EXHIBITS

100 Years of Congregation Brith Sholem: Honoring the Jewish Community in Ogden, Utah: Louis and Jenny Rubin

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Louis and Jenny Rubin

DNO-0125_Louis and Jenny Rubin.jpg

Louis and Jenny Rubin, circa 1910s.

Louis and Jenny Rubin were both born and raised in Ostrow, Poland. Louis, born July 11, 1883, married Jenny Muit, born in 1885, in August 1904. They left Poland shortly after and settled in Ogden in 1906.[1]

Before moving to the United States, Louis worked in shoe shops while living in Warsaw.[2] This work provided Louis great experience in repairing shoes and working with leather. When Louis and his wife, Jenny, moved to Ogden, Louis opened his own shoe repair business, the Utah Shoe Hospital at 221 Twenty-Fifth Street. Louis managed this business until it closed in 1937 for unknown reasons. Before the synagogue was established in 1921, the second floor of Louis’s business was also used to hold religious services and Jewish celebrations.[3]

DNO-0128_Louis Rubin image - The_Ogden_Standard_Examiner_Sun__Sep_19__1937_ .png

Image of Louis Rubin with hammer and shoe, The Ogden Standard-Examiner, Sun., Sep. 19, 1937. Louis Rubin owned The Shoe Hospital in Ogden and was a prominent member of early Congregation Brith Sholem. [Click image to view full image.]

DNO-0126_Utah Shoe Hospital Store.jpg

Storefront of the Utah Shoe Hospital at 221 Twenty-Fifth Street, business of Louis Rubin, undated. Congregation Brith Sholem religious services were held on the second floor of this building before the synagogue was built in 1921.

DNO-0128_The Shoe Hospital ad - Louis Rubin - The_Ogden_Standard_Mon__Sep_23__1912_.png

A newspaper advertisement of Louis Rubin’s business The Shoe Hospital, The Ogden Standard, Mon., Sep. 23, 1912.

DNO-0128_Marian Rubin, daughter of Jenny and Louis Rubin, engagement photo - The Ogden Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah)· Sun, Jun 21, 1942.png

Marian Rubin, daughter of Jenny and Louis Rubin, engagement photo, The Ogden Standard-Examiner, Sun., June 21, 1942

DNO-0125_Louis and Jenny Rubin with children Harry, Abe, and Samuel.jpg

Image of Louis and Jenny Rubin with three of their children, Harry, Abe, and Samuel, 1910s.

Louis and Jenny Rubin raised five children on Twenty-Fifth Street in Ogden: Marian, Harry, Samuel, Abe, and Herman. Marian recalls the daily commotion on Twenty-Fifth Street and says, “there was somebody in every spot.”[4] This may have given the family, as well as the Jewish community, anonymity as they established themselves within the Jewish community among the raucous activity on Twenty-Fifth Street.

At the age of seventy-three, Louis Rubin died of a heart ailment on October 4, 1957.[5] Jenny Rubin died from a stroke a few months after her husband on June 10, 1958.[6] Jenny and Louis were prominent members of Congregation Brith Sholem. Louis Rubin passed on his business traits to his children as Abe, Herman, Sam, and Herman's daughter, Bobbi, owned or co-owned and operated retail businesses in Ogden. Louis and Jenny Rubin also passed down the importance of Judaism and Jewish customs as their children were members of Congregation Brith Sholem.

[1] “Louis Rubin,” Examiner (Ogden, UT), October 4, 1957, 20.

[2] Ruth Ward, “Soaring Price of Leather is Said War Omen,” Examiner (Ogden, UT), September 19, 1937, 16.

[3] Weber State University, “1210039535 004,” 3:06.

[4]Weber State University, “1210039535 004,” 3:45.

[5] “Louis Rubin,” 20.

[6] “Jenny M. Rubin,” Examiner (Ogden, UT), June 10, 1958, 11.