Jews and Jewish life

The New York Deli and Coffee Shop collection preserves a glimpse of the titular influential local community nexus. The kosher bagel shop has been passed down through three generations of Kornhaber family and has made its mark on the local populace with its friendly atmosphere and commitment to community service.

The collection contains one folder of programs from events at Congregation Emanu El and Brith Shalom; a photograph of Joseph Silverman at the construction site for Houston's first modern skyscraper, the Melrose Building, downtown on the corner of Walker and San Jacinto; a newsclipping about Melvin Silverman's death; and a Beth Yeshurun newsletter.

Planning materials, board games, a scrapbook, press releases and other publicity materials document the activities undertaken by Estelle Panzer, Janis Odensky, and Judy Jordan between 1984 and 1989 to create the Tradition Jewish trivia board game. The collection also includes an oral history with Estelle Panzer and Janis Odensky conducted in 2019.

This collection is made up of eight boxes containing books, bulletins, correspondence, event materials, financial records, flyers, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, photographs, plaques, programs, scrapbooks, videos, and yearbooks from United Orthodox Synagogues spanning from 1935 to 2023.

The Wagman family photos offer a glimpse into the growth of a Jewish family that immigrated from Romania in the early 1900s and made a place for themselves in America. Interconnected with several other Jewish families in the Houston area, the Wagman family photographs fill out the genealogical web that intertwines much of the Houston Jewish community.

The Weinstein Family papers showcase Irving and Lily Weinstein, and their ties to the broader Houston Jewish community. Irving’s service in World War II and Lily’s civic engagement with both San Jacinto High School and Congregation Beth Israel are preserved in the letters they exchanged while Irving was overseas. Featuring photographs, news clippings, and a plethora of military correspondence and documentation, the Weinstein Family papers offer insight into a century of Jewish History.

The Westheimer/Simon family papers span several generations of the family living in Houston, and making their mark on the Houston Jewish community. With a variety of materials ranging from correspondence to photographs, sermons to yearbooks, the Westheimer/Simon family papers are a rich trove for any researcher interested in the history of one of Houston’s more influential families.

Five boxes containing two Hadassah ledgers (1920s-1940s), five parochet, three photographs, 1908 prayer book and Judaism instruction book, and a wooden replica of the ten commandments document activities that took place in the Wharton County Jewish community from 1868 to 1988.

One box of newspaper clippings, photographs, magazine articles, writings, correspondence, agendas, yearbooks, a musical score, and a Holocaust curriculum book documents the lives of members of the Wolf / Mazow family from 1935 to 2018.

The Yellen Family papers are comprised of photographs and memorabilia related to Milton Yellen’s time practicing dentistry in New Guinea for the army during World War II, and photographs and newsclippings of his wife Florence Kless Yellen throughout her life. The collection also contains religious and army certificates, publications, and correspondence depicting the Yellen family’s connections to the Jewish community.