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Joseph Russak oral history interview, 1976
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Russak, Joseph
- Title
- Joseph Russak oral history interview
- Dates
- 1976 (inclusive)19761976
- Quantity
- 2 sound cassettes (ca. 120 min.); transcript
- Collection Number
- 2669 (Accession No. 2669-001)
- Summary
- Tape-recorded interview of Russian-American and orthodox Jew discussing his life and businesses
- Repository
-
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
-
Open to all users.
- Languages
- English
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Tape-recorded interview conducted by Meta Kaplan on September, 1976 and covering the years ca. 1900-1976.
Harry Russak, Joseph's father, arrived in Seattle in 1907 with not one cent and left a multi-million dollar estate when he died in 1969. He came from Schtapes in Minsk in Russia where the family had lived for about 300 years. Joseph tells of the family life in Minsk. He tells of his father's upward mobility from selling vegetables door to door with a horse and wagon to owning industrial parks where he was a landlord to big corporations. He tells of the Mir Yeshiva which his father attended and his father's life in Europe. He gives insights into the life of an orthodox Jew in the world of big business. Russak also includes interesting details of early years in auto wrecking and land buying and of selling kosher meat at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific-Exposition.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Alternative Forms Available
Listen to the audio recording and view the transcript of this interview on the Libraries Digital Collections site.
Restrictions on Use
Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Jews--Washington (State)--Seattle
- Jews--Washington (State)--Seattle--Interviews
Personal Names
- Russak, Harry
- Russak, Joseph--Interviews
Corporate Names
- Washington State Jewish Archives (University of Washington)
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)