Access
and Provenance
A Finding Aid to the
Robert and Jessie Bloom Papers
Manuscript
Collection No. 93
1897-1980. 5.2 Linear
ft.
| Access
and Provenance
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A Finding Aid to theRobert and Jessie Bloom PapersManuscript
Collection No. 93
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ACCESS AND PROVENANCEThe Robert and Jessie Bloom Papers were donated to the American Jewish Archives by Mrs. Jessie Bloom in May, 1979. Mrs. Bloom presented additional supplements to her and her husband's papers throughout 1979 and 1980. In 1980, Mrs. Deborah Kaplan presented the final supplement to her parents' papers to the Archives.
Mrs. Bloom assigned the property rights to the American Jewish Archives. All literary rights to material authored by Robert and Jessie Bloom are held by the Bloom heirs. Literary rights to materials authored by others are held by the individual author or his/her heirs. Questions concerning rights should be addressed to the Director of the American Jewish Archives.
The Papers are available to all users in the reading room of the American Jewish Archives.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Robert L.(1878-1974) and Jessie S. (1887-1980) Bloom were married for over sixty years. For most of those years, they lived and worked together in Alaska as twentieth century pioneers on the final frontier of the United States.top
Robert L. Bloom was born in Siaulie, Lithuania on October 15, 1878. At the age of eight his family moved to Dublin, Ireland and in 1897, he came to Alaska in search of gold. Robert had little success as a prospector, so he moved to Seattle, Washington to earn enough money to be able to return to Alaska. In 1904 he did return and settled in Fairbanks. He used the supplies he had brought with him from Seattle to open a hardware and general merchandise store.
Jessie S. Bloom was born in Dublin, Ireland to Leon and Olga (Kopelansky) Spiro on December 17, 1887. She spent her childhood in Dublin but left there when she was 21 to go to London, England to work as a secretary. While in London Jessie became involved in the growing women's suffrage movement, joining the Women's Freedom League in 1909, and working for passage of a suffrage law by selling pro-suffrage newspapers and attending rallies.
Robert and Jessie met in 1910, in Dublin, when both, coincidently, were vacationing there. In 1912, Robert and Jessie, who were also second cousins, were married in London. Shortly afterward they moved to Alaska.
The transition from England to Alaska was not unpleasant for Jessie and they soon began their pioneer life together, working on the development and settling of Alaska.
Robert was involved in many activities. He was a charter member of Igloo No. 4, Pioneers of Alaska, a fraternal organization. He was a member of an advisory group that helped establish an Air Force base in Alaska and was a founder of what was later to become the University of Alaska, serving a member of the Board of Trustees of the U.A.'s forerunner, the Alaska Agriculture College and School of Mines from 1921 to 1925.
Jessie, too, became involved in a number of activities. Two of her major accomplishments were the establishment in 1918 of the first kindergarten in the city of Fairbanks and, the formation in 1926 of the first Girl Scout Troup in Alaska. Today, the Girl Scout training center in Fairbanks is named in her honor.
Together, the Blooms were co-founders of the Fairbanks Airplane Company and in 1925 Jessie became one of the first women in Alaska ever to ride in an airplane. Robert and Jessie were also very active in conservation efforts in Alaska, supporting efforts to set aside lands for wilderness preserves and opposing efforts such as the Alaskan oil pipeline, which, they felt, posed a serious threat to Alaska's natural environment. Finally, the Blooms were very active in establishing and promoting the Jewish community in Alaska. Robert served as chairman of Alaska's Jewish Welfare Board and together, they served as unofficial chaplains for Jewish servicemen stationed in Alaska during World War II.
The Blooms also raised a family in Alaska. They had four daughters: Meta Buttnick, Dr. Olga Bloom Backer, Dr. Deborah Kaplan and Ruth Ibbetson.
