Bernice Raden
Bernice Raden was born in Colorado but retained no memories of it, as her family moved to Texas when she was very young. Her father, whom she described as having been married before, died when she was six years old, leaving her the only child of his second marriage among six older half-siblings. After his death, she and her mother moved to Chicago around New Year's Day of 1927, and she grew up on the city's north side. She considered herself a Chicago person at heart, graduating from Sullivan High School and later from Northwestern University, and she treasured the city's art museums, symphony, opera, and open-air Grant Park concerts, which her music-loving mother attended faithfully.
Bernice was drawn back to Texas by a family business, returning to Fort Worth. When manufacturing became uneconomical in Texas and moved to the Far East, the business closed. She and her husband Sam moved to Dallas on February 10, 1950. Trained in dress design in Chicago, Bernice worked in the family clothing business, designing dresses. She and Sam built a good life together, and she often spoke of her deep good fortune and contentment. At the time of the interview she was living in a Dallas retirement home, where, ever practical, she wished the staff would organize more activities and felt she could arrange them herself.
Bernice was Jewish all her life and identified strongly with her faith and community, belonging to Temple Emanu-El, where she once sang in the choir. She and Sam raised three children, one of whom lived in Holland and another in California, and she took pride that all her grandchildren married Jewish spouses and lived Jewish lives. She loved classical music, naming Brahms her favorite composer alongside Beethoven and Bach, and enjoyed opera and theater. She and Sam traveled to Europe, especially Holland, along with Austria, Italy, Spain, and France. Turning 96 the day before her interview, she remained cheerful, grateful, and determined to accent the positive, offering as advice simply not to hurt anyone or make trouble.
biography
Full Transcript
thank you my name is pauline grevere and i'm a volunteer with the dallas jewish historical society and i am interviewing bernice raiden who um is and this is december i'm sorry november the 4th 2003 and bernice you said that you didn't mind starting anywhere so tell us about where you were born i think you said you born in colorado but i had no memory of that because we moved to texas when i was um i think about two oh well so i don't remember anything about colorado i have been back there to see the house but what about dallas when did you come to dallas
well i lived in fort worth's child and my my father died when i was six years old my mother and i moved to chicago about when i was five nine on new year's day of 27 i think okay new year's day of 20 of 1927 and i grew up in chicago so i am more a chicago person by outlook and then it takes it do you remember anything about growing up in chicago was it north side was southside it was the north side and i loved chicago it had many things that dallas didn't offer it had lessons at the art museum it had a life
it had things at the at the boxer hall that had it had things to do i loved it i loved the city i'm a city person and so what brought you to texas a family business and we came back to fort worth and that family business ended and we moved to dallas and it's we've had a good life and we have three wonderful children nine grandchildren ten great-grandchildren so far and every i have nothing to complain about i'm somebody that has no complaints how wonderful i've had a good life and enough i'm not we're not rich but i can afford whatever we need and my
children are not poor and they can afford they could even help me if i needed it which i don't and life is good america is good you said you had been married how long 74 years that's quite remarkable and wonderful do you have any secrets 74 years march 26 will be 75 do you have any seats i bet you my children will come i'm not i don't think i'm not planning ahead but i imagine they will they're pretty good kids you said that one daughter lived in holland were you involved in the family business with my husband i was involved i was i designed dresses
i had take taken dress designing in chicago and i did that for a while and then we we don't have the business manufacturing became not done in texas you know it it's a different world different periods of time they're different things work and carbon manufacturing was more economical to do in the far east we got out of that business and we aren't serving everything is fine we have a good family all as well i wish that everybody could have such an um positive well the positive is the most important i think well yeah we've been lucky well don't you think that sometimes it's more than
luck well i usually accent the positive and we haven't had any terrible things tell me a little bit about your family growing up you said you were in chicago and then you came to death i would my father had been married before and he i had fought six siblings of that net of half siblings and of course they're they're they're mostly they're all gone because the youngest one was 10 years older than i am and so they're not around any longer but um was there a jewish influence when you were in chicago that you came down to texas i had i've been jewish all my
