#nmajh

This is not what we usually post about, and I hope you will read and share:

In response to the recent desecration at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia of more than 500 headstones, the National Museum of American Jewish History is embarking on a collecting project to preserve the stories of the people who are buried there. The Museum is asking those who have friends or loved ones interred at Mount Carmel Cemetery to share a picture of their loved one (and/or the headstone, if available) and a personal story of up to 150 words. Please use the submit page or email the curators.

The project is also open to those whose families were affected by the desecration that occurred at St. Louis’s Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery last week.

Pauline Jacobs Bendiner (1906-1981)

Pauline Jacobs Bendiner was born on September 13, 1906 in Philadelphia. Her mother Antoinette, a Romanian immigrant, died at age 88 while delivering a financial report for Hadassah to a room of 800 people at the Warwick Hotel. Her father Maurice was a doctor. Her sister Charlotte was The Magic Lady on WFIL-AM during the 1940s and -50s (with co-star Eddie Fisher).

Polly graduated from Girls High, attended the University of Michigan, and graduated from Cornell. She married the love of her life, Irvin, an insurance executive who died at age 46, and never remarried. Polly raised a daughter, Nancy, who would share her love of Philadelphia and many of the causes she championed, including Elder Craftsman, a nonprofit store that sold handmade children’s clothing and ephemera made by seniors. Later, she earned an MSW and was a psychiatric social worker with Dr. Spurgeon English at Temple. She loved parties, couture, dogs, and spending time with family and friends. She fought breast cancer for 20 years, at a time when treatment for the disease was especially harrowing, and died at age 74.

The best George Washington quote, courtesy of the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philly