Robert and Jessie moved to Seattle to retire. Robert died there in April 1974 at the age of 95. Jessie remained in Seattle, in continual close contact with the friends, activities, and causes she had left behind in Alaska, until her death in December, 1980 at the age of 92.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Robert and Jessie Bloom Papers(1897-1980)describe the lives of Robert and Jessie Bloom, pioneers in the settling and development of Alaska. The collection consists primarily of correspondence, but also includes diaries, reminiscences, clippings and personal items. The bulk of the materials span the years 1960-1980. The Papers are divided into two series:The CORRESPONDENCE series is divided into two sub-series: Sub-Series 1. General and Sub-Series 2. Family. Sub-Series 1 . General consists of eight Hollinger boxes of correspondence and some newsletters and clippings. The correspondence in this series is arranged alphabetically by the name of the person or organization. Letters are arranged chronologically within each folder. Of particular interest in this sub-series is the correspondence between Jessie Bloom, Philip S. Bernstein, and Jacob R. Marcus. In these letters she recounts many of her and her husband's experiences as pioneers in Alaska.A. CORRESPONDENCE B. PERSONAL Sub-Series 2. Family consists of one and one-half Hollinger boxes of correspondence with family members. These letters are arranged alphabetically by correspondent and chronologically within each folder.
Note: Access to some of the more important subjects and individuals in this collection may be made through the Box and Folder List and the Subject Tracings at the end of the inventory.
The PERSONAL series (1897-1979) consists of three and one half Hollinger boxes of personal items, diaries, financial papers, notes and photographs. Many of the photographs are dated and labelled and portray personal events and acquaintances of Robert and Jessie Bloom. The material in this series is arranged alphabetically.
BOX AND FOLDER LIST
BOX FOLDER CONTENTS SERIES A: CORRESPONDNECE Sub-Series 1. GENERAL 1 1 A, General 2 Abrams, Emmie 1940-1946; 1967-1979 3 Adams, Brock 1966-1976, n.d. 4 Alaska [University of] 1946; 1961-1969 5 Alaska [University of] 1970-1973 6 Alaska [University of] 1974-1979, n.d. 7 Alaskan-Jewish Chronicle 1963-1968, n.d. 8 American Israel Public Affairs Committee 1968-1978 9 American Jewish Archives, 1962-1975 10 Aminsky, Albert and Laura 1944-1952 11 August, Michael 1953-1980 12 Avnet, Barbara 1967-1977, n.d. 13 Avnet, Libby 1970-1979, n.d. 2 1 B, General 2 Benditt, Marcella 1965; 1973-1977, n.d. 3 Bernstein, Philip S. 1949-1963 4 Bernstein, Philip S. 1964-1969 5 Bernstein, Philip S. 1970-1973 6 Bernstein, Philip S. 1974-1976 7 Bernstein, Philip S. 1977-1980, n.d. 8 Blakeney, Lily 1937-1957 9 Blakeney, Lily 1960-1980, n.d. 10 Bloom, Kathryn 1976-1977, n.d. 11 Bloomfield, Bernice 1970-1975 12 Bloomfield, Bernice 1976-1980 13 Bonker, Don 1977-1978 3 1 C, General 2 Carter, Bill 1960, n.d. 3 Carter, Jimmy 1977-1979, n.d. 4 CBS, Inc. ["Invitation to Learning"] 1963-1971, n.d. 5 Charney, Charles and Gertrude 1933- 1979, n.d. 6 Clarke, Irving 1968-1969 7 Cohen, Samuel I. 1984 8 