Guides: Archives & Special Collections Exhibits: Yiddish Theatre in the Hill District Spring 2023

Yiddish Theatre in the Hill District

Date of Exhibition: April-May 2023

Curator: Emma Squire (PhD student, Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Pittsburgh, 2022-2023 Graduate Student Assistant University of Pittsburgh Library System

Location: Archives & Special Collections exhibit gallery, 3rd floor Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh 3960 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Description: From the mid-1920s through the early 1940s the Hill District was home to a wide variety of Yiddish language theatre and performance. Whether it was amateur or professional productions, “legitimate” theatre or vaudeville, or benefit shows for an array of political ideologies, the Hill District transformed from hosting touring Yiddish companies to producing and supporting local endeavors.

This display features materials from the University of Pittsburgh Library System’s Archives & Special Collections, Carnegie Mellon University Digital Collections, and the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Concert Programs for the Freedom Singing Society at the Jewish Labor Lyceum, 1927-1928, Freedom Singing Society, Leon H. Swimmer Collection, AIS.2005.08, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Photograph of the Yiddish Dramatic Studio at the Irene Kaufmann Settlement, November 24, 1929, Irene Kaufmann Settlement, Oliver M. Kaufmann Photograph Collection of the Irene Kaufmann Settlement, AIS.1978.12, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Advertisement for the Lando Theater, November 8, 1929, Jewish Criterion, Pittsburgh Jewish Newspapers, Carnegie Mellon University Digital Collections
Photo of the Lando Theater, 1928, Corinne Azen Krause, Corinne Azen Krause Photographs [MSP 113], Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
Notebook from Eddie Steinfeld’s Oral History Interview, 1983-1984, National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Pittsburgh Section, National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Pittsburgh Section, Records, AIS.1964.40, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Quote from Eddie Steinfeld’s Oral History Interview, Tape 1 Side 2, National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Pittsburgh Section, National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Pittsburgh Section, Records, AIS.1964.40, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Photographs of Irene Kaufmann Settlement Drama Clubs, 1926-1929, Irene Kaufmann Settlement, Oliver M. Kaufmann Photograph Collection of the Irene Kaufmann Settlement, AIS.1978.12, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Photograph of the Self Culture Club at the Irene Kaufmann Settlement, February 1926, Irene Kaufmann Settlement, Oliver M. Kaufmann Photograph Collection of the Irene Kaufmann Settlement, AIS.1978.12, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Photograph of Eddie Steinfeld, c. 1965, Pittsburgh Playhouse School of Theater, Pittsburgh Playhouse School of the Theater Records, CTC.1981.01, Curtis Theatre Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Curtis Theatre Collection @ Archives & Special Collections
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Jewish Studies Research
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Oliver M. Kaufmann Photograph Collection of the Irene Kaufmann Settlement, 1912-1969 AIS.1978.12
The Oliver M. Kaufmann Photograph Collection of the Irene Kaufmann Settlement contains approximately 3,000 images from the years 1912 through 1969 depicting activities at the Irene Kaufmann Settlement and the Emma Farm Camp. The Irene Kaufmann Settlement, a neighborhood social welfare agency located in the Hill District, was one of the first settlements of its kind in the United States and its highly successful programs served as models for similar institutions. Digital reproductions of selected images are available online.
Pittsburgh Playhouse School of the Theater Records, 1934-1973 CTC.1981.01
This collection consists of the records of the Pittsburgh Playhouse School of the Theater, including operational files, business records, correspondence, press clippings, photographs, negatives, scripts, programs, posters, scrapbooks, press releases, and brochures. These materials relate to the activities of the Pittsburgh Playhouse, including the School of the Theatre, Playhouse Jr., American Conservatory Theatre, Vanguard Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, American Dance Ensemble, Point Park College, and the restaurant and banquet facilities. For the most part, these records are from the time period before the Pittsburgh Playhouse came under the operation of Point Park College.
Guide to the Leon H. Swimmer Collection, 1910-1960 AIS.2005.08
The collection contains materials relating to the life of Morris Swimmer, a baker and bakery owner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pamphlets and booklets shed light on the Jewish labor movement in Pittsburgh and the cultural life of Yiddish-speaking immigrants in the Hill District. Several of the pamphlets pertain to the defense of accused communists in the 1950s.
National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Pittsburgh Section, Records
There are 516 interviews conducted between 1968 and 2001 by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) of Eastern European Jews who immigrated to Western Pennsylvania. They are all available here but also on a dedicated NCJW Oral History Project website.

The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Pittsburgh Section Papers, consist of organizational records, including correspondence, memorabilia, reports, minutes, photographs, and oral histories for the period 1894 to 1997. The bulk of the records are from the NCJW Pittsburgh Section, however, there are some materials in the collection regarding NCJW state and national activities.
Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project, Carnegie Mellon University Digital Collections
Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the Heinz History Center
The Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives was founded in 1988 to collect, preserve, and make accessible the documentary history of Jews and Jewish communities of Western Pennsylvania.

University of Pittsburgh Library System

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Archives & Special Collections Exhibits

Yiddish Theatre in the Hill District

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