Title: Oral History Interview with Edward Lurye
Inclusive Dates: 1977 April 18

Creator:

• Lurye, Edward, 1890-

Call Number: Superior Tape 2; Tape 658A

Quantity: 1 tape recording (52 min.)

Repository:

Housed at the Area Research Center, Jim Dan Hill Library, University of Wisconsin-Superior; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Superior Jim Dan Hill Library / Superior Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Tape-recorded interview conducted April 18, 1977, by Laurie J. Tarlowe with Edward Lurye, concerning his family's 1901 emigration from Lithuania to Superior, Wisconsin, his business ventures, and the Jewish community in Superior.

Note:

Forms part of the Wisconsin Jewish Archives.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-tape00658a

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

Edward Lurye was born on January 6, 1890 near Vilkomir, Lithuania. In 1901, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Superior, Wisconsin, where they joined Mr. Lurye's maternal uncles who had preceded the family to America.

Interview

This interview was part of a research study on the history of the Jewish community of Superior. Mr. Lurye was chosen to participate in this project because of his own long history and involvement in the community.

He was able to provide a wealth of information and impressions of the early community.

Abstract to the Interview

The tapes for this interview have two tracks: a voice track containing the discussion and a time track containing time announcements at intervals of approximately five seconds. The abstract lists, in order of discussion, the topics covered on each tape, and indicates the time-marking at which point the beginning of the particular discussion appears.

Thus, the researcher by using a tape recorder's fast forward button may find expeditiously and listen to discrete segments without listening to all of the taped discussion. For instance, the user who wishes to listen to the topic on “Why Family Came to Superior” should locate the place on the second track of tape one, side one, where the voice announces the 02:15 time-marking (the voice says at this point, “two minutes, fifteen seconds”), and at this point switch to the first track to hear the discussion. The discussion on “Why Family Came to Superior” continues until approximately 04:40 at which point discussion of the next topic (“Lurye's Education”) begins.

Notice that in most cases sentences beneath each headline explain more about the contents of the topic. For example the sentences underneath “Why Family Came to Superior” give further details on what appears on the tape between 02:15 and 04:40.

The abstract is designed to provide only a brief outline of the content of the tapes and cannot serve as a substitute for listening to them. However the abstract will help the researcher easily locate distinct topics and discussions among the many minutes of the commentary.

Related interviews done by Laurie J. Tarlowe are cataloged separately.

Processing Information

Finding aid prepared by Laurie J. Tarlowe, February 1, 1978.

Tape/Side   1/1 Time   00:00	Introduction
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   00:30	Background Information Scope and Content Note: Place and date of birth.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   01:15	Lurye Immigrates to America with Mother and Brothers Scope and Content Note: Arrived in Montreal; was a greenhorn. Took a train to Superior.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   02:15	Why Family Came to Superior Scope and Content Note: Maternal uncles, Edelstein brothers, lived in Superior. Future looked bad in Europe.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   04:40	Lurye's Education Scope and Content Note: Attended school until the 6th grade; then started working because family was large and needed money. Regrets he did not complete his education; later, took business course in night school. Discusses importance of education.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   06:05	Lurye Works for Columbia Clothing Company Scope and Content Note: Wrapped bundles for the owners, Nathan and Bill Stein, who were German Jews.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   07:10	Lurye Works for Railroad in St. Paul Scope and Content Note: Parents wanted him home in Superior, so got a job as a timekeeper.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   07:50	Lurye Opens Furniture Shop with Father and Older Brother Scope and Content Note: Rented a store for 25 dollars a month. Brother was in transfer business; his father was a blacksmith; Ed was the go-getter. Business expanded until circumstances changed and Lurye got into some trouble.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   09:30	Opens Builders' Supply Business Scope and Content Note: Began in 1939 with 15 dollars capital. Family did not approve, but now a three generation business.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   11:05	Lurye Family Speaks Several Languages
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   12:00	First Synagogues in Superior
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   12:50	[Telephone Interruption]
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   13:25	Split between Congregations in Superior Scope and Content Note: Americanization; some saw wisdom in not following the old traditions.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   15:25	German Jews Go to Synagogue in Duluth Scope and Content Note: Only three or four families of German extraction. Discusses Albert Abraham (actually Arthur Abraham).
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   17:05	Families No Longer Living in Superior
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   18:45	Where Lurye Family Lives in Superior Scope and Content Note: First lived in “Oklahoma” section, above a Jewish bakery. Lurye's father remarried after his wife died; Ed Lurye discusses his stepmother.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   20:25	Jewish Bakery in Superior Scope and Content Note: Handlovsky family ran bakery business.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   22:30	Relations with Gentile Community Scope and Content Note: Good relationship maintained, Lurye business required contacts with Gentile community; Lurye was a member of many community organizations.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   24:35	Lurye's Jewish Education Scope and Content Note: Had a Bar Mitzvah in Superior; had a tutor who lived with the family in Russia.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   00:00	Introduction
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   00:30	Oklahoma and Connor's Point Neighborhoods Scope and Content Note: Little synagogue started in Oklahoma.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   01:20	Ed Lurye Discusses Solomon Kaner Neighborhoods Scope and Content Note: Kerner brought many relatives to the United States; Lurye family small compared to Kaner family.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   02:00	Why Lurye's Uncles Came to Superior Scope and Content Note: Perhaps an arranged marriage.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   04:00	Why Lurye Family Came to the United States Scope and Content Note: His father had a good business, but no future for a family of seven children. Czar's army a threat; family didn't want their sons drafted.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   04:50	Father First to Go to U.S. Scope and Content Note: Ed's older brother Morris went with his father. Ed's father worked in flour sheds long hours to make enough money to send for his family.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   05:35	Ed Lurie Works for Mr. Zelasnic Scope and Content Note: Zelasnic picked up rags with horse and wagon. Lurye helped him because he could speak English.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   06:50	Morris Lurye's Dray Line Scope and Content Note: Family got government contract for hauling mail from the railway depot.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   08:25	Lurye Discusses His Father's Religiosity Scope and Content Note: Father angry because Ed rented the store on Saturday; father's wife interfered in family business.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   09:10	Jewish Organizations in Superior Scope and Content Note: B'nai Brith.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   10:10	Lurye's Relatives in Superior Scope and Content Note: Edelstein grandparents arrived in Superior one year after Lurye family; B.H. Edelstein (Ed's uncle) lived in Hibbing, Minnesota.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   14:30	Kaner Family Scope and Content Note: Kaner family peddled rubber and junk.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   15:00	Lurye as a Speechmaker for Mr. Zelasnic Scope and Content Note: Zelasnic was in cattle business. Many Jews bought and sold cattle.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   17:15	Lurye Family Not Associated with Peddlers Scope and Content Note: Family wanted to get away from the traditional trade.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   17:40	Ed Lurye Discusses His Arrival in Superior Scope and Content Note: Arrived on July 4, 1901 and sold balloons at an Independence Day parade.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   19:05	German Jews in Superior Scope and Content Note: Frank Nathan and wife lived in Hotel Superior; Felix Seligman was manager of Columbia Clothing Company.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   21:15	Russian Jews in Superior Scope and Content Note: Woolf, Schlosberg, and Bazalan families. Bazalan an associate judge of the court of appeals in Washington, D.C.