbis, who she met at a funeral for one of the rabbis when she was younger. She describes their wedding and the wedding reception, which included a ceremony that was open to the entire community.

Partial Transcript: Rose, tell me about...

Segment Synopsis: Mrs. Tarbis discusses her memories of the Second World War, when her husband entered into a program where they had to move to Lexington, Kentucky. He worked in radar, which meant that it was a highly secretive program and he became a corporal when he enlisted. They moved to Palm Beach, FL where Rose got a job as a dental assistant in Boca Raton. She talks about Raymond's further progression through the military working with the radar system. She talks about how she lived in various places throughout the war, including California, Nebraska, and many other states, however, Raymond lived on base.

Partial Transcript: Rose, tell me about...

Segment Synopsis: Mrs. Tarbis describes her memories of the 1937 Flood in Louisville during this segment. She talks about the impact of the flood on where her and her family were living, where they had to leave their home by boat and were taken by boat to where her extended family was waiting for them. They went to the Highlands and were separated from their families and those that they knew for a week. When they learned of how long it would take to have their home back, they went and stayed in Detroit, MI for a little while with her extended family.

Partial Transcript: Serious evening...

Segment Synopsis: In this segment, Mrs. Tarbis discusses when Israel became a state. She talks about the impact of its statehood on her and her family, who celebrated the fact that it had finally became a state. She talks about her friend and her family who moved to Israel shortly after it became a state and Mrs. Tarbis talks about what she knows of their time living there.

Partial Transcript: Rose, tell me something...

Segment Synopsis: In this segment, Mrs. Tarbis talks about her association with theater in Louisville. She talks about how when she was little, her parents took her to see the Yiddish theater when it came to Louisville. She talks about her experiences with theater as a child and the performances she saw. She talks about the Yiddish theater groups that were beginning. She was approached by the YHMA to start the YHMA Theater again, where she and her family were highly involved with from the beginning. She talks about the Jewish Community Center and their theater portion of the building, where she performed and provided input on that part of the building. The end of this segment includes Mrs. Tarbis' concluding remarks where she covers information that she wanted to include but did not earlier on during the interview.