Full Transcript
My name is Joan Geiger. The date is August 8, 2000, and I'm interviewing at the Dallas Jewish Historical Society. Mrs. Nellie Finberg, how and when did your family get to Dallas? I came in early... My father came into Boston in 1920. And my mother came... He came from Belarus, Minsk. My mother came from Poland, and she came in 1921. They settled in Texas. On my mother's side, my grandfather was here in Fort Worth and he sent for his family. My father, since coming in Galveston, he had family in New York. So he went to New York, but he liked Texas, so he came back to Texas.
and my parents met and they were married in 1922. My father was in the retail business and my mother was a homemaker and she also was a buyer for the latest ready to wear. She was very active in the activities in the towns that we lived in. Where did you go to elementary school, and what was it like, and were there other Jewish children in your school, and what about your high school? What kinds of interactions did you have with your classmates? Both? Both are supposed to go down at the same time? I started school elementary school in East Texas a little town called Malachal Then my parents moved when I was about third grade They moved to Athens Texas That also in East Texas We lived there a few years and my father moved his business to Dallas.
and I remember starting school in Dallas. It was such a large school to me compared to the school that I'd gone to in East Texas. In East Texas, we had outside restrooms. We didn't have the water fountain was outside. Coming to Dallas, everything was inside. It started an awakening. One of the first things I remember when we moved to Dallas, it must have been fall, and I was about eight years old, and the doorbell rang and the, someone said, tricks or treat. I looked at him, I happened to open the door, I thought, what is he talking about? He kept saying, tricks or treat? And so I closed the door.
We had never had Halloween in East Texas, to my knowledge, and we were very active in both towns. So the next day, our furniture, the front porch was gone, it was down the street. So that was my knowledge of Halloween, my first knowledge of Halloween. And then we moved to another house where we lived near a Czech population. They had the so-called people, they were just wonderful. My mother was Orthodox and always kept kosher and we were very active in the Jewish community and the Orthodox synagogue. So I finished elementary school at Colonial and then I went to Forest Avenue High School. And I went to work and I did some part-time college courses.
And I also worked for my father. I later... How did your family celebrate Jewish holidays? Since my mother's side was very religious, we went to Fort Worth for the major holidays to spend with our grandparents It was Hasha and Gershalay Glenn who lived in Fort Worth We always had very wonderful holidays with my grandparents. Since when we lived in small towns, of course there was no synagogue. When we moved to Dallas, we still went for the major holidays, Passover and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur on to Fort Worth because my mother was very close to her family. Other holidays, there were smaller holidays, we belonged to Guttasaka.
The, but it was always, holidays were always celebrated with closely knit family members. What kind of activities were you active in as a teenager? Did you belong to a Jewish youth group? I was confirmed at Good Sopham, and I belonged to the youth group at Good Sopham. Then my family moved to Temple Emanuel, and I belonged to Temple Kings. very active with the temple teams, which I enjoyed very much. What did your parents do for a living, and how were they treated by the community at large? My daughter was in retail business. He had stores in different East Texas towns and also in Dallas. And even in the towns where we were the only Jewish family, They were very wonderful.
I had never known, growing up, never known of any anti-Semitism. I didn't even realize the difference. I knew I was Jewish, but I never knew there was that much difference. With my playmates, we were accepted. Even as little children, when they had a Christmas party, They asked my parents if they could take my sister and I to the Santa Claus thing. And my parents said yes. They believed in learning about other people's religion too. Not to accept it but the neighbors were wonderful and they just accepted it I never forget I never forget that Santa Claus gave my sister and I a gift and I thought how did he know we were going to be here How would you describe the Jewish community in Dallas through the years?
Are there any significant events for you within those years? Yes, I've seen tremendous change. I've seen the well of course the community growing and more people active so tremendous and when I got married in the time that I got married my husband and I were very active in the community in the temple manual sisterhood brotherhood and other Jewish organizations. And my father was always active in Jewish organizations. So the only thing is that I've seen over the years that two men, in my opinion, that some of the people, when they got to a certain stage, they sort of became less Jewish. There was, but that's my opinion.
But we were very active. We raised our children to be very active in Jewish activities, Sunday school and all of our mitzvahs, all married in the Jewish synagogue or temple. Have you been involved in any civic or cultural groups in Dallas? Tell me about them. Well, yes, over the years we belonged to different organizations depending on the business. We were active in different business organizations with Better Business Bureau and that type of activities. My husband was always active with his business and I was always active with the PTA and Sisterhood and organizations in our neighborhood. Those are good things. Tell me about your family today.
Today? three children, three sons, they're all married, have five grandchildren, and they're a very wonderful family. What are you most proud of, and who are your role models? Okay. Well, my parents are my role models. I was very proud of them. My mother was a very elegant woman and very, very intelligent. And she set a wonderful example for us, for family and for outside activities. And my father also. Who are your role models? My parents are my role models. And one of the wonderful things, too, was my husband. He was wonderful. Thank you very much for your interview. Okay. There was something I was going to add.
