Interview with Hilda R. Abraham, February 29, 1984

Interview Summary

In this interview, Hilda R. Abraham talks about her life as a Jewish woman living in Lexington during the 1920s through the 1980s. Originally from St. Louis, she moved to Kentucky with her husband, Isadore J. Abraham. The couple did not move to Lexington until June of 1925. She explains that they moved to Lexington when Isadore was offered a job at a dairy company. His first very successful experience in dairy led to several other dairy ventures. She talks about arriving in Lexington and how her family was accepted by the Jewish community. Before moving to Lexington, she and her husband had visited his brothers in Lexington, and the couple already knew some of the families at the Temple. Hilda was very involved in the Jewish community, especially with the Sisterhood at the Temple. She eventually became president, but in order to become president, it was required that she served in every other role leading up to her presidency. While she was president of the Sisterhood, Hilda was on the Good Samaritan Board, and she recounts several of her experiences during that time. She talks a little bit about raising her children in Lexington and the changes she has noticed in the Jewish community since she joined the Temple in the 1920s.

Interview Keyword

Lexington Dairy Temple Adath Israel Good Samaritan Hospital Anti-Semitism Antisemitism Discrimination.

Interview LC Subject

Jews--Kentucky--Lexington. Race relations--Kentucky--Lexington Entrepreneurship Jewish businesspeople Jewish families. Lexington (Ky.) Small business--Kentucky Small business--Ownership Jews--Identity. Judaism. Religion Jewish leadership--Kentucky--Lexington Jewish women--Kentucky--Lexington

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.