Betty and Irving Abrams were lifelong
residents of Pittsburgh and particularly its Squirrel Hill neighborhood. They each came from
families representing a broad range of experiences through the Jewish community and the
region at large. In addition to noteworthy personal and professional accomplishments, they
gained public recognition in the early 1980s for commissioning the Abrams House, which is
considered to be among the first works of Postmodern architecture in Pittsburgh. The Betty
and Irving Abrams Family Papers and Photographs documents the personal lives of Betty and
Irving Abrams, their respective families, and the construction of their retirement home on
Woodland Drive in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
Language
English .
Author
The guide to this collection was written by Catelyn Cocuzzi.
Betty and Irving Abrams were lifelong residents of Pittsburgh and particularly its Squirrel
Hill neighborhood. They each came from families representing a broad range of experiences
through the Jewish community and the region at large. In addition to noteworthy personal and
professional accomplishments, they gained public recognition in the early 1980s for
commissioning the Abrams House, which is considered to be among the first works of
Postmodern architecture in Pittsburgh.
Abraham Ohringer (1888-1975) immigrated to the United States from Austria-Hungary with his
siblings in the 1880s. He settled in Braddock, Pa., where he opened Ohringer Home Furniture
Co. in 1911. The firm grew to include branches in McKeesport, Greensburg, and downtown
Pittsburgh. Ohringer Home Furniture Co. was eventually sold to a New York interest in 1957.
Ohringer met Helen Stern (1889-1991) when she visited his store to purchase chairs, and the
two were married in 1913. Stern had arrived in New York in 1900 after emigrating from
Hungary but moved to Braddock in 1904. Abraham and Helen Ohringer had four children, Milton
(1916-1999), Anita (1917-1951), Ruth (1921-2021), and Betty (1924-2018). They raised their
family in Squirrel Hill while maintaining the business in Braddock.
Abraham Ohringer belonged to the Oakland Lodge 535, a local Elks Club lodge, Rodef Shalom
Congregation, Congregation Beth Shalom, and Poale Zedeck Congregation. Helen Ohringer also
belonged to Rodef Shalom Congregation and Congregation Beth Shalom. The Ohringers were
important philanthropists and fundraisers within the local Jewish community. The couple
underwrote a high school addition at Hillel Academy, which was named in their honor in 1964.
Helen Ohringer was a founding member of the Ein Karem Chapter of Hadassah of Greater
Pittsburgh and was one of the first women in the country to sell more than a $100,000 in
State of Israel Bonds. Abraham Ohringer was honored by Hebrew University in Jerusalem in
1966 for his financial support of the institution.
The four Ohringer children graduated from Colfax Elementary and Taylor Allderdice High
School. The three girls, Anita, Ruth, and Betty all attended the Rodef Shalom Congregation
religious school while their brother Milton attended the Congregation Beth Shalom religious
school.
As a teenager, Betty Ohringer worked at Camp Eagle Point-Camp Stinson in Ramsey, New
Hampshire during the summer. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor
of Arts in 1945 and was a member of its chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority. She began
dating Irving Abrams shortly before her freshman year in college. They were married on May
2, 1946, by Rabbi Solomon Freehof of Rodef Shalom Congregation in a ceremony at the
Westmoreland Country Club. Prior to their marriage, she worked at the film rental agency
Visual Art Films in downtown Pittsburgh.
Irving Abrams (1923-2003) was the son of Esse (Saul) Abrams (1895-1985) and Louis Abrams
(1892-1958). He had an older brother, Harry Abrams (1918-1994). Louis Abrams was a partner
in the wholesale grocery firm A.L. Mars Company and was also an executive of the Ohringer
Home Furniture Company. Esse Abrams co-founded a recreation program for servicemen during
World War II at the Young Men and Women's Hebrew Association in Oakland. She was a member of
Hadassah and the Ladies Hospital Aid Society. The family lived on Malvern Street in the
Squirrel Hill neighborhood and belonged to Congregation Beth Shalom. Harry Abrams graduated
from the Kiski School in 1936 and the University of Pennsylvania in 1940. He served in the
United States Army from 1944 to 1946. He married Claire Polon (1920-2017) on August 4, 1933.
