Interview with Hannah Bronstein, July 14, 1977

Interviewer:

Of 18- what did you say? [crosstalk 00:00:03]

Hannah Bronstein:

Let me see now. I would say that would have been- [crosstalk 00:00:08]

Interviewer:

Well, it's how many years ago?

H.B.:

Wait this is now... What is this? This is 1977.

Interviewer:

Yes.

H.B.:

All right; and I am 77.

Interviewer:

So you came over- [crosstalk 00:00:20]

H.B.:

I must have come over here back in 19... This is right, 1904, my brother told me.

Interviewer:

That's right. That's right.

H.B.:

That's what I remember now, 1904.

Interviewer:

You were four years old.

H.B.:

We stayed with an uncle. I might as well bring in the uncles here.

Interviewer:

Yes.

H.B.:

There's Sal Holstein, and he had the insurance company.

Interviewer:

Enroll?

H.B.:

Enroll Insurance Company.

Interviewer:

Did he start it himself, do you think?

H.B.:

Yes, Yes. He started it himself.

Interviewer:

With his brother Isaac?

H.B.:

No, himself. All by himself, and then the children later on came in, but they 1:00started himself. I don't know what he did before that time, but this is what they did.

Interviewer:

This is the reason your mother came here.

H.B.:

That's right.

Interviewer:

With the... With two children.

H.B.:

Yes. The brothers brought her here. My father had died, and I had never seen- in Russia, and my Uncle Sam, that's the youngest brother, he and Louis [Mosesson 00:01:35]. There's still a Mossesson on-

Interviewer:

That corner.

H.B.:

... There's one on Fifth and Walnut. That's a son. And, there's a milkman, Isaac Goldstein, and in those days they used to drive a horse and a wagon, have a bell, ring it, and people would come down from where they lived with their pots 2:00and pans, and then pour the milk in that.

Interviewer:

And how much did you say they paid?

H.B.:

Probably for five cents, they'd get a quart. Then we moved to my uncle's house after we lived there a year. And we moved on East Jefferson and we opened up a little grocery store... my mother, and us too. Later on, seven years later, she married Phillip Fievelson, and as a result, I have three brothers.

Interviewer:

Phillip Fievelson Jr., really, and William and-

Interviewer:

And Leon. No, not the Phil Fievelson that we know of. It's his son. We have Leon 3:00and William and Manuel.

Interviewer:

Are your three brothers?

H.B.:

Exactly. And my oldest brother is Joe.

Interviewer:

What business were they in?

H.B.:

You mean the boys?

H.B.:

Yes. Your brothers.

H.B.:

Both- Leon had a grocery separate -he sold. Willie had a baggage store, and Manuel was an athlete, and he had a restaurant, he always had restaurants. Manuel has... might not like that [inaudible 00:03:38].

Interviewer:

Now, you want to tell us something about your education, or where you went to school?

H.B.:

I went to the George W. Morris School, which is on Floyd and Chestnut, up until the sixth grade, and from there on Jackson and Walnut, finished with two schools 4:00to eighth grade. They did not have junior high schools in those days, so you got to finish. From there, if you wanted to, you had to go to high school, or you could go to Normal. Most of the girls, we went to Normal for two years, and they became teachers. Today it's much more difficult, yes.

Interviewer:

Oh yes. They have to go longer.

H.B.:

And then, I took a high school course at the YMCA at night because I was working in the day time. To go back when we were kids... I'd say some of things we did... We used to take a ferry boat from here to Jeffersonville for a nickle. We'd be there all day, and there'd be somebody playing and mostly was just We Have No Bananas. And that was all the time. That was fun. For a whole nickel. We would walk to Central Park and the... lots of us, from all over. We thought that 5:00was fun... and walk back. When things were bad, we couldn't afford it.

H.B.:

We moved from Jefferson Street to 7th and Saint Catherine, that was a complete Irish neighborhood. That's so funny. That was called [Linlake 00:05:25]. By the way, that's considered an interesting part of Louisville now, Linlake [inaudible 00:05:32]-

Interviewer:

Where is that?

