The Jewish Community of Greater Buffalo is a fast paced photographic journey through over 150 years of Jewish life in Greater Buffalo and Niagara Falls. From cherished family photographs to beautiful synagogues images and fascinating shots of agency, volunteer and organizational life, 200 photographs and images bring back fond memories and pique new interest in local Jewish community life. This book contains black and white images with informative captions and short chapters that highlight the area’s Jewish life from religious, civic and social perspectives as well as business and family lives.
Availability
Jewish Community of Greater Buffalo is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Arcadia Publishing. It is the first pictorial history of Jewish life in Buffalo and Niagara Falls from 1840s to the present day featuring stunning vintage photographs that document a dynamic past and a vibrant future.
Summary
Jewish community life in Buffalo began in 1847 with the founding of Temple Beth El. The dominantly German Jewish community transformed in the 1880s as Eastern European Jews settled around William Street. Intense religious and commercial vibrancy emerged with new synagogues and businesses that nestled alongside grocery stores, kosher butchers, clothiers and more. Cultural and sporting activities abounded at the Jewish Community Building on Jefferson and the Jewish Fresh Air Camp provided summer camping for generations of children. From this East Side milieu, lyricist Jack Yellen (“Happy Days are Here Again”) and composer Harold Arlen (“Over the Rainbow”) emerged as part of a new generation shaping local and national American life.
On the west side, the Jewish Federation and Jewish Family Services alongside Temple Beth Zion, built institutions on Delaware Avenue, Buffalo’s premier thoroughfare. Nearby, Rosa Coplon Jewish Old Folks Home, grew from humble beginnings to national renown. In North Buffalo, Hertel Avenue became a new Jewish “Main Street” from the 1940s, although within a decade, Jewish Buffalonians increasingly settled in suburban Kenmore and Amherst. By the 1970s, Getzville and Williamsville emerged as significant centers, complete with new religious and civic institutions, while Camps Lakeland and Centerland in rural Franklinville and Elma continued traditions of summer camping. Throughout the 20th century, Jewish Buffalonians made their mark in Greater Buffalo and beyond, as distinguished lawyers, award winning writers and Nobel Prize scientists. In neighboring Niagara Falls, a small community of interconnected friends, families and institutions including Temple Beth El and Temple Beth Israel saw Jewish life develop and thrive for a century. The Jewish Community of Greater Buffalo showcases Buffalo and Niagara Falls Jewry and the life each community has made over the last two centuries.
Historic photographs are drawn from the Jewish Community Archives in the University Archives, University at Buffalo, and are augmented by private collections.