Edward J Gerson

Morgantown Jewish Heritage Edward J Gerson

Through interviews and essays, this book provides riveting accounts of the lives of Jewish families, many of whom descended from Eastern European immigrants who eventually made their way to Morgantown, West Virginia, where they flourished and left an indelible stamp on the culture of this college town. The area prospered as a center for coal mining, glass-making, metal-working, limestone and lumber industries. With the rapid growth of West Virginia University, Morgantown also became an educational and cultural hub for the region. There were very few Jewish professionals in Morgantown before WVU's rapid growth in the 1960s. Beginning in the late 1800s, European Jewish immigrants to Morgantown came here as tailors, shoemakers, watchmakers, store clerks, and scrap dealers. Before owning a clothing, shoe, jewelry, or furniture store, many Jews worked here as peddlers, speaking little English, and walking dirt roads carrying their packs. The next generation of Jews in the area were merchants, accountants, lawyers, doctors, factory managers. The Jewish work ethic, literacy rate, language skills, and emphasis on family and community were a perfect fit for the American dream. Jewish success provided generous support for Morgantown's civic, medical, and educational institutions. The earliest Jewish families here witnessed the rapid industrialization of the area in the late 19th century, which WVU historian James Morton Callahan described as the "Morgantown Awakening." The children and grandchildren of the first Jewish settlers in Morgantown describe the region's transformation in the in-depth interviews and personal essays captured in this book.