Aubrey and Sylvia Farb Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS 0741

Staff Only

Finding aid note: Forms part of the Houston Jewish History Archive. Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains a small number of programs, certificates, booklets, and correspondence regarding imminent Jewish Associations in Houston, such as Aleph Zadik Aleph, B’nai B’rith and Emanu El, as well as personal papers related to Aubrey Farb, such as Confirmation ephemera, a book of psalms, and a framed commission from the Marine Corps, and an oral history with Aubrey and Sylvia Farb recorded in 2018. The materials are in good condition, and range in date from 1938 to 2018. They would be valuable to a researcher looking into Jewish Institutions, or specifically at the history of Aubrey and Sylvia Farb.

Dates

Creation: 1938 - 2018

Conditions Governing Access

This material is open for research.

Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from the Aubrey and Sylvia Farb Papers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.

The Woodson Research Center use policy is that researchers assume sole responsibility for any infringement of privacy, literary rights, copyrights, or other rights arising from their use of the archival materials. In addition to any restrictions placed by donors, certain kinds of archival materials are restricted for the life of the creator plus 50 years. These materials include, but are not limited to, student grades, transcripts, and any job applications or recommendations.

Biographical / Historical

Married in May of 1948, Aubrey and Sylvia Farb are influential members of the Houston Jewish Community, making their mark by volunteering with politics, the arts, and the homeless. The Aubrey and Sylvia Farb Community Service Fund they created at Congregation Emanu El is still very active today. After marrying, they settled in Houston, and have 4 daughters, and 6 grandchildren.

A native of Galveston, Texas, Sylvia Farb was born on April 25, 1926. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, she moved to Houston, where she met her future husband playing bridge, a mutual hobby. She worked as a travel agent for Joske's Travel, spent some years as a stay-at-home mother, and volunteered in her free time.

Born September 1, 1922, Aubrey Farb moved from his hometown in Galveston to attend the Rice Institute (now Rice University) in Houston. During his school days, he was involved with the Menorah Society (a predecessor to Hillel) and served as a representative to the Student Religious Council. During the war, he was chosen to attend Japanese Language School, becoming a Japanese interrogation Officer, before returning to receive his Master’s Degree from Columbia University. Farb then found work as a CPA, a profession which he wrote and lectured extensively about in his lifetime.

In addition, Aubrey was a managing partner of the Houston office of the international accounting firm of Alexander Grant, a Director of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants and Vice-President of its Houston chapter, and a National President of the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni. He also served as a member of the Auditing Task Force that assisted President Nixon’s blue ribbon committee that studied the finances of the Defense Department. He has been a professor at the University of Houston and Rice University, the latter school for which he underwrote the Program in Jewish Studies postdoctoral Fellowship for 2014-2015.

Extent

.50 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection contains a small number of programs, certificates, booklets, an oral history recording and transcript, and correspondence regarding imminent Jewish Associations in Houston and Aubrey Farb's personal papers from 1938 to 2018.