H.B.:

At 7th Street, 7th and St. Catherine and Oak and so on.

Interviewer:

Oh, yes. That's where Central Park was.

H.B.:

Central Park's on Fourth.

Interviewer:

Oh yes. That's right.

H.B.:

Then-

Interviewer:

Now you say the Jewish people lived close to-

H.B.:

Jefferson Street and Preston Street. But most of the Jewish people lived in little cliques, I'd say little ghettos. That's the word I was looking for. 6:00Little ghettos, like on 7th and Walnut, there was a complete Jewish neighborhood, and on Madison Street, three blocks on Madison, that's between Preston and... look, all of Madison Street was crowded in a lot of Jewish people. And they had more fun. They used to say that all they needed was themselves. They were a little city to themselves. They'd sit out at the front and they would talk with each other and they had big families and they mixed... In fact, Nathan came from Madison Street, too, and so many of the... so for the [inaudible 00:06:49] Madison Street... that was an ordinary neighborhood. And then the finer neighborhoods was out on First, and Third, and Forth, you know. This is where they lived. It's where one of my uncle's and aunt's lived.

Interviewer:

But you, all this time, were way in the West End.

H.B.:

I was on Central and St. Catherine. I was part of the West End. Then after that... Then we moved to the West End, that was 1918. I remember that because the war was just over. All this scheming going on in the city and the people wanted to know about old-fashioned things. They wanted to know about how groceries were sold. Everything was in bulk. Nothing was packaged. If you had any kind of dried fruits, you dug them out of 25 pound boxes. Nobody seemed to get any diseases, and I wonder why. You got everything out of boxes. Crackers were loose. Jelly was loose. Sugar was loose. Everything had to be- [crosstalk 00:07:53]

Interviewer:

Was harder on people like you that waited on them.

H.B.:

Oh, the work there was terrific, of course. But in the meantime, we.... That's 8:00when I started teaching Sunday School at Adath Jeshurun, and even that was interesting because the children who went there took a little more interest, I think, than sometimes they do today. But it was part of my education, too.

Interviewer:

Now did you say, one of your relatives started Adath Jeshurn?

H.B.:

Yes, that was my two uncles.

Interviewer:

I want you to tell about that.

H.B.:

... my two uncles. My Uncle Sal and my Uncle Sam were among- [crosstalk 00:08:35].

H.B.:

[crosstalk 00:08:40] Sal Goldstein and Sam Goldstein.

Interviewer:

And Sam Goldstein.They started-

H.B.:

...They started that with a couple of other Chapkinsky's.. used to be-

Interviewer:

Yes.

H.B.:

... they were related to them. They all started that. [inaudible 00:08:47]

Interviewer:

And they had another Rabbi before Rabbi Gittleman.

H.B.:

Yes. I don't know who it was. I was- that was- I was- I just don't remember. I mean, that was a long time before-

Interviewer:

And did you say that you and Mrs. Gittleman started the woman's club?

H.B.:

Yeah, we had the Emmalizer's Circle, they called it, Emmalizer's Circle. And we had- we had people sometimes come to talk to us. Or we also discussed the important women, Jewish women. [inaudible 00:09:19]

Interviewer:

Getting back to the high school at the Y- no, when you went to the YMHA, and you said the different Rabbi's used to come and speak.

H.B.:

Used to give little talks at our little clubs, [inaudible 00:09:35]and the YMHA had the [inaudible 00:09:36] contest. That was one of the big features of the YMHA. Everyone just got up, and we'd thought that we'd just... [inaudible 00:09:46]. And we had certain subjects to discuss, and then they had regulars in, judges to find out who spoke the best. I can still remember one of mine because I was so proud to be up there and why I loved American.

Interviewer:

Uh, huh. And you won a prize for that?

H.B.:

I did not.

Interviewer:

Oh, you didn't?

H.B.:

Because I didn't like the way I said my r's. I don't remember things. I don't have much of a memory, anyway. But this thing stayed with me so long because I was so anxious, and it started with America has a heart, and you see the sad part, look at all the r's that it had in it [laughing 00:10:21]. That's [inaudible 00:10:24].

