Adolph Bar Bernstein

Adolph, born Idel Ber Torbe, immigrated to the US in 1911 with his brother Samuel.

When they first came to the US, the Bernsteins lived in a tiny house on a tiny street, Bond Street. The Bernsteins (Hinda Leah and Joseph and their children Tillie, Sam, Adolph, Eli and Ida) lived on 526 Bond Street. Around 1920, before Ida died (in 1920—and after Tillie’s 1913 wedding to Abe), they moved to 2208 East Fairmount Avenue. This street was an all-Jewish neighborhood, with a synagogue nearby. They moved because they needed a bigger house, although even at Fairmount Avenue there wasn’t enough room for the children to each have their own room.

Adolph, a tailor by trade, smoked cigars. Adolph had his own business with a partner—a very fine men’s shop whose last location was on Redwood Street. Late in his life, he had two seizures, one while walking on the street and one while he was waiting in line at the bank. He was taken to Levindale Nursing Home for three months from Johns Hopkins hospital after his (second?) seizure. According to Ethel, he was quite worldly as a young working man—much more so than his brothers. For example, Adolph would never wear a suit once it was cleaned. He would wear it to work until it needed cleaning. After it was cleaned, he would sell it to someone around his size.

THE “SHORE”—BALTIMORE HARBOR, EASTERN BALTIMORE

In August 2003, the cousins (Marty, Alfred Singer, Lynn Cohen nee Pomerantz, Gail Hiller nee Pomerantz, plus Ethel Heringman; plus Mary and Mike Singer and Josh Hiller) went to The Shore and met someone who knew the Bernsteins. The original house of “the Shore” has been torn down in 1963; a yellow house stands there instead. The pump house where people changed into bathing suits is there; a hand water pump is still there. The Ekholm family bought “The Shore” in 1959; according to Ethel, it was because Sarah, Adolph, Eli and Sam no longer had any way to get there (no car, no public transportation). We spoke to Nancy Ekholm about the history of the house. The address of THE SHORE is: 9116 Avenue A/Sparrows Point, Maryland 21219‑2406.

The “boys” (Adolph, Sam, Eli Bernstein) bought a place on the shore (across from Bethlehem Steel in Baltimore harbor) along with two other guys (Lou—not Louis Singer—and Benny Kowalski from Collington Avenue who lived near the Bernsteins). (Abe eventually bought out the three outsiders.) There were always a lot of men around, none of them married. All of these men often invited women to come out to the shore to “visit.”

The “boys” did not want Abe and Tillie’s girls to come out when they had women over, but invited the family to come out at other times. Eventually, Ethel, Edith and Florence started coming out to the shore more and more. Also, Joseph, Hinda Leah, Sarah, and Eli (who was recovering from tuberculosis) started coming out more. Eli took care of his three nieces at the Shore; for example, he would fill a can with water and pour it over them for their baths.

The three sisters would sleep out on the porch.  It was in the outhouse at the shore that Ethel smoked her first cigarette (at age 10).  She thought she was keeping it a secret, but in retrospect it was probably no secret to anyone, since people could see the smoke coming out of the outhouse.  Even still, Abe thought it was cute that Ethel lit his cigarettes for him. 

By 1963, the shore had been sold long ago. Marty remembers going to the Shore when he was little, so it might have been sold in the late 1950s. Nancy Ekholm told the cousins, when they visited the Shore in August 2003, that the shore was sold in 1959.

• Sources for this information include some or all of the following: (1) recollections of Ethel Heringman, July 19, 1998, Bethesda, Maryland and a few recollections about Abe and Tillie on December 27, 2003; (2) notes taken by Rabbi Schiffer on April 10, 1993, for Florence’s funeral (based on family recollections); (3) Marty’s funeral eulogy; (4) Mike Singer’s school project on “My Ancestors” done around 1996

Many thanks to Marty Singer for sharing this information with us!