Publisher:
The Jewish Historical Center of Maryland, Inc
Published:
1993
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
16465163524
Shipping Options:
Standard Shipping: $4.75
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair. xi, [1], 248 pages. Cover worn. Edges and parts of some pages stained. Ink notation inside front cover. Contains detailed information on Synagogues, Temples, and Congregations in Maryland (including Allegany County, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City and County, Carroll County, Frederick County, Harford County, Howard County, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, St. Mary's County; Talbot County, Washington County, Wicomico County, and Worcester County). Also includes information about the oldest congregations existing in 1990, the Number and Affiliation of Existing Maryland Congregations in 1990, Messianic Congregations; Jewish Population and Estimated Number of Congregations in Baltimore City and County, Sidelights, Glossary, Acknowledgments, Bibliography, Index of Baltimore Area Synagogues and Temples by Street Location, Personal Name Index, and General Index. Earl Pruce was a local historian and retired librarian of the old News American. In 1927, he joined the Baltimore American, then a daily morning paper, as a personal copy boy to the managing editor. He then worked in the library of the newspaper until it ceased daily publication on March 31, 1928. In 1930, he rejoined the library staff of The Baltimore News and Sunday American. He became a full-time employee in late 1931, assistant librarian in 1936 and chief librarian in 1954. Mr. Pruce described himself as "keenly interested in the history of the city and state." In 1993, he finished researching and writing the book Synagogues, Temples and Congregations in Maryland, 1830-1990, published by the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland. "It began out of the retiree's personal frustration at not being able to put his finger on reference material about synagogues, " said a story in the old Evening Sun. The article went on to describe him as a "fact detective who can track down any footnote of Baltimore history. If an event was ever recorded in a newspaper, book or pamphlet, or on a microfilm frame, he will unearth it." He also did research for authors writing books on topics as diverse as Baltimore movie houses and Wallis Warfield Simpson, the twice-divorced Baltimorean for whom England's King Edward VIII gave up the throne. Mr. Pruce assisted author Ralph G. Martin on his 1973 best-seller, The Woman He Loved, and provided help for the British-made 2000 film Wallis Simpson, the Demonized Duchess. Mr. Pruce's research into the future duchess' living habits in Baltimore established that her longest period of residence was at the Preston Apartments, at the northwest corner of Guilford Avenue and Preston Street. "Synagogues, Temples and Congregations of Maryland 1830-1990" is the work of Earl Pruce, one of the most meticulous research librarians this city has ever produced. Mr. Pruce is a fact detective who can track down any footnote of Baltimore history. If an event was ever recorded in a newspaper, book or pamphlet, or on a microfilm frame, he will unearth it. Mr. Pruce's first published book took seven years of painstaking work. It was begun out of the retiree's personal frustration at not being able to put his finger on reference material about synagogues. He said he encountered a "lack of records, inaccurate lists and directories, often with misprints, conflicting dates and congregations with similar names." He set out to get the facts, fully indexed with a glossary, so anyone can unravel a piece of the history of Jewish worship in Maryland. "A lot of the information wasn't easy to find, " he says. "And there were cases when I wrote letters to a congregation and did not get a reply. This was the most discouraging, " Mr. Pruce said the other day, seated in the library in his Park Heights Avenue apartment. While his highly annotated roster of Park Heights Avenue and Old Court Road synagogues are familiar landmarks today, not many people know there were once houses of worship on Barclay, Biddle, Poplar Grove, Poppleton and Stricker streets...