Jacob Beerman Papers

Collection

Identifier: P-612

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

The Jacob Beerman collection contains the book The Nineteen Letters of Ben Uziel by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, published in 1899 by Funk & Wagnalls Company. The book is inscribed to Beerman from Charles Fleischer, the former rabbi of Temple Israel in Boston, and dated October 22, 1912. The collection also contains a scroll commemorating the 25th anniversary of the B’nai Zion Educational Society in 1916. The scroll includes a history of the Society and indicates that Jacob Beerman was a member of the Arrangements Committee for the anniversary dinner and a past president of the Society.

Dates

circa 1899, 1916

Creator

Beerman, Jacob (Person)

Language of Materials

The collection is in English and Hebrew.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for researcher use. Please contact us to request access or to make an appointment to view this collection at jhcreference@nehgs.org.

Use Restrictions

There may be some restrictions on the use of this collection. For more information contact jhcreference@nehgs.org.

Biographical Note

Jacob Beerman was born in 1871 in Russia to Michael and Sarah M. (Freedlander) Beerman. The family immigrated to the United States in 1885, and Jacob became a naturalized citizen in 1892. He married Rose Solomon, daughter of Russian immigrants Solomon Solomon [sic] and Bessie Susna, on May 3, 1904, and the couple had one living daughter, Sadie, and at least two other children who died close to birth. The family lived in Revere and Chelsea through the years, and Jacob owned a stationary company in downtown Boston.

Jacob was a member and later president of the B’nai Zion Educational Society, which was founded in 1891 by David Blaustein. The Society was a literary club that operated a reading room in the North End of Boston and ran programs that combined Jewish education and culture with American acculturation. The Society rented a building they called Zion Hall, and it was at the dedication of this building in 1891 that a banner bearing the design for what would become the modern Israeli flag was first displayed.

Jacob Beerman died in 1926 at the age of 55.

References

Material from the collection.
David Kaufman, Shul with a Pool: The “Synagogue-Center” in American Jewish History, (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1999), 102.

Chronology

1871
: Jacob Beerman is born.
1885
: The Beerman family immigrates to the United States.
1891
: The B'nai Zion Educational Society is founded.
1892
: Jacob Beerman becomes an American citizen.
1904
: Jacob Beerman and Rose Solomon marry.
1916
: The B'nai Zion Educational Society celebrates its 25th anniversary.
1926
: Jacob Beerman dies.

Extent

0.25 linear feet (1 half-manuscript box)

Additional Description

Abstract

Jacob Beerman (1871-1926) immigrated to the United States in 1885 and married Rose Solomon in 1904. The couple had a daughter, Sadie. Jacob owned a stationary company in Boston. The collection contains a book titled The Nineteen Letters of Ben Uziel, inscribed to Beerman from Charles Fleischer, former rabbi of Temple Israel in Boston, and a scroll marking the 25th anniversary of the B’nai Zion Educational Society in 1916.