Interviewer:

You had trouble with your r's, uh huh? Then, I'm getting back to the shuls now. After you married Nathan Bronstein, he belonged to the other- the other [crosstalk 00:10:42]

H.B.:

Anshei Sfard, yes. Which is- which is very orthodox.

Interviewer:

Yes.

H.B.:

And his father and the Baer's and all the Gramstein's and Baer's founded that shul. As you see, all- they founded that, and that's why he wanted to belong there.

Interviewer:

Were you active in that shul?

H.B.:

Yes. I belonged to the sisterhood. I gave several little affairs there. I wrote the bible class. In fact, I lent some of it. I did a couple of book reviews. Yeah we did pretty good.

H.B.:

I don't go as often as I should now. Nathan always went- he went every Saturday. We never skipped a Saturday. Of course, we went to the holiday's there. I wonder if somebody made me do [inaudible 00:11:26] and all the other shuls [inaudible 00:11:37].

Interviewer:

No.

H.B.:

You may have in that [inaudible 00:11:39]-

Interviewer:

I think Adath Isreal- you say when they were found? I think Adath Israel was one of the first.

H.B.:

One of the first. Right. One of the first. Mm-hmm [affirmative]

Interviewer:

And Brith Sholom is about 85 years old now. Now, Adath Israel's over 100.

H.B.:

Yeah. Mm-hmm [affirmative]- And the one on, I just wish I could remember the two names, but anyhow, there was that [inaudible 00:12:03] one on Green Street, 12:00which is now Liberty, and the one on Jefferson Street.

Interviewer:

Well, I'm sure they have that record.

H.B.:

And I think they have that record.

Interviewer:

Yes, Yes. Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about the shuls?

H.B.:

Well-

Interviewer:

You never-

H.B.:

...I never-

Speaker 1':

...Your whole life didn't go around the shuls? [crosstalk 00:12:26]. No?

H.B.:

[crosstalk 00:12:06] No. No. Mostly then, the YMHA.

Interviewer:

Yes.

H.B.:

I was there a lot. I belonged to any number of clubs and [inaudible 00:12:34] contests, and little plays and went to dances there and that-

Interviewer:

This is when you were a little girl?

H.B.:

Yes, until I was about 16, 19 years old.

Interviewer:

Yes. But that was where the younger people congregated.

H.B.:

That's it. All the time. That's right. And then when, of course, when we moved to 28th and Chestnut, then it was quite something, in those days, to go back to 13:00a thing where.. the center, but we did, we went anyhow. Because we kept such late hours in the store there and especially, I was going to night school, too, at the time. But, I was always at the center of everything that went on, and any kind of literary work, I was at the center. And then, during the war, Nathan, of course, was in service, but we- I belonged with the USO and every Friday night, I asked people to go out there and to the soldiers. And we used to have two women who would make them sandwiches, and they took them out.

Interviewer:

Is this for the Jewish soldiers out there? [crosstalk 00:13:54].

H.B.:

[crosstalk 00:13:54]. Every Friday - the Jewish soldiers.

Interviewer:

Oh, that's interesting.

H.B.:

Oh yes. They had-

Interviewer:

Where do you say out?

H.B.:

Fort Knox.

Interviewer:

Oh, you went to Fort Knox?

H.B.:

Yup.

Interviewer:

Now what about the Camp Taylor?

H.B.:

That I don't know. I didn't go out there at all. I was just a little, little young for that... not too young. But, I was allowed to go out there. My mother thought it was terrible. This was a little soldier thing that I-

Interviewer:

Oh. Your husband- Oh, you got that. From the USO-JWB. Jewish Welfare Board. You got a little soldier [crosstalk 00:14:35] statue

H.B.:

[crosstalk 00:14:35] -soldier. I got lots and lots and lots of plaques and [inaudible 00:14:37]. Just loads of them.

Interviewer:

You did so much work out there.

