Ruth Bolotin photograph collection, 1929-1942
Table of Contents
Overview of the Collection
- Collector
- Bolotin, Ruth, 1917-2011
- Title
- Ruth Bolotin photograph collection
- Dates
- 1929-1942 (inclusive)19291942
- Quantity
- 36 photographs, 4 drawings (1 box and 4 folders) ; sizes vary
- Collection Number
- PH1152
- Summary
- Photographs of Reuven Greenfield, and the Jewish community and school in Tientsin, China
- Repository
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University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
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Entire collection can be viewed on the Libraries Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator is required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.
- Languages
- English, Hebrew, Russian, Chinese
Biographical Note
Ruth Greenfield Bolotin was born in 1917 in the Siberian village of Barguzin. When Ruth was eleven, her family came to Seattle. Ruth graduated from Garfield high school in 1935 and then went to the University of Washington. She married fellow Garfield graduate and University student George Bolotin. Ruth was a talented amateur photographer who developed her own pictures and was a prolific writer. She and her husband played an active role in the founding of Group Health. They were also involved in many Jewish social and environmental causes.
Ari and Judith Greenfield, Ruth's parents, emigrated from Russia in 1925, first to Harbin, and then to Tientsin, where Ari founded Tientsin Jewish School and served as its headmaster. In 1928, they moved with their four children to Seattle where Ari taught Hebrew. The family also owned a grocery store at 23rd and Cherry. Ari's brother Reuven Greenfield also taught at Tientsin Jewish School.
Ari's brother Reuven Greenfield also taught at Tientsin Jewish School.
Content Description
The collection includes photographs taken in northeastern China, primarily in the city of Tientsin (also spelled Tianjin), including pictures of students, teachers, members of the school board, and the Jewish community in the city.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Use
Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.
Administrative Information
Custodial History
Collected by the Washington State Jewish Historical Society.
Acquisition Information
Donor: Carol Watts, 2012.
Processing Note
Processed by Mark Mulder, Kevin Bicknell; processing completed in 2013.
The collection was transferred from the Ruth Bolotin papers, accession number 4046-002, in 2012.
Separated Materials
Material Described Separately:Detailed Description of the Collection
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Tientsin Jewish School
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Description: Group portrait of children and teachers from Tientsin Jewish School.
Ari Leid Greenfield is in the center of the back row.
Hebrew inscription across top: Lag Ba'Omer holiday celebration.
Dates: 1926Container: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 1 -
Description: Group portrait of children outside with their teacher, Reuven Greenfield
Reuven Greenfield began teaching at the Tientsin Jewish School in 1928. In 1933, as documented in a series of letters between the teacher and the school board, Mr. Greenfield was dismissed from his position, then rehired.
Probably Art Photo Studio, Tientsin, China (photographer)Dates: undatedContainer: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 2 -
Description: Group portrait of children with a woman outside Tientsin Jewish School
Written on photograph: I assume this is a class at the Tientsin Jewish School with a teacher. (Choir outside!)
Art Photo Studio, Tientsin, China (photographer)Dates: undatedContainer: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 3 -
Description: Group portrait of children outside Tientsin Jewish School with a woman
Reuven Greenfield on the far right.
Probably Art Photo Studio, Tientsin, China (photographer)Dates: undatedContainer: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 4 -
Description: Group portrait of children outside of Tientsin Jewish School
Reuven Greenfield seated 2nd from left.
Art Photo Studio, Tientsin, China (photographer)Dates: undatedContainer: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 5 -
Description: Group portrait of children at Tientsin Jewish School with two women and Reuven Greenfield fourth from left in front row
Hebrew inscription across top: Tu B'Shevat holiday celebration.
Dates: January 26, 1929Container: Box:oversize XC2, Item 6 -
Description: Group portrait of children outside Tientsin Jewish School with Reuven Greenfield seated in the center
Hebrew caption on mat.
Dates: June 1931Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 7 -
Description: Group portrait of kindergarten class and a woman in front of a building, probably the Tientsin Jewish SchoolDates: May 20, 1931Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 8
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Description: Group portrait of children and adults outside the Tientsin Jewish School
Hebrew caption on mat.
Dates: June 1931Container: Box:oversize XC2, Item 9 -
Description: Group portrait of children and adults in front of the Tientsin Jewish School
Hebrew caption on photo.
A. Vasserman Photo Studio (photographer)Dates: October 7, 1934Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 10 -
Description: Group portrait of children and adults outside the Tientsin Jewish School on Speech Day
Hebrew caption on photo.
