VOICES OF THE PAST
Cultural legacies are sustained by music and literature, shared joys and sorrows and celebrated in their presence and their loss. Yiddish culture was the glue that connected millions of Jews across the generations from the old country to the new. We are pleased to share some archival morsels of this legacy as it flourished on South Beach as well as some interviews with giants in the field. We also celebrate parallel cultural legacies that flourished in South Florida at the same time. We owe a debt of gratitude to Gay Block, the Florida Moving Image Archive, Mildred and Morton Nyman and the participants for making this possible.
CULTURAL PROGRAMS/ACTIVITIES
The Cinema Theatre
The Cinema Theatre was the longest-running Yiddish theater/Yiddish vaudeville house in South Florida and possibly the country. For nearly thirty years, it offered well-known serious Yiddish actors from around the world as well as hundreds of Catskills performers. This footage is the only one known to exist. (Please forgive the sound/video quality.
Charlotte Cooper
Yiddish Theater Memories
Charlotte Cooper is a third generation Yiddish actress. An essential part of American and South Florida history is the Yiddish cultural legacy. For over fifty years, Miami Beach was a Yiddish cultural mecca. This is a snapshot into that world.
9th Street Lummus Park Performances
For many decades on South Beach, open air/open mike concerts were held nearly everyday featuring snowbirds and permanent residents, which included performances of old Yiddish ballads, Jewish shtick and Yiddish poetry readings.
Oneg Shabbot Celebrations
Cody Bradford and his Yancey County NC family have carried forward the moonshine tradition in this country since the 1700s.
Friendship Circles
Up and down Lummus Park, which borders Ocean Drive on South Beach, groups of musicians, singers and dancers would gather to perform Yiddish folk and theater songs and celebrate their culture with their fellow landsmen (people from their native towns/countries). These were some of the most popular activities in Miami Beach’s tropical shtetl.
The Feder Sisters
The Feder Sisters (Mimi Sloan and Sylvia Roebuck)
The Feder Sisters, a popular singing duo, were a fixture on New York Yiddish radio and on Second Avenue stages for many years. Both ultimately played an important role in Miami Beach’s Yiddish cultural scene. Here they speak about their early years in New York.
Interviews
Miami Beach Yiddish Performers speak
Leading Yiddish performers speak about their experiences in South Florida including Yiddish actors Charlotte Cooper, the Feder Sisters, Ari Fuhrman, Howie Pepper and Helen Spitz.
Yiddish Radio
lMiami Yiddish Radio
Jacob Schachter was the king of Miami Yiddish radio broadcasting on numerous stations throughout the region. This rare audio is from one of the ony known original Yiddish radio reels in existence of South Florida Yiddish radio.