Laufer family papers
Collection Overview
Papers of the Laufer family, Polish immigrants who ran a kosher restaurant on King Street in Charleston, South Carolina. Materials include an original Laufer's Kosher Restaurant business card, naturalization certificates, a ketubah; and slides, negatives, and photocopies of two family photographs. Most materials are photocopies. Also included are 12 cupping glasses or "bankas" used by Tillie Laufer for medicinal purposes.
Dates
- Creation: 1910-circa 1945
Creator
- Laufer (Family : Charleston, S.C.) (Family)
Language of Material
Materials in English, Hebrew, and Polish
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Copyright Notice
The nature of the College of Charleston's archival holdings means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. Special Collections claims only physical ownership of most archival materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
Biographical Note
Hersch "Haschmiel" Loffe and Tillie "Toba" Hufeizen, both Orthodox Jews from Mogelnitsa, Poland (near Warsaw), were married in 1910. Their first daughter, Rose Laufer Lerner, was born in 1912. Soon after, Hersch Loffe left Poland for New York City, where he worked until he had saved enough to bring his wife and daughter to the United States. Loffe's name was Anglicized to Harry Laufer on his arrival. The family arrived in 1915 on the Lusitania, which was sunk on its return voyage to Europe during World War I. Harry and Tillie Laufer had two more children in New York, Sadye Laufer Sunshine (1914-1993) and Jack Laufer (1918-1979).
The Laufer family moved to Charleston, South Carolina, circa 1920, where a number of Jews from Mogelnitsa had relocated. Shortly after, the Laufer's fourth child, Helen Laufer Dwork Berle (1923-2005), was born. The family attended Beth Israel and opened a clothing store on King Street. Tillie Laufer was known for her quality cooking, so in 1931, the family opened Laufer's Kosher Restaurant. The restaurant was a popular gathering place, especially for Jewish soldiers during World War II. They served dishes such as gefilte fish, chopped liver, matzo ball soup, roast brisket, and cole slaw. The restaurant closed in the mid-1950s.
Extent
0.55 linear feet (3 folders, 1 artifact box)
Abstract
Papers of the Laufer family, Polish immigrants who ran a kosher restaurant on King Street in Charleston, South Carolina. Materials include an original Laufer's Kosher Restaurant business card, naturalization certificates, a ketubah, and two family photographs. Most materials are photocopies. Also included are 12 cupping glasses or "bankas" used for medicinal purposes.
Collection Arrangement
Materials are described at the folder level.
Acquisitions Information
Materials donated circa 1998 by Helen Laufer Dwork Berle.
Processing Information
Processed by Sarah Dorpinghaus, March 2011.
Subject
- Laufer family (Family)
- Laufer, Tillie Hufeizen (Person)
- Laufer's Kosher Restaurant (Charleston, S.C.) (Organization)
Source
- Berle, Helen Laufer Dwork, 1923- (Donor, Person)
Genre / Form
- Business cards
- Cupping glasses
- Ketubahs
- Marriage certificates
- Naturalization records
- Negatives (photographs)
- Photocopies
- Slides (photographs)
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Inventory of the Laufer Family Papers, 1910-circa 1945
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by: Sarah Dorpinghaus; machine-readable finding aid created by: Sarah Dorpinghaus
- Date
- 2011
- Description rules
- Dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- Funding from the Council on Library and Information Resources supported the processing of this collection and encoding of the finding aid.
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Repository
Special Collections
College of Charleston Libraries
66 George Street
Charleston South Carolina 29424
(843) 953-8016
(843) 953-6319 (Fax)