life and i've always identified only as jewish and i've always been affiliated in some manner with something jewish because that that where i am i we're two i'm jewish my husband is to it and this is his family and it's it's just who we are that's all what congregation did you belong to here temple emanuel i still am a member what kind of changes have you seen through the years at temple i really i used to go i used to sing in the choir and but i don't do that any longer and i rarely go to temple because it's just too much effort in my
age to to try to get there i did go for the anniversary celebration of the choir but i was too tired to walk up to the bema when everybody was asked to walk up okay i don't care i've been there i've done that and i don't need a certificate of accomplishment i have enjoyed my life i have i've really got i have no complaints of course i would have liked it if my father died less early well he was 56 and i was six years old it was his second marriage so i didn't have that father very long i would have liked to have had
him so i were you an only child of that second marriage and i what i'm not sure about is coming texas who's who brought you then oh well that's that was my family had a business in fort worth and we came to join there and in about three years it closed because manufacturing went out of was not doable in texas anymore people it was more economical to sew in the far east than to sew in homes in dallas or anywhere in texas like you know economics change and the world changes and you you have to go along with it the world changes right some people
are disturbed at the change in services in the amount of hebrews that is used in what and the amount of hebrew that is used that doesn't bother you no it's great i did learn hebrew but i didn't have any way of using it i forgot it i learned it they had the lessons at temple but if you don't if you learn a new language and i learn dutch but if you don't use it on a daily basis it's not yours what it is you learn dutch because of your daughter living there but i i i learned it but i wasn't in holland and she didn't
come here when she did we weren't speaking dutch so it was okay he didn't hurt me to learn it tell me about about your husband sam and you're living together all these years is there he's a 100 person who is always kind always considerate always helpful he's a doll i've been very lucky you have indeed i have been you had nothing to do with this successful life i had nothing you sound like you had nothing to do with this kind of wonderfully successful life that it just happened to you well i um i appreciate people for their merit they don't have to all be alike
and i don't have to love everybody but i can appreciate their qualities and get along right you tell me well could you object get along with people i it's just first of all it's a lot easier and i have no reason to not like anybody they're different that's all right they can be different so when you meet someone you look for what you like about them well yeah when you meet people there met some you like more than others where you think you're gonna like more than others and it usually works out that way you know life is it is you just comes a little
i have no i have no beasts i have no beasts life's been good if you were to give other people some advice what would it be and if your life and don't hurt anybody don't hurt anybody and don't don't make trouble for yourself or anybody don't make trouble for yourself or anybody else so if somebody gives you any trouble what do you do go the other way i don't think i have any trouble with anybody i don't get close enough to get trouble if they're not congenial i don't get close enough to get trouble i don't have any enemies you shouldn't you shouldn't well this
is going to be a record for your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren so think of some things that happened to you within your family were there any examples what did you do for recreation where did you go do you like theater do you like music well my family knows that i love music and they know that and therefore i like the character and i'd like to be living in chicago because they had lots of opportunities fort worth didn't have i went to art school there and it's a city it's a city it offers things it offers things including the symphony if you can afford to buy
a gallery seat and climb up to seven stories fast enough to get a seat i had a good life i've been very lucky what about in dallas what year did you we moved to dallas in 1950 february 10. you've seen a lot of changes in dallas then have you seen the rise of the music scene have you seen the musical appreciation rise you've seen the symphony there's more things to do and my children took me to the symphony yesterday it was my birthday so they know i like my son do i like that and i went but you know i don't think i'll be going it's a lot of walking even to get to your seat on the main floor before you get in there i don't you know there comes a time if you can't do the same things you used to do when
