Finding Aid for the Betty Mermelstein Collection (MUM00789)

Authors

Document Type

Finding Aid

Collection Date

1945-1947

Identifier

MUM00789

LCSH

black-and-white prints (photographs); scrapbooks; Mississippi -- Religion; Judaism--United States; World War, 1939-1945--United States

General Physical Description Note

1.0 box

Description

The Betty Mermelstein Collection features two exceptionally well captioned photo album scrapbooks and assorted ephemera. The albums document the teenage years of Betty Mermelstein of Natchez, home to the oldest Jewish community in Mississippi, with its first service reportedly held in 1800. Betty attended Natchez High School where she was a clarinetist and member of the pep squad. These albums appear to have been compiled around her senior year in 1946, but some of the photos are earlier. Many photos depict her life at school showing her large group of friends on picnics, primping for class, around campus, frolicking at the beach, a horse farm and more. Others show her extended family, Betty posed in front of her parents retail shop, and road trips. Many of the captions provide extra detail regarding what was going on before the photo, events after them, and her personal thoughts, both about herself and the lives who touched her. At least 50 photos show men in uniform and a scattered series shows her friend, Sam Schwarz, serving in France and Germany and England during World War II.

Recommended Citation

Betty Mermelstein Collection (MUM00789), Archives and Special Collections, J.D. Williams Library, The University of Mississippi

Accessibility Status

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