Or - University of Rochester

Int8rv:loHees Dr. and Mrs~urry Blanch~----------~-

Intervio~er Bonnie Kantor

Dato(s) or interview July 11, 1977 Sottin,g (:place or intorvj_m?r, poop1e present .P :L.m9r0ssions)

The interview was conducted in the livingroom of the ?Blanchard

home at 250 Hibiscus Drive. The session was interupted twic~

by phone calls and once by a break .for dessert. ?Throughout, only

the Blanchard'~ and myself were present. The intervi~ws would

have been even more productive if each h~d been spoken wi~h . s~parately. Intermittantly Mrs. Blanchard stop~ed_her hu~band

from offering personal.relfections on both a family matter and

9n certain people ~n the Jewish community. Despite this, in

general; they both re~ained rather candid throughout ?.

Background o:r intervie>:?ree

?

Mrs. Blanchard was born in Bridgeport Ct. in the 1920s and grew up in Hudson,tNew York, .a community which inci1uded 160 Jew~sh

families. Her immigrant parents considered themselves orthodox.

She considers ~erself a committed Jew, especially in a moral sense.

She has taught at Temple Brith Kodesh for the last 17 years ~nd is active in the Federation, their woman's committe~ and the UJA.

Dr. Blanchard was born in N.Y.C. in 1918 and was raised? in.Poukj,psee. As a young adult ?he: rebelled against hisparent's orthodoxy and

leaned toward reform Judiasm. He became an optomitrist in 1942 and? took over~ practice in?Rochester in 1945~ He too is extfemely? ? Intervie1>1 abstract active in the Jewish cornmu!1~ty in Rochester.

A most interesting area of the interviews centers around their

son Eric's becoming a tradi tion9_t.1 _ ___ qrthodox Jew. Peripherally, many of the other subjects raised plugged into this focal point.

They discuss tljeir reactions to his d~c~~fuon and hTM it effected

their lives, his life, and their relationship with him; ~n addtion,

their perceptions of the mo~al commi~tmerit of -Jews ve~sus the

ritualistic committment are? of. interest as are their impneseions

of the Reform community and the. ?changes wlb.i.ch have. been? taking

n"tJi.l.e eewdithroinr? iimtp.roTveh'eO'l. aaO1.Lsuo. t eevaiduecnac0elonkeeinn -'G6n.eercJ@e.wntiisonns cocmomncuenri:nc?;iyn. g

Intervie-:-r index ( corre sponcling to tape nu..mbers, sides ?of tape, . and

cassett recorder nu,_:ib$~."'s)

.

-

?

X Social history

. x . - D' eno_?i-?::::ra.n, n.ic I .. 1 reo1G>en?G L?2~

,...

-

~conor:J.2,C

? X Je-.;-rish cor-:ir:1u_11ity

-X co:.E~u:nity.- rel2. tions

XPolitical/civic

Zionism/I::-:racJ.

Int')rvio~-1 lo~,-

a) co -?Y>.-.3no::rlin?....,. to t'.'l.n"" r?""???orc1?'r no ..

1 -

-?

......

-. ?~

.... \,?.

: ""

cr-'ct";"ct tC.~ ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download