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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 10.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 4500 items) |
| Abstract | Samuel J. Cohen ("Jimmy") and Luba Tooter Cohen, both immigrants from Russia, were married in New York, N.Y., in 1920. They moved to Blytheville, Ark., where Jimmy worked in construction, evenutally opening his own business, S. J. Cohen Company. Their son Jerome Cohen (1922- ) later joined the family business. Both Jimmy and "Jerry" served in World War II. The collection includes papers, family histories, photographs, and home movies relating to the Cohen, Tooter (also spelled Tudor), Dimand, and Freedman families, chiefly of Blytheville, Ark.; New London, Conn.; New York, N.Y.; and Minsk and Odessa, Russia. Papers document military service with the Seabees, a Naval construction regiment, during World War II; the S. J. Cohen Company; elementary education in Russia; civil engineering education in the United States; immigration; and ethnic cooking. Materials include personal and business correspondence, immigration and citizenship papers, military papers, school materials, recipes, newspaper clippings, postcards, and financial materials. Some of the school materials are in Russian (translations included). Family history materials include oral history interviews and transcripts, recorded by Marcie Cohen Ferris, that document emigration of Russian Jews and their adjustment to life in the United States in the 1910s. Family photographs document children and adults at play and family gatherings from the early 1900s to the 1960s, Russian military dress in the 1910s, a United States military base in the Pacific during World War II, and construction sites related to work done by the S. J. Cohen Company. Other photographs document African American sharecroppers, cotton farming, and a hunting camp. Home movies, filmed by Jerry Cohen, record the history of significant construction and engineering projects of S. J. Cohen Company. The films also record daily life in the Cohen family, including Temple Israel and the Jewish community of Blytheville, as well as family vacations and visits to Huddy Howoritz Cohen's home and family in New London. Slides are chiefly of family vacations and S. J. Cohen Company engineering projects. |
| Creator | Cohen family. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
Samuel J. Cohen ("Jimmy") was born 6 March 1897 in Minsk, Russia. His family, including his mother Mary Winick Cohen and brother Jack Cohen, immigrated to the United States in 1913. Jimmy attended the City College of New York and the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.
Luba Tooter was born in 1897 in Odessa, Russia, to Harry and Mollie Tooter. Luba, her parents, and her siblings, Milton, Maurice, Eddie, Joseph, Al, and George, immigrated to the United States in 1912. Luba worked in sweat shops and attended school at night to learn English.
Jimmy and Luba began courting in 1915 and were married on 19 November 1920. Luba joined her husband in Blytheville, Ark., where he had relocated in 1919 to pursue construction work with the Pride and Fairley engineering firm. In 1929, Jimmy opened his own construction company, S. J. Cohen Company, which specialized in drainage canals, levees, highways, bridges, and grading at airports.
Jimmy and Luba had one son, Jerome Cohen, who was born 22 June 1922. "Jerry" graduated in 1943 from Cornell University with a degree in civil engineering.
Both Jimmy and Jerry enlisted in the military in 1943. Jimmy joined the Navy as an officer in the Seabees, the Navy Civil Engineer Corps.
Jerry married Hudda Horowitz, the daughter of Morris Horowitz and Lena Freedman Horowitz. "Huddy" was born 7 February 1926. Jerry and Huddy had two daughters, Jamie and Marcie.
Jimmy Cohen died on 2 April 1954. Luba Tooter Cohen died in 1985.
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Scope and Content
The collection includes papers, family histories, photographs, and home movies relating to Samuel J. Cohen, Luba Tooter Cohen, Jerry Cohen, and the Cohen, Tooter (also spelled Tudor), Dimand, and Freedman families, chiefly of Blytheville, Ark.; New London, Conn.; New York, N.Y.; Minsk, Russia; and Odessa, Russia. Papers document military service with the Seabees, a Naval construction regiment, during World War II; the S. J. Cohen Company, a construction business in Arkansas; elementary education in Russia; civil engineering education in the United States; immigration; and ethnic cooking. Materials include personal and business correspondence, immigration and citizenship papers, military papers, school materials, recipes, newspaper clippings, postcards, and financial materials. Some of the school materials are in Russian and include translations. Family history materials include oral history interviews and transcripts, recorded by Marcie Cohen Ferris, that document emigration of Russian Jews and their adjustment to life in the United States in the 1910s. Family photographs document children and adults at play and family gatherings from the early 1900s to the 1960s, Russian military dress in the 1910s, a United States military base in the Pacific during World War II, and construction sites related to work done by the S. J. Cohen Company. Other photographs document African American sharecroppers, cotton farming, and a hunting camp. Home movies, filmed by Jerry Cohen, record history of significant construction and engineering projects of S. J. Cohen Company. The films also record daily life in the Cohen family, including Temple Israel and the Jewish community of Blytheville, as well as family vacations and visits to Huddy Howoritz Cohen's home and family in New London. Slides are chiefly of family vacations and S. J. Cohen Company engineering projects.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Papers, 1896-1966, 1987.
Arrangement: chronological, followed by subject files.
Access: Folders 35-39 closed until 2035.
Papers and other materials documenting military service with the Seabees, a Naval construction regiment, during World War II; S. J. Cohen Company, a construction business in Arkansas; elementary education in Russia; civil engineering education in the United States; immigration; and ethnic cooking. Included are personal and business correspondence; immigration and citizenship papers; military papers; school materials; recipes; newspaper clippings; postcards; and financial materials such as loan documents, receipts, and bank statements. Materials chiefly relate to Samuel J. Cohen, Luba Tooter Cohen, and Jerry Cohen, but also concern other Cohen and Freedman family members. Some of the school materials are in Russian and include translations. Home movies, filmed by Jerry Cohen, record history of significant construction and engineering projects of S. J. Cohen Company. The films also record daily life in the Cohen family, including Temple Israel and the Jewish community of Blytheville, Ark., as well as family vacations and visits to Huddy Howoritz Cohen's home and family in New London, Conn.
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Series 2. Family Histories, 1978-1998, and undated.
Oral histories, transcripts, and an article relating to the Cohen and Tooter (also spelled Tudor) families. Topics discussed include emigration of Russian Jews, adjusting to life in the United States in the 1910s, and other aspects of family histories. Marcie Cohen Ferris conducted all of the interviews.
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Series 3. Pictures, circa
1900-1990 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical by name, then subject.
Photographs relating to the Cohen, Tooter (also spelled Tudor), Dimand, and Freedman families of Blytheville, Ark.; New London, Conn.; New York, N.Y.; and Minsk and Odessa, Russia. Formal and informal portraits document children and adults from the early 1900s to the 1960s, Russian military dress in the 1910s, and United States military uniforms of World War II. Other photographs document children at play; family gatherings; a World War II military base in the Pacific; travel to Europe and Israel; construction sites related to work done by the S. J. Cohen Company; and homes built by Pride and Fairley, an engineering firm that Samuel J. Cohen worked for when he first moved to Blytheville, Ark., in 1919. Miscellaneous photos document African American sharecroppers, cotton farming, and a hunting camp.
Slides, 1966-1990 and undated, are in slide carousels (about 80 images per carousel) and are chiefly of family vacations and S. J. Cohen Company engineering projects. Note that original titles marked on the carousels have, for the most part, been retained.
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Items Separated
Processed by: Nancy Kaiser, December 2004
Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, December 2004
Revisions: Finding aid updated in January 2006 by Nancy Kaiser.
Revisions: Finding aid updated in September 2006 by Nancy Kaiser.
Revisions: Finding aid updated in October 2007 by Rachel Canada and Roslyn Holdzkom.
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