Commentary 1950-1977, n.d. 9 Cunningham, John E. 1977-1978 10 D, General 11 Delaney, Caroline 1974-1980 12 Dover, Barbara (Cohn) 1977-1979, n.d. 13 E-F, General 14 Egan, William A. 1963-1974 15 Ervin, Sam J. 1972-1973 16 Eschwege, Henry 1945-1979 17 Evans, Daniel J. 1969-1970 18 Farthest North Girl Scout Council 1965; 1974-1979, n.d. 19-20 Farthest North Girl Scout Council [Newsletter] 1976-1979, n.d. 4 1 Fenton, Celia and Jack 1953; 1964- 1975, n.d. 2 Fox, Beatrice 1943-1944 3 Fraser, Helen A. 1972-1978 4 Fulbright, J. William 1966-1971, n.d. 5 G, General 6 Gravel, Mike 1969-1978 7 Gruening, Ernest 1965-1969 8 H, General 9 Haffner, Rae 1977-1979, n.d. 10 Hamer, Joseph 1944-1945 11 Harman, Avraham and Zena 1960; 1975-1980, n.d. 12 Hickle, Walter J. 1967-1972 13 Hotykay, Charles and Edith 1974-1978 14 Houghton, Mifflin Company 1952-1953 15 Hyman, Louis 1933-1971 16 I-K, General 17 Interior Department 1919-1978 18 Jackson, Henry M. 1967-1970 19 Jackson, Henry M. 1971-1979, n.d. 20 Jerusalem Mental Health Center - Esrath Nashim 1969-1979, n.d. 21 Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society 1933-1957 22 The Jewish Transcript 1974-1979 5 l L, General 2 League of Women Voters 1954;1969-1979 3 Lebeson, Anita 1971-1977, n.d. 4 Levi, Brenda M. 1940-1945; 1971-1980,n.d. 5 Lowell, Ted and Babe 1960-1973 6 Lowell, Ted and Babe 1974-1976 7 Lowell, Ted and Babe 1977-1979,n.d. 8 M, General 9 Magnuson, Warren G. 1957-1978 10 Marcus, Jacob R. 1975-1976 11 Marcus, Jacob R. 1977-1978 12 Marcus, Jacob R. 1979-1980, n.d. 6 1 McCall's 1965-1974 2 McGovern, George 1971-1973, n.d. 3 Miller, Sarah 1965-1980 4 Moore, Jim 1969-1972 5 N-O, General 6 National Jewish Welfare Board, 1944-1967 7 Nordale, Katherine 1968-1975 8 Nordale, Katherine 1976-1977 9 Nordale, Katherine 1978-1979, n.d. 10 Offman, Shelley 1971-1979, n.d. 11 P, General 12 Percy, Charles H. 1969-1970, n.d. 13 Pollock, Howard W. 1969-1970, n.d. 14 Pratt, Dorothy 1970-1978, n.d. 7 1 R, General 2 Rabinowitz, Jay and Anne 1965-1980 3 Richman, Jessica 1971-1980 4 Rogge, Pat 1973-1979 5 Rose, Eugene and Vivian 1971-1977,n.d. 6 Rubin, Bill 1967-1968 7 Rubin, Cyrus and Grace 1971-1977, n.d. 8 Sa-Se, General 9 Sandrow, Edward T. 1963-1971 10 Schechter, Meta J. 1970-1978, n.d. 11 Schein, Ruth and Samuel 1974-1977 12 Schlentner, Carol 1976-1979, n.d. 13 Seattle City Council 1963-1969 14 Seattle Times 1961-1978 15 Sh-Sw, General 16 Silk, Leonard 1944-1979, n.d. 17 Simon, Ida 1944-1945, n.d. 18 Simon, Robert A. 1945-1954, n.d. 19 Smith, Norma 1973-1977, n.d. 8 1 Stevens, Ted 1969-1973 2 Stevens, Ted 1974-1979, n.d. 3 Stewart, Florence 1972-1980 4 T-Z, General 5 Time Magazine 1967-1978, n.d. 6 Trevor, Bob 1972-1976 7 Udall, Morris K. 1973-1978, n.d. 8 United Jewish Appeal 1944-1976 9 United Nations Association 1969-1974,n.d. 10 Waage, Peg 1973-1979, n.d. 11 Weinberger, Morris and Martha 1944-1945,n.d. 12 Weizmann Institute of Science 1974; 1978 13 Wilson, Rosalind 1952, n.d. 14 Winfree, Betty 1972-1980 15 Yiddish Letters 16-19 Unidentified 1933-1980, n.d. Sub-Series 2. Family 9 1 Backer, Olga B [Daughter] 1940-1980 2 Bloom, Percy [Nephew] 1945; 1694-1980, n.d. 3 Bloom, Robert 1933; 1940-1941; 1951 4 Bloom, Robert 1960-1966, n.d. 5 