Guide to the Jake Eisenfeld Papers and Photographs, c1900-c2000s MSS 1199
- Head
Descriptive Summary
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Jake Eisenfeld Papers and Photographs
- Creator
- Eisenfeld, Jake
- Collection Number
- MSS 1199
- Language
- English , Hebrew , Yiddish , Polish , German , French .
- Extent
- 2 Linear Feet 2 boxes + 1 oversize folder
- Date
- c1910-c2000s
- Abstract
- Jacob Robert "Jake" Eisenfeld (b. 1929) was an electrician who grew up in the Hill District and lived in the East End of Pittsburgh for most of his adult life. The Jake Eisenfeld Papers and Photographs contain photographs, official documents and notebooks from his parents Otto and Erna Eisenfeld, their three children, and their ancestors and extended family.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
-
1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
Biographical / Historical
Jacob Robert "Jake" Eisenfeld (b. 1929) was an electrician who grew up in the Hill District and lived in the East End of Pittsburgh for most of his adult life. He was one of three children of Otto Eisenfeld and Ester "Erna" Nager Eisenfeld. Otto (Osias) Eisenfeld (1895-1983) immigrated to the United States from Rzeszow, Poland sometime after 1918. He had served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. His father, Kalmen, died in 1918, during the influenza pandemic. Erna Nager Eisenfeld also immigrated from Rzeszow, Poland.
Otto and Erna Eisenfeld had three children: Kalmen "Kelvin" Eisenfeld, Sidney Eisenfeld and Jake Eisenfeld. The family maintained close contact with cousins, which includes the Nager and Smith families.
Otto Eisenfeld worked as a baker. He was an avid amateur photographer and often developed photographic images in unusual shapes. He kept meticulous records of his financial transactions.
Jake Eisenfeld married Edith Krasnow. Eisenfeld served in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1954.
Content Description
The Jake Eisenfeld Papers and Photographs contains photographs, official documents and notebooks from Otto and Erna Eisenfeld, their three children, and their ancestors and extended family. Of note is a journal Otto Eisenfeld kept while serving in the Polish military in 1915 and an autograph book Erna Nager Eisenfeld kept from 1918 to 1928, including signatures in English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Polish, German and French.
Additional materials primarily cover the immigration activities of Otto Eisenfeld through a series of official documents in Polish, German and English. Included are a weekly travel pass and a passport, Polish Certificates of Morality, a Certificate of Naturalization, and an Affidavit of Support for immigration. The remainder of the addition is a selection of documents about Otto, Esther and Jake Eisenfeld. Of interest is an electrical schematic that Jake Eisenfeld created for a chain of car washes called, according to his recollections, "Little Aquay."
Arrangement
The collection is housed in 2 boxes and 1 oversize folder and is arranged generationally and further by date.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Jake Eisenfeld in 2018 and 2019. Archives accession # 2018.0120, 2019.0061
Preferred Citation
Jake Eisenfeld Papers and Photographs, c1910-c2000s, MSS 1199, Rauh Jewish Archives, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
Processing by Catelyn Cocuzzi on 04/23/2019.
Separated Materials
To the museum: WWI wallet, 2018.117
Related Materials
Lynne and Blair Jacobson Family Papers and Photographs, MSS 1221