you were young you physically can't so i'm not complaining i was 96 years old yesterday and i'm still fat and sassy i think you're a lot more than that and you're not fat sassy maybe it's an expression i'm you know i'm still bernice if i said to you you can do you've got this wonderful day ahead of you you can do anything you want to you can walk as much as you want to what would you do i would always go to the theater or the music if i it wouldn't be walking i want to hear classical of course that's the music what kind who
is your favorite who are three of your favorite composers roms and everybody proms i i like most music but i like classical the three b's of course beethoven of course bach but brahms is my favorite he's my favorite you mentioned theater what type of theater do you like particularly all that not not jazzy stuff as much it's not an opportunity to go to the theater very much in dallas so limited you know dallas has its limitations i used to go to the theater center i forgot about that that's a long time ago 20 years ago is the theater center still improv yes it's used by
independent groups there is also a new dallas theater center building and there is also a new opera house which has theater also my son took me to symphony yesterday so he showed me where the upper new opera house was but i haven't been it and you know what i don't even mind you know you can't do everything when you're 96 years old you just don't have the energy to do it all and it's all right i've i've had it so i can't sorry i certainly didn't miss anything when i lived in chicago and i had feet that would go everywhere i hear you i didn't
miss the thing there where did you go particularly can you think of a of a you went to the chicago symphony of course and well the opera was i went to the symphony went to the opera it was in different places they now they have a real opera house but they that opera house didn't the real opera house on wecker drive didn't open till it was during the war because it was a blackout i know i forgot it was a what a blackout so when was the war in 41 to 45. there was still a blackout there was a blood there were black and opera house in chicago was at wells and adams and jackson i think you never used to go there do you know chicago yes i do you know the specific cop for the pacific playhouse been a long time it's all right you did what you could what you could do when you were younger and you can't do it now think back about one of your favorite performances if you had to look back remember this is historical for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren and they say well i love tosca tosca is my favorite oscar oh
drama drama trauma nice music i don't like olaf but i i like it all i just like living i like your attitude i love it well i do i've been lucky i have a wonderful husband and three good kids unfortunately they're not they don't all both they all live here but if i need them they'll come and i presume they'll come for our anniversary next march i presume there aren't too many people that have parents who have a 75th anniversary absolutely not don't come i'm toured where where do you have one who lives here and one in holland and one in holland and one and
one and one here and one in california how come the daughter from california cal from holland woke up and she'd come if i asked her tomorrow she she would but i don't ask her she comes out i'm sure you said she comes every two or three times a year that's that's a lot and what about your grandchildren have they had jewish upbringings yeah they're all married to jewish people and they're all living jewishly once in holland go to jewish day school i think because that's you go to private schools and on so jewish good day school was the best place to go and it's their
her house and they come have cookies after school she's lucky they're fine and the one in california her children are her daughters are grown a woman has two children thank god everybody you are a remarkable woman i i wonder whether you have any um examples of how that attitude took you through moving for example you have to leave your beloved chicago and you came down here to fort worth and then to dallas now did you find yourself comparing all the time did you no i like when i was in chicago i love chicago i didn't we didn't leave chicago because we hated it yes it's
a new life and i just concentrate i really concentrate on the positive i don't see any point in dwelling oh gee i could go to more plays or symphonies in chicago so what this is this is where i live i did we've enjoyed as much as we can here and life is good and we have life is good how long have you lived in this retirement home over two years about two almost two and a half years it's all right it's a good place i don't think anything wrong with it if i gonna live in a place this is just fine the people here are
nice yes they could have a little more activities that they could but it's changed hands and they're doing without a manager and they're doing without this they're saving money and they're making more money which is their goal but it could be better if they they don't even have to do anything very much i could do it for them in in two hours a week i could arrange something i could work it out but they they're just kind of sleepy they said they can get along without it and they have their goal make as much money as you can that's the goal of most businesses isn't