H.B.:

But that [view 00:14:41] was interesting. Well, you see, the USO, at that time, was at the Center. Now they don't have that. They have the USO or they had [inaudible 00:14:53], working with a Mr. [Gardin 00:14:55], and each one had something to do and it was my job to see that food was gotten together and sent out there every Friday night, and to get a couple of people who would drive out 15:00and entertain the soldiers. About once every two weeks, they send a bus, and then a lot of us went out on the bus and we took the food out and we used to take a group of young girls out to entertain the soldiers.

Interviewer:

That's what they like.

H.B.:

Yeah, we sent them salami sandwiches and when we sent them corned beef, it was something. We would send chopped liver. I used to make the chopped liver here. And we'd send them out. And the boys would just, oh they were just so thrilled.

Interviewer:

Were you interested in the project at the center on Sundays when they brought the boys in?

H.B.:

They brought the boys in. I have some but not very much, no, this was mostly Friday nights. And every Friday night.

Interviewer:

Mm-hmm. Well, that was a big thing for you to do.[Crosstalk 00:15:52].

H.B.:

[crosstalk 00:15:52] And every Friday night for a number of years, yes, for quite a while, uh-huh. And in fact, it went on and hadn't stopped too long ago. Of course, you see, now they have the- they don't have the [soldiers 00:16:03]. 16:00I mean they don't have the [depth 00:16:06] any more.

Interviewer:

No. They don't need it that [crosstalk 00:16:08] bad anymore.

H.B.:

[crosstalk 00:16:08] They don't need it anymore.

Interviewer:

But I used to go on Sunday and help- [crosstalk 00:1 6:16].

H.B.:

You used to go, and you used to also- you used to get people and make the arrangements for the holidays for them. [crosstalk 00:16:20]

H.B.:

Oh, yes. Yes

H.B.:

That's right. Every time, uh-huh. Well, that was about interesting things.

Interviewer:

Uh-huh [affirmative]. I forgot about that, but I'm glad you brought that out [crosstalk 00:16:32].

H.B.:

[crosstalk 00:16:32] Yeah. I do remember that. I started to tell you about the Y, I do want to tell you this. I don't [inaudible 00:16:36] what are the points of that, but it was so funny that of all those people, they asked me to trim the tree and I said I don't know the first thing about a Christmas tree.

Interviewer:

Now, you're talking about the YMCA.

H.B.:

[crosstalk 00:16:50] CA. Where I went to high - the night school [crosstalk 00:16:51]

Interviewer:

Yes. Yes.

H.B.:

I said, I never trimmed a tree, and to tell you the truth, I'm Jewish, and I don't know if I'm allowed to trim a tree, frankly.

H.B.:

What do you mean, allowed to trim the tree? I said, well, all [inaudible 00:17:07] trim the tree. This was supposed to be a signal honor, you know?

Interviewer:

Sure.

H.B.:

So, my bother, Leon, that's the one, he was the one that was cleaning windows at that time. So, I said, Leon, do you think you could trim the tree for the Y? So, we went out in the woods on a Sunday and we picked up, what do you call those-

Interviewer:

Branches.

H.B.:

-mistletoe and all kinds of berries and whatnot and he had crepe paper and we trimmed, one whole night, we trimmed that whole tree all the way up to the ceiling.

Interviewer:

I bet it was beautiful.

H.B.:

It was a lovely tree. They couldn't get over it because, I said-[crosstalk 00:17:47]

Interviewer:

- you had no experience before.

H.B.:

... We just put anything on it. In fact, some of the people proposed for popcorn. We got [inaudible 00:17:53], but the funny part about it was that out of all of the people, you know, they picked the Jewish person.

Interviewer:

Yes. You were the only Jewish one in the class.

H.B.:

Yes. In other classes, they had some, but I was the only one. I was taking up English then, you see.

Interviewer:

Uh-huh. Well, that's an interesting aspect that I don't think anybody else could claim. Uh-huh. I don't know if there's- [crosstalk 00:18:17]

H.B.:

[crosstalk 00:18:17] If there's one thing I know of, I don't know of anything, really worthwhile-

Interviewer:

-well, I think you've told some good stories. It's still a little more on this side, but that's all right. We can stop it.

H.B.:

You know, it's too bad that I didn't think some more. Because I never even-