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March 1, 1973

Frank Buckman

Frank Buckman was born in Eastern Europe around 1900. His father, a skilled tailor, was recruited to work in the American clothing industry and left for the United States shortly after marrying, promising to send for his pregnant wife. Years passed with no word or support, and Frank's mother eventually obtained a divorce through her rabbi and left Frank in the care of his grandfather. She later remarried and moved to England, while Frank, unschooled, was placed to learn a trade. He recounted how a man deceived him about letters from his mother and kept fifty dollars she had sent for his passage.

Frank learned to be a house painter and paperhanger in Europe and, after marrying, came to Dallas in 1912. He worked hard to learn English and to establish himself, quickly buying a Model T Ford and a home while many fellow immigrants, whom he called greeners, were slower to adapt. He worked for a contractor named Joe Steinberg when he first arrived. Over more than sixty years in Dallas he lived in the old North Dallas Jewish neighborhood, then in South Dallas on Cigar Street, later building a duplex and apartment houses. His trade earned him a comfortable living, and he took pride in his industriousness.

Frank was part of Dallas's close-knit early Jewish community, when residents lived near Cedar Springs, Akard, and other North Dallas streets amid Yiddish-speaking grocers, butchers, and shuls. He recalled the Orthodox congregations, the Talmud Torah, and the Arbeter Ring Yiddish school on Forest Avenue, where he helped bring children to classes. He gave an early donation toward a new shul and remembered visiting Yiddish theater troupes that toured Dallas. His first wife suffered ill health and repeated miscarriages and could not have children, a lasting sorrow, as Frank loved children dearly. She died decades before the interview, and he later remarried.

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