it i think so so it's the way it is bernice if two hours a week what would you do here if i had if i was going to do i'd arrange some grass some things to go on i'd plan some things i'd schedule a few things they don't do anything they've got somebody here who's supposed to be the activities director i don't know what she does i really i really don't know i don't know how she must be bored to death she doesn't do anything i thought this was supposed to have this was a perfect place for people to retire to and it's probably as
perfect as it comes i don't think there's any place any better i haven't heard from anybody but it isn't it could be a little more perfect if somebody had put a little effort try to arrange a little something they have a bridge game on friday night well my dear they can have a bridge game monday wednesday and friday night or tuesday and friday there is one on friday or sometime they can do something there isn't anybody who's trying to do anything so nothing happened and you know what i don't they'll it's the way it is they know i'm okay and my husband's okay my family
god bless and we're all well everything else i can't make life any better i don't think i don't stay well for my husband and i that's about the best we could do actually you're the one who probably should be the activities director you've got the ideas and the smarts i would be if if i didn't have them i'd be looking for something i'd be doing something dumbest it's very frustrating how very frustrating they don't there is a new activist she doesn't know she knows my name she says hello to me but that's it there's not a thing on the board that's different it's not even
worth looking there's nothing there bernice when you went when you were younger and felt and could walk a little bit more where did you and sam go on vacations you're an adventurer well we went to europe well we have a daughter living in europe so for for a while she lived in we always went to holland and one other country where she lived in holland we went to holland and then we'd plant a couple of weeks in austria or italy or spain or france or somewhere that's what we did when we were able to travel but we're not able to that's all right we did
it when we could and we can't do it now sorry what was your favorite amongst your favorite countries well i know holland that's the best and i like the people there i like them all i mean generally am generally positive generally i try i find something good anywhere i can i tried i remember being in spain and i was so tired of fancy food i was so happy to go to a mcdonald's i found a mcdonald's to go to and could get lost the american hamburger okay it was but i i i go to foreign places and i accept the food you know what you
know point to go somewhere and say why isn't this like home what's your camera what did you come for it had to be like home so it took a lot to get you to mcdonald's though well i was just so sick of spanish food it was in madrid i i wouldn't break that's not the best thing about being food italy is better anybody was better that was not so good but it was that was just how i felt that moment but i do i would travel if i had the energy to do it isn't it a shame you run out of energy before you run
out of money i could still afford to travel i mean i'm not rich but i i could travel a little bit if i wanted to if i wanted to i don't really want to i don't want to go to the trouble i'm just plain vanilla playing vanilla i think you're very exciting i don't think i'm pretty excited i like to enjoy everything that's interesting and different anything that's well new or interesting i'll i'll take it tell me about some things that you can think of that you made a discovery on that you never knew about anything that you can think of well in the arts
i've been able to pursue it a lot because i lived in chicago i grew up there and i managed to go even when i didn't have any money i don't do you know chicago yes i do you know the grand park concerts yes i grew up in the grand park my mother was a new music lover so those are huge open air concerts they have a huge grand park concerts in the coming summer time you get there early enough you get a seat my mother was such a regular goer they even used to give her a special seat in front she was the champion music
lover it was a good place a big city has many advantages offers a little more than dallas although dallas is growing how long have you lived in dallas all my life except when i lived in chicago oh you lived it where did you live in chicago north side i lived in um i graduated college from northwestern married to chicago and and lived there um for another nine years so north side i lived in um greenleaf and paulina i know where i lived on essence this is the street there was very close to greenlee and then we lived two years in skokie and two and niles
those were i didn't know those places very well i think i have relatives living there now but i don't go there to chicago my husband's family lived in rogers park that's where i live i know where i grew up i graduated from sullivan high school so did my husband he may be my is he my age you know my age well my husband passed away last year i'm going to um bernice this has been so exciting i'm going to turn this off because i i don't want this to be about me this is you're you're delightful person okay i'm turning this off i get i
don't know how to help you i don't know that well don't worry that equipment