Archives West Finding Aid

Scope and Content: Tape recorded interview conducted by Howard Droker on 19 Nov and 3 Dec 1981; transcript. Max Katz gives a vivid description of growing up in Seattle's old Jewish neighborhood in the 1920s and 1930s. Beginning with background on his parent's lives and personalities, Katz tells what life was like for a relatively poor Orthodox Jewish family in Seattle. Issac Jacob Katz was trained asn worked as a shoykhet in and around his native Riga, Latvia. Settling in Seattle in about 1916, Jake Katz worked as a junk peddler. A member of Herzl Congregation, though not an ardent Zionist, the argumentative Jake Katz was constantly at loggerheads with Rabbi Shapiro and other members. Sophie Michoil Katz came from the small Russian town of Katteberg, near Krenenetz. Following relatives to New York and Cleveland, Sophie Michoil was engaged to Jake Katz by mail and came to Seattle in 1916. The more impressive of the couple, according to her son, Sophie ran the household and saw to it that her children got good secular and religious educations. He discusses his parents' view of the Reform Jews and Sephardic Jews. He describes the mixture of families - Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews, Blacks, Chinese, Finns and Irish Catholics - who lived on his block bounded by 19th and 20th Avenues and Fir and Spruce Streets. He remembers his experiences at Seattle Talmud Torah and the public schools.

Scope and Content: Dues ledger of International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen and Helpers Local 257. Most of the members listed were Jewish; their names, addresses, and sometimes ages are included.