Guide to the Richard E. Rauh Photographs, c1840-2000
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- The Richard E. Rauh Photographs,
- Creator
- Rauh, Richard E
- Collection Number
- MSP301
- Extent
- 1.75 linear feet 4 boxes
- Date
- c1840-2000
- Abstract
- The history of the Rauh family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, began in 1870 when Solomon Rauh, a dry-goods merchant, moved to the city. Since that time, four generations of Rauhs have been involved in the Jewish community, in civic affairs, in music and theater arts, and in philanthropy. This collection contains photographs and negatives containing images of Rauh family members as well as dignitaries, artists, and several conductors and musicians who appeared at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History
The history of the Rauh family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, began in 1870 when Solomon Rauh, a dry-goods merchant, moved to the city. Since that time, four generations of Rauhs have been involved in the Jewish community, in civic affairs, in music and theater arts, and in philanthropy. Solomon Rauh and his wife, Rosalia Lippman Rauh had three sons, Enoch, Marcus, and Abraham. Enoch married Bertha Floersheim with whom he had two children, Helen B. and Richard S. Richard S. married Helen Wayne and had one son, Richard E. Rauh.
Bertha Floersheim Rauh (1865-1952)
Bertha Floersheim Rauh (BFR) was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., on June 16, 1865, and died there on October 21, 1952, at the age of 87. She was the daughter of Samuel Floersheim, a merchant, who was associated with the firm of A. Guckenheimer and Brothers, and Pauline Wertheimer Floersheim. Known for her dramatic and musical talents, BFR was educated at the Grant School and Central High School, from which she graduated with highest honors. In 1888, she married Enoch Rauh and had two children.
BFR was active in civic and philanthropic community service from her student days. She helped to establish the Juvenile Court Association, the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, the League of Women Voters, and the Pennsylvania Workshop for the Blind, to name a few of her activities. She also served on the boards of directors of the Humane Society and the Irene Kaufmann Settlement, as well as many others. She and her son Richard were founders of the Pittsburgh Symphony Society.
In January 1922, she was appointed Director of Charities (later called the Pittsburgh Department of Public Welfare) by Mayor William Magee and was the first woman in the United States to be a member of a mayoral cabinet. Reappointed by mayors Charles Kline and John Herron, her tenure in the position lasted for twelve years. Bertha Rauh was a member of the Republican Party and of Rodef Shalom Congregation.
Enoch Rauh (1857-1919)
Enoch Rauh (ER) was born to Solomon and Rosalia Lippman Rauh in Dubuque, Iowa, on June 12, 1857. In 1863, the Rauh family moved from Iowa to Cincinnati, where ER was educated in the public schools, and then moved in 1870 to Pittsburgh. ER completed his education in night school. In 1882, ER founded the firm of Rauh Brothers & Company, a wholesale men's furnishings business, with his brothers Marcus and Abraham. He was also a member of the Pittsburgh City Council from 1911 to 1919, and a member of the Pittsburgh Association of Credit Men. In 1888, he married Bertha Floersheim, with whom he had two children.
In 1911, the state legislature abolished ward representation and the old Ward and Select Councils. The City Charter was amended and substituted one council of nine members elected at large, for terms of four years. Governor John K. Tener appointed ER to the Council of Nine, that first small council of citizens. ER was re-elected twice by popular vote and served under the Magee, Armstrong, and Babcock administrations.
ER's most notable political accomplishment was authorship of the Rauh Act. Signed on June 12, 1913, by Governor Tener, the Rauh Act made it possible for first and second class cities in Pennsylvania to compensate reasonably city employees for time lost through injury, sickness, or other physical disablement sustained while on the job. Active on various committees while on council, Rauh also pursued remedial city and state legislation including enactment of an eight-hour work day and anti-child-labor laws.
For six terms, from 1908 to1914, ER served as president of the Pittsburgh Association of Credit Men. He was also a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Credit Men.
At the time of his death, ER was a councilman; the senior member of Rauh Brothers & Company; trustee of the Carnegie Library, Carnegie Institute, Carnegie Institute of Technology, and Carnegie Music Hall; member of the board of directors of Gusky Orphanage; and member of the advisory board for the Young Men's Hebrew Association. He was a life member of both Lodge No. 374 of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Pittsburgh Press Club. A member of the Elks and Moose Lodges, he served as president of the Concordia Club for 25 years. ER was involved with the Homer Laughlin China Company, which at that time operated the largest plant in the world for the manufacturing of dishes. As was his wife, ER was a member of the Republican Party and of Rodef Shalom Congregation.
Helen Wayne Rauh (1912-1993)
Helen Barbara Sisenwain (HWR) was born in Pittsburgh. She changed her name from Sisenwain to Wayne while a drama student at Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh. A promising young actress, HWR was seen on stage by Richard S. Rauh, a leader in both the arts and in business. Her need to have a theater in which to perform inspired RSR to bring together a group of civic leaders who established the Pittsburgh Playhouse. HWR and Richard S. Rauh were married in 1935 and had one child, Richard E. Rauh. Over the next four decades, she acted in 38 productions at the Playhouse. In addition to her career in live theater, for which she was widely acclaimed, HWR also appeared on radio and television, and, for a time, wrote an etiquette column.