Bloom, Solomon [Brother of Robert Bloom] 1936-1967 6 Buttnick, Meta [Daughter] 1939; 1980, n.d. 7 Burrnick, Morris A. [Grandson] 1967-1977,n.d. 8 Ibbetson, Peter [Grandson] 1948;1957-1975,n.d. 9 Ibbetson, Ruth [Daughter] 1930-1949 10 Ibbetson, Ruth [Daughter] 1956-1965 11 Ibbetson, Ruth [Daughter] 1966-1974, n.d. 10 1 Kaplan, David [Grandson] 1971-1977, n.d. 2 Kaplan, Deborah [Daughter] 1933-1968 3 Kaplan, Deborah [Daughter] 1971-1977 4 Kaplan, Deborah [Daughter] 1978-1980, n.d. 5 Kaplan, Israel [Son-in-law] 1940-1944; 1976-1979, n.d. 6 Kaplan, Michael [Grandson] 1976-1978 7 Paul, David [Son-in-law] 1974-1976, n.d. 8 Paul, Rachel [Granddaughter] 1949; 1960-1979 n.d. 9 Psaty, Gwen [Granddaughter] 1970-1976, n.d. 10 Richardson, Bay [Niece] 1973-1797 11 Schein, Isabel B. [Granddaughter] 1968-1970, n.d. 12 Spiro, Leon [Father of Jessie Bloom] 1897 13 Family Miscellaneous 1912; 1966-1979, n.d. SERIES B. PERSONAL 14 Adelaide Outdoor Club - Minute Book 1908-1909, n.d. 15 Biographical Material [Robert Bloom] 1952- 1974, n.d. 16 Clippings 11 1 Diary [Jessie Bloom] 1964-1966 2 Diary [Jessie Bloom] 1973 3 Diary [Jessie Bloom] 1973-1975 4-5 Documents 1905-1972 6 Estate [Robert Bloom] 1972-1976, n.d. 7 Financial Papers 1909-1920 8 Financial Papers 1949-1979, n.d. 9 Financial Papers [Mt. McKinley Mutual Savings Bank] 1972-1974, n.d. 10 Last Will and Testament [Robert Bloom] 1970 11 Letters of Condolence (written at the time of the death of Robert Bloom) [A-W, unident.] 1974 12 1 Notebook [Jessie Bloom] n.d. 2 Notes [Jessie Bloom] 1937-1977, n.d. 3 Passports 1928-1952 4-5 Photographs 1902-1979; n.d. 6-8 Reminiscences [Jessie Bloom] 1936; 1952; 1965-1972, n.d. 13 1 Reminiscences [Jessie Bloom] n.d. 2-3 Reminiscences [Jessie Blom - Dublin, Ireland]n.d. 4 Reminiscences [Jessie Bloom - "Watching Alaska Grow"] n.d. 5 Personal Miscellaneous 1897-1978, n.d. MiscellaneousSUBJECT TRACINGS
Note: The following list of subjects is a selective index to many of the topics and individuals in the ROBERT AND JESSIE BLOOM PAPERS. It is selective in that it only attempts to draw attention to the more significant items in the collection. It does not attempt to list every subject or individual nor does it try to indicate all places that a listed subject or individual appears in the collection. When used in conjunction with the Box and Folder List, the Subject Tracings should help the researcher locate topics. References are to boxes and folders: e.g., 3/11 means Box 3, Folder 11.
Alaska 1/6; 9/3; 10/16; 11/4; 12/4 American Jewish Archives 1/6,9; 2/6; 5/12 Baker, Howard H., Jr. 2/1 Bartlett, E. L. 2/1 Bentsen, Lloyd 2/1 B'nai B'rith 2/1 Carter, Jimmy 3/3; 9/2 Central Conference of American Rabbis 3/1 Chaplaincy 1/1; 4/10; 6/6 Chyet, Stanley F. 1/9 Conservation 2/13; 3/9; 4/12, 17; 6/13; 8/1,2,7 Equal Rights Amendment 5/9 Girl Scouts of America 3/18; 4/5 Hebrew University 4/8, 11 Kennedy, Edward M. 4/16 Marcus, Jacob R. 1/9; 2/6; 5/10 Morgenthau, Henry, Jr. 8/8 Nixon, Richard M. 3/15; 5/9; 6/5 Saudi Arabia 2/13; 4/19 United Nations 8/9 Vietnam 4/4,6,7,16,18; 5/9; 6/12; 8/1 Weizmann, Chaim 8/12 Young Women's Christian Association 8/4 Zionism 7/8; 8/4,8,9
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