Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of one undated photograph, presumably taken around 1945. The photographer is unknown. Also included is one page of research notes which identifies persons in the photograph and provides information about the Wides family, created by Margaret “Peggy” Mosinger Freedman.
Biographical/Historical Context:
Congregation Beth Jacob was founded in the 1940s by the Wides family. The congregation—which initially consisted of about a dozen families—met in a building between Murphysboro and Carbondale on the property of Julius Wides. Wides was a prominent Jewish businessman who, among other ventures, owned Wides Oil and Wides Realty. The congregation met on Wides’ property until 1959, when it moved to a synagogue in Carbondale.
The Ross family attended Congregation Beth Jacob during the 1940s. Sam and Sol Ross owned two women’s clothing stores in the Murphysboro and Carbondale area. Sol Ross’ son, Ted Ross, became bar mitzvah around 1945. His bar mitzvah, pictured in this photograph, was attended by members of Ross, Goodman, and Seidel families.
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