They had two children, Debra and Thomas.
Irving Abrams graduated from Shadyside Academy in 1939 and Harvard University in 1943. He
later earned a master's degree in business administration from the University of
Pennsylvania. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1945 and was later stationed at
Stewart Field in Newburgh, N.Y. After completing his tour of duty, he worked at Ohringer
Home Furniture Company. During his time with the firm, he became vice president and general
manager. He oversaw the opening of the firm's downtown location in 1959. The location closed
in 1963. He later sold long-term care insurance.
Betty and Irving Abrams initially lived on Wilkins Avenue in Squirrel Hill. They had two
daughters, Carol (b.1950) and Cathryn (b.1951). Both children attended the Falk Laboratory
School. Carol later transferred to Linden Elementary School and was promoted in 1963. She
graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in 1967. Cathryn Abrams transferred to Wightman
School and graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in 1969. The Abrams family were
members of Rodef Shalom Congregation and various local and national Jewish organizations
with branches in Pittsburgh. Betty Abrams was an active member of her local chapter of
Hadassah, the Rodef Shalom Congregation Sisterhood, the National Council of Jewish
Women-Pittsburgh Section, the United Jewish Fund-Young Adult Division, and the National
Women's Committee. Irving Abrams was a member of the United Jewish Fund-Young Adult
Division, the Jewish Home for the Aged, and was on the board of the Emma Kaufmann Camp.
In the late 1970s, Betty and Irving Abrams began planning a home for their retirement.
Inspired in part by the Alan I. W. Frank House and the Apt House, both commissioned by
cousins of Betty Abrams, the couple purchase the back half of a lot on Woodland Road in
Squirrel Hill in 1979 and hired architects Robert Venturi and Denise Brown, from the firm
Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates Inc. in Philadelphia to design a two-story house. The
building was completed in 1983 and is considered the first example of Postmodern
architecture in Pittsburgh. The couple decorated the home aesthetically appropriate décor
and art, including Memphis Group furniture and a wall-sized print by Roy Lichtenstein, as
well as smaller works by Andy Warhol and others. The couple remained in the house for the
remainder of their lives. After the death of Betty Abrams in 2018, the property was sold to
the owners of the neighboring lot. Internal demolition occurred that year. The house was
demolished in late November 2022.
Scope and Contents
The Betty and Irving Abrams Family Papers and Photographs documents the lives of Betty and
Irving Abrams and their respective families, and the construction of the Abrams House on
Woodland Drive in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The collection includes
photographs of the Ohringer and Abrams families, newspaper clippings announcing family
engagements, and photo albums and scrapbooks documenting the growth of family members. Of
note are materials documenting the planning and building of the Abrams House, including
contracts, tax documents, floor plans, and media coverage of the home.
Arrangement
The Betty and Irving Abrams Family Papers and Photographs are arranged into the following
two series and subseries:
Series I: Abrams and Ohringer Family (c1900s-2009)
Subseries 1: Esse and Louis Abrams (c1900s-1985)
Subseries 2: Helen Stern and Abraham Ohringer (1905-1991)
Subseries 3: Betty and Irving Halpern (c1940s-2017)
Series II: Abrams House Planning (1978-2018)
Subseries 1: Correspondence and Contracts (1979-2006)
Subseries 2: House Plans and Schematics (1979-2006)
Subseries 3: Papers (1979-2018)
Subseries 4: Photographs (1978-2006)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Carol Hozid in 2018. Archives accession 2018.0259
Preferred Citation
Betty and Irving Abrams Family Papers and Photographs, c1900s-2018, MSS 1288, Rauh Jewish
Archives, Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Copyright may be
retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. Researchers are therefore advised
to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or
reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that
go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