Richard S. Rauh (1893-1954)
Richard S. Rauh (RSR) was a graduate of Fifth Avenue High School and of the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to his business career in advertising, he was deeply involved in cultural and philanthropic activities. He was the founder of the Pittsburgh Playhouse and, with his mother, co-founder of the Pittsburgh Symphony Society. He married Helen Wayne.
He was the executive vice president and treasurer of the Bankers Lithographing Company. At his death, he was the president of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, a trustee of the United Jewish Fund, vice president of the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, and director of the national board of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. He had served as a trustee of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania and on other boards. He was a member of the Concordia Club and the Republican Party.
Richard E. Rauh (1940- )
Richard E. Rauh (RER), the son of RSR and HWR, was born in Pittsburgh and educated at Shady Side Academy and the University of Pittsburgh. He is an actor, appearing on stage as early as 1946 in a Shady Side Academy production, director, and teacher. While an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, he was the founder in 1962 and station manager of WPGH, the University of Pittsburgh student radio station. He appeared on stage in 1966 in Moliere's The Flying Doctor and Pirandello's Man with a Flower in His Mouth. He has continued his career as an actor on the stage, in movies, and on television, and as a free-lance theater reviewer for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Until the series ended in 1994, RER was the producer of the Pittsburgh Playhouse Film Festival. He ran the summer film series for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust at the Byham in 1997-1998. He teaches film and theater at Point Park College.
His philanthropy has encompassed both the Jewish community and the Pittsburgh theater and cultural arena. Among his endowments have been the dedication of the Rauh Jewish Archives of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania; the Richard E. Rauh Oral History Fund with the National Council of Jewish Women; the Helen Wayne Rauh Studio Theater at Carnegie Mellon University; the Rauh Theatre at the Pittsburgh Playhouse of Point Park College; the Helen Wayne Rauh Rehearsal Hall at the O'Reilly Theater; and the Richard S. Rauh Garden Room at Heinz Hall.
Scope and Content Notes
This collection consists of 1.50 linear feet of photographs and negatives, arranged as MSP #301. One third of the collection consists of three albums of photographs of Florsheim family and friends. One third consists of negatives--all are block negatives for printing, except for one glass negative. These depict Enoch Rauh or his signature, except for one depicting Bertha Rauh. One third of the collection includes photographs of dignitaries, artists, family members, and of Mayview (the Pittsburgh City Home and Hospital). Some are autographed.
2005 additions:
This addition to the collection consists of .25 linear feet of photographs. The collection consists of family photographs, including those of Samuel and Pauline Floersheim, the grandparents of Bertha F. Rauh; Edna Floersheim, Bertha Rauh's sister; and Leona Sisenwain, the mother of Helen Wayne Rauh. The collection also includes autographed portraits of Ida Tarbell and of several conductors and musicians who appeared at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, including Eugene Goossens, Yehudi Menuhin, and Percy Graninger.
Conditions Governing Access
None.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials came in two accessions and were combined into one collection in August 2001. In 2005, one accession was added to the collection.
Acc# 1999.0100 - Gift of Richard E. Rauh
Acc# 2001.0011 - Gift of Richard E. Rauh
Acc# 2005.0277 Gift of Richard E. Rauh
Preferred Citation
The Richard E. Rauh Photographs, c1840-2000, MSP#301, Rauh Jewish Archives, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
October 15, 2001; records arranged and inventory written by Susan M. Melnick. In January 2006, the 2005 was added to the collection by S. M. Melnick.
Separated Materials
To oversized photograph collection, one file folder arranged as MSR #301.
2005 additions: To oversized photograph collection, one file folder.
Subjects
- Carnegie Mellon University. Department of Drama.
- Mayview Home and Hospital (Mayview, Pa.)
- Pittsburgh City Home and Hospital (Mayview, Pa.)
- Pittsburgh Council of Nine.
- Pittsburgh Playhouse (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Earhart, Amelia
- Floersheim, Berthold, 1870-1966.
- Freehof, Rabbi Solomon B.
- Herron, John
- Kline, Charles H.
- Lippman, Babette
- Markham, Edwin
- Menuhin, Yehudi
- Rauh, Babette Schonhof
- Rauh, Bertha Floesheim
- Rauh, Enoch., 1857-1919.
- Rauh, Heinlein
- Rauh, Helen B., 1890-1963.
- Rauh, Helen Wayne
- Rauh, Rachel Cohen
- Rauh, Rosalie Lippman
- Rauh, Solomon
- Sisenwain, Edward
- Sisenwain, Helen
- Floersheim, Edna
- Floersheim, Pauline
- Floersheim, Samuel, 1836-1895.
- Gieseking, Walter
- Goossens, Eugene
- Grainger, Percy
- Kunstler, Hans
- Menuhin, Yehudi
- Sisenwain, Leona
- Tarbell, Ida
- Jews--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh
- City Councils -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.