Oral history interview with Harry Ash, Aug. 4, 1983 | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Harry Ash discusses developments in Seattle Jewish community organizations from the 1930s through the 1980s. Ash describes his participation in a survey committee studying the need for a Seattle Jewish community center, discussing community reaction to and the results of the survey. He traces development of the Jewish Community Center from its inception through 1982. Ash also discusses his activities in organizing Jewish Boy Scout Troop No. 46 in 1934 and his involvement in B'nai B'rith youth groups from 1935 to 1955. He talks about the succession of Herzl synagogue rabbis and the conflict of Beth Am, Beth Shalom, and Ner Tamid splinter groups. He also discusses the Anti-Defamation League and issues such as discrimination within the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Washington Athletic Club, and Sand Point Country Club; and the State Fair Employment Act. Other subjects mentioned are Hillel, the Jewish Welfare Board, Jewish Family and Child Service of Seattle, the development of Seattle Jewish educational institutions, the impact of Dr. Ruth Levy and the "Survey of Jewish Education in Seattle ... 1949," the Young Men's Hebrew Association, the Menorah Society, the Herzl Junior Guild, Temple de Hirsch's Temple Center, Sam Goldsmith's Drug Store, and German resettlement