Dates: April 23, 1939Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 11 -
Description: Print of collage of photographs from Tientsin Jewish School depicting the Parents Committee, Medical Officers, Auditing Committee, School Staff, and the first Graduating Class of 1942J.M. Lifshitz Art Photo Studio (photographer)Dates: 1942Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 12
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Dates: June 10, 1942Container: Box/Folder 1/3, Item 13a-b
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Description: Group portrait of Reuven Greenfield and children posing outside
Typed on verso: April 9, 1943. Mr. Greenfield with Form III; Photo by Peter S.
Chinese text typed or stamped on verso.
Peter S. (photographer)Dates: April 9, 1943Container: Box/Folder 1/3, Item 14 -
Description: Group portrait of children with Reuven Greenfield at reading of the Book of Esther on Purim
Chinese text typed or stamped on verso.
Hebrew text written beneath image.
Dates: March 31, 1943Container: Box/Folder 1/3, Item 15 -
Description: Group portrait of children in Form III with Reuven Greenfield
Chinese and Hebrew texts on verso.
Dates: April 9, 1943Container: Box/Folder 1/3, Item 16 -
Description: Group portrait of children with Reuven Greenfield on Purim
Chinese and Hebrew texts on verso.
Written on verso: Purim?
Dates: March 31, 1943Container: Box/Folder 1/3, Item 17
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Personal Photographs with Reuven Greenfield
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Dates: December 4, 1930Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 18
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Description: Studio portrait of Reuven Greenfield with two women and two men taken in Harbin, China
Date and location written below image in English and Russian.
J.M. Lifshitz Studio, Harbin, China (photographer)Dates: September 1, 1934Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 19 -
Description: Portrait of Reuven Greenfield taken in Harbin, China
Written in Chinese below image: Greenfield.
Written in Russian below image: M.R. Greenfield.
Dates: August 24, 1935Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 20 -
Dates: June 22, 1941Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 21
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Description: Reuven Greenfield with a man, woman, and girl in front of a tree
Written on verso: Western Hills Hotel, Patachu, Peking; 8/VIII - 42.
Dates: August 8, 1942Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 22 -
Description: Reuven Greenfield in front of a building in Tientsin
Hebrew text written on verso: At school, Tientsin, China.
Dates: December 30, 1943Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 23
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Jewish Community in Tientsin, China
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Description: Group of people next to a building, Tientsin
Hebrew text written on verso.
Also dated May 18, 1941.
Dates: December 30, 1943Container: Box/Folder 1/5, Item 24 -
Dates: July 3, 1927Container: Box/Folder 1/5, Item 25-27
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Dates: October, 1930Container: Box/Folder 1/5, Item 28
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Description: Mr. and Mrs. L.I. Gershevich 25th wedding anniversary banquet held in the Jewish Club Kunst in Tientsin
Photo appeared in thePeking & Tientsin Sunday Timeson January 28, 1934
A. Vasserman (photographer)Dates: January 24, 1934Container: Box:oversize XC2, Item 29
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Harbin, China
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Description: Son of Yaakov Novominski standing indoors in Harbin, China
Caption written in Hebrew below image.
Dates: 1924Container: Box/Folder 1/6, Item 30 -
Dates: 1924Container: Box/Folder 1/6, Item 31
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Description: Portrait of a man taken in Harbin, China
Caption written in Hebrew below image.
Hebrew text written on verso: With pleasant memories, a sign of friendship to the Greenfield family.
Dates: October 22, 1929Container: Box/Folder 1/6, Item 32
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Other China
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Description: Portrait of a woman, man, and three young girls
Written on verso: Beiner's, 1926, in China.
Dates: 1926Container: Box/Folder 1/6, Item 33 -
Description: A woman, a man, and three boys in Tsingtao, ChinaDates: 1931Container: Box/Folder 1/6, Item 34
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Dates: 1924Container: Box/Folder 1/7, Item 35
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Dates: 1923Container: Box/Folder 1/7, Item 36
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Teaching Materials
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Description: Recurring alphabet drawingDates: undatedContainer: Box:oversize XC2, Item 37
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Description: Alphabet drawingDates: undatedContainer: Box:oversize XC2, Item 38
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Dates: 1943Container: Box:oversize XC2, Item 39a-b
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Description: Illustrated alphabet drawing
Hebrew-language writing. Combination of cut-and pasted images, hand drawing, typewriting
Written on verso: Illustrated alphabet. Meir Reuven Grinfeld. [foreign characters]. 2/VIII - 46 p [illeg.]
Dates: between 1929 and 1942?Container: Mapcase:oversize M271, Item 40
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Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Jewish day schools--China--Tianjin--Students--Photographs
- Jews--China
- Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)
Personal Names
- Bolotin, Ruth, 1917-2011--Photographs
