Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries
Ruth Bolotin photograph collection
Bolotin, Ruth, 1917-2011
PH1152
1 box
36 photographs, 4 drawings ; sizes vary; 1 box and 4 folders
1929-1942
Photographs of Reuven Greenfield, and the Jewish community and school in Tientsin, China
Collection materials are in English, Hebrew, Russian, Chinese.
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.
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.
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.
Request at UW
Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.
Collected by the Washington State Jewish Historical Society.
Donor: Carol Watts, 2012.
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.
Ruth Bolotin Papers
Bolotin, Ruth, 1917-2011--Photographs
Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)
Jewish day schools--China--Tianjin--Students--Photographs
Jews--China
Photographs
Tientsin Jewish School
Group portrait of children and teachers from Tientsin Jewish School.
1926
PH1152 Box 1
1
1
Ari Leid Greenfield is in the center of the back row.
Hebrew inscription across top: Lag Ba'Omer holiday celebration.
Group portrait of children outside with their teacher, Reuven Greenfield
undated
PH1152 Box 1
1
2
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)
Group portrait of children with a woman outside Tientsin Jewish School
undated
PH1152 Box 1
1
3
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)
Group portrait of children outside Tientsin Jewish School with a woman
undated
PH1152 Box 1
1
4
Reuven Greenfield on the far right.
Probably Art Photo Studio, Tientsin, China (photographer)
Group portrait of children outside of Tientsin Jewish School
undated
PH1152 Box 1
1
5
Reuven Greenfield seated 2nd from left.
Art Photo Studio, Tientsin, China (photographer)
Group portrait of children at Tientsin Jewish School with two women and Reuven Greenfield fourth from left in front row
January 26, 1929
XC3
6
Hebrew inscription across top: Tu B'Shevat holiday celebration.
Group portrait of children outside Tientsin Jewish School with Reuven Greenfield seated in the center
June 1931
PH1152 Box 1
2
7
Hebrew caption on mat.
Group portrait of kindergarten class and a woman in front of a building, probably the Tientsin Jewish School
May 20, 1931
PH1152 Box 1
2
8
Group portrait of children and adults outside the Tientsin Jewish School
June 1931
XC3
9
Hebrew caption on mat.
Group portrait of children and adults in front of the Tientsin Jewish School
October 7, 1934
PH1152 Box 1
2
10
Hebrew caption on photo.
A. Vasserman Photo Studio (photographer)
Group portrait of children and adults outside the Tientsin Jewish School on Speech Day
April 23, 1939
PH1152 Box 1
2
11
Hebrew caption on photo.
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 1942
1942
PH1152 Box 1
2
12
J.M. Lifshitz Art Photo Studio (photographer)
Group of employees of the Tientsin Jewish School
June 10, 1942
PH1152 Box 1
3
13a-b
Hebrew text on verso: Teaching staff.
Group portrait of Reuven Greenfield and children posing outside
April 9, 1943
PH1152 Box 1
3
14
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)
Group portrait of children with Reuven Greenfield at reading of the Book of Esther on Purim
March 31, 1943
PH1152 Box 1
3
15
Chinese text typed or stamped on verso.
Hebrew text written beneath image.
Group portrait of children in Form III with Reuven Greenfield
April 9, 1943
PH1152 Box 1
3
16
Chinese and Hebrew texts on verso.
Group portrait of children with Reuven Greenfield on Purim
March 31, 1943
PH1152 Box 1
3
17
Chinese and Hebrew texts on verso.
Written on verso: Purim?
Personal Photographs with Reuven Greenfield
Reuven Greenfield standing outside wearing a hat and long coat, Tientsin, China
December 4, 1930
PH1152 Box 1
4
18
Studio portrait of Reuven Greenfield with two women and two men taken in Harbin, China
September 1, 1934
PH1152 Box 1
4
19
Date and location written below image in English and Russian.
J.M. Lifshitz Studio, Harbin, China (photographer)
Portrait of Reuven Greenfield taken in Harbin, China
August 24, 1935
PH1152 Box 1
4
20
Written in Chinese below image: Greenfield.
Written in Russian below image: M.R. Greenfield.
Reuven Greenfield and two others sitting on boat with another man leaning on the boat from behind, at Peitaiho Beach, China
June 22, 1941
PH1152 Box 1
4
21
Reuven Greenfield with a man, woman, and girl in front of a tree
August 8, 1942
PH1152 Box 1
4
22
Written on verso: Western Hills Hotel, Patachu, Peking; 8/VIII - 42.
Reuven Greenfield in front of a building in Tientsin
December 30, 1943
PH1152 Box 1
4
23
Hebrew text written on verso: At school, Tientsin, China.
Jewish Community in Tientsin, China
Group of people next to a building, Tientsin
December 30, 1943
PH1152 Box 1
5
24
Hebrew text written on verso.
Also dated May 18, 1941.
Group of men and women by water and tall grass in Tientsin
July 3, 1927
PH1152 Box 1
5
25-27
Group of people standing in front of a gated wall in Tientsin
October, 1930
PH1152 Box 1
5
28
Mr. and Mrs. L.I. Gershevich 25th wedding anniversary banquet held in the Jewish Club Kunst in Tientsin
January 24, 1934
XC3
29
Photo appeared in thePeking & Tientsin Sunday Timeson January 28, 1934
A. Vasserman (photographer)
Harbin, China
Son of Yaakov Novominski standing indoors in Harbin, China
1924
PH1152 Box 1
6
30
Caption written in Hebrew below image.
Son of Yaakov Novominski standing indoors in Harbin, China
1924
PH1152 Box 1
6
31
Portrait of a man taken in Harbin, China
October 22, 1929
PH1152 Box 1
6
32
Caption written in Hebrew below image.
Hebrew text written on verso: With pleasant memories, a sign of friendship to the Greenfield family.
Other China
Portrait of a woman, man, and three young girls
1926
PH1152 Box 1
6
33
Written on verso: Beiner's, 1926, in China.
A woman, a man, and three boys in Tsingtao, China
1931
PH1152 Box 1
6
34
Portrait of a woman
1924
PH1152 Box 1
7
35
Text written in Hebrew on verso.
Portrait of a young man leaning on a chair
1923
PH1152 Box 1
7
36
Text written in Hebrew on verso.
Teaching Materials
Recurring alphabet drawing
undated
XC3
37
Alphabet drawing
undated
XC3
38
Folio cover with drawings on inner panels and one loose drawing
1943
XC3
39a-b
Illustrated alphabet drawing
between 1929 and 1942?
M271
40
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.]