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| Biography,
Allen Meyers |
I was born and raised in the
Strawberry Mansion section of Philadelphia in the
early 1950's,and experienced the last vestiges of
a great neighborhood which included walks to the
Robin Hood Dell, home of the Philadelphia
Orchestra and strolling on 33rd Street along
Fairmount Park. As a child, Sunday's were spent by
walking with my dad to York Street to pick up the
traditional fanfare of lox, bagels, cream cheese,
big mild onions and sweets from the bakery. Then
on Sunday afternoon, the family rode the Route
number 9 trolley car down to South Philadelphia to
visit my Bubbie and Zayde at 622 Mountain Street.
Neighborhoods change and events are stored in
memories for a lifetime. The memories of burning
leaves, trips to the Schluykill River to watch the
men in long row boats, families filling up jugs of
spring water from the rocks in the park ,and
picnics in the park are long since forgotten days
but are keep alive as memories. Even the plays
that were performed at the Strawberry Mansion Day
Nursery by little kids of which I was one of them,
are only preserved now in pictures and memories.
When the Route # 9 trolley car stopped running, my
family moved to another Jewish neighborhood-Feltonville.
The migration path took the Meyers family to the
area of Sears on the Roosevelt Boulevard or the,
" road to New York " as it was known in
Northeast Philadelphia in the early 1960's. New
experiences included wide streets with trees on
both sides and play areas. The smell of flowers
waffled through the neighborhood in the springtime
because all the houses
had front lawns.
Longer walks filled my time since my parents
did not have a car. The walks to the synagogue
down the Boulevard to D' Street was more than 15
minutes but several children accompanied us so it
didn't seem as long. Then there was the walk along
the park to Wyoming Avenue for all the items of
Jewish appeal such as fresh baked goods, deli,
butter/ eggs, and produce.
Time does not stand still and neighborhood change
again played a part in my life. The completion of
the bridge over the Tacony Creek on Whitaker
Avenue ushered in a new time period. Many Jewish
families moved and my parents relocated to the
Oxford Circle area on Bustleton at Tyson Avenue.
The Jewish neighborhood was an exact duplicate of
past areas which included a four block strip of
bakeries, delicatessens, Kosher Meat markets,
fresh fish stores and those butter and egg shops.
That was the early 1970's and we lived within
walking distance of the Beth Emeth Shul at Unruh
Avenue and Ner Zedek at Oakmont Avenue both on
Bustleton Avenue.
The friendship and warmth felt in the community
after the Yom Kippur War in Israel during 1973 was
a bonding force. I attended High Holiday services
with my friends at the Oxford Circle Jewish
Community Center where Rabbi Rominrowski announced
that Israel was under attack and a continuous wail
was heard throughout the shul The Oxford Circle
Jewish neighborhood was more intensively Jewish
and on Chanukah, 1973 every single house on the
2000 block of Disston Street where lived as a
teenager was illuminated with a menorah and
Bustleton Avenue was lined with large cloth
banners proclaiming that this was the time to give
to Federation so Israel should live.
I attended Gratz College at 10th & Tabor Roads
as a coincident . My friend , Jerry Roth informed
me of a new Jewish Studies program at Gratz
College and all my credits from Penn State College
were transferable. After 8 years of part time
study , I received a B. A. in Jewish Studies in
1982.
I handed in a term paper for the sociology course
at Gratz College in late 1978, after returning
from a trip to Israel. Then began a life long
avocation by joining the Jewish Community
Relations Council and speaking on local Jewish
History. I gave lectures on Old Jewish
Neighborhoods through out Philadelphia and the
region with the aid of photographs that I had made
into slides. I met Rabbi Fred Kazan at Jewish
Federation of Philadelphia and he guided me in the
development of a project aimed at synagogues with
speaking engagements through Federation.
By 1982, I was at a crossroad in my life. I
received by degree from Gratz, decided against
taking my graduate work at Brandeis University,
and turned down the opportunity to own a Mc
Donald's restaurant in favor of making Aliyah to
Israel, but faith intervened. I met my wife, Sandy
Manusov at the same time I was preparing to leave
for Israel. My plans to make Aliyah were put on
hold while we planned to wed. Rabbi Rominowski at
the
Oxford Jewish Community Center married us ,and
today we have a daughter, Alisha who is 16 years
old .
Before graduating Gratz, I started an independent
research project with the encouragement of several
professors at Gratz College. Nora Levin of blessed
memory ) , David Passow, and Rela Geffen Monson.
The project consumed all my time, energy , and
money. Later I met Dr. Caroline Golub from the
Urban Studies department at the University of
Pennsylvania who became my mentor and she urged me
to take that independent study and
make it into an accredited work by gaining a
grant.
My vision of making a five volume book of the
region and its synagogues led to a lot of travel
and research in the Delaware Valley. My father and
mother encouraged me to write about the Jewish
farmers and their synagogues in the Vineland, New
Jersey area. In the late 1980's, I did exactly
that and found the area so attractive that I moved
my family to
Washington Township near Turnersville New Jersey.
In 1990, I self published, " Southern New
Jersey Synagogues ".
My research continued and through many academic
contacts, I realized that a graduate degree was a
must. So I went back to Gratz College which just
started a graduate program in Jewish Studies .
Again Dr. Golub followed up with precise
instructions on how to apply for a grant to
complete my work.
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
in Harrisburg and Jewish Federation of
Philadelphia sponsored my research on the history
of synagogues throughout Philadelphia. The
Philadelphia Jewish Archive Center administered
the cash matching grant-which I had to raise funds
in the community.
The research led to a tremendous amount of writing
and too great for one publication. Murray
Friedman, a board member of the Jewish Archives
suggested that a smaller focus was needed in order
to present my material for academic appeal. Thus,
I created , " In the Presence of His Shelter
The Synagogues of South Philadelphia 1880-1960
" which satisfied the grant.
The South Philadelphia material received little
attention until, Arcadia Press from New Hampshire
asked me to expand it into a community history.
Within four months during the winter of 1997-98, I
collected 375 photos from the community to
complete that work with September, 1998 as the
publication date.
Project after project has grown out of the
original ten page term paper that I handed in to
Professor Rela Geffen for my sociology class at
Gratz College, back 20 years ago . Today I lead
walking / bus tours of Jewish interest and write a
website JewishPhillyNeighbors.com I'm a member of
the South Jersey Men's Club in Cherry Hill and
belong to Congregation B'nai Tikvah in Washington
Twp., NJ. As an active member of the Philadelphia
Jewish Community I have created a living history
program and I am currently writing a historical
novel about the Jewish experience in South
Philadelphia which will serve as the basis for a
full length feature film.
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