Born on November 22, 1920 in Chicago, Sam Camhi grew up in Chicago and later New York City during his teenage years. As a young adult during the Depression, Camhi apprenticed in the textile trade. In 1942 Sam Camhi was drafted into the U.S. Army as a Private and served over seas in an administrative role following the end of the war. When he was discharged from his military position in 1946, he was serving as a First Lieutenant in the Air Force. Then in 1948 Camhi moved to San Francisco, where he still resides today, to find a job to make ends meet. A few years after making San Francisco his new home, Camhi was invited to join the Concordia-Argonaut Club, a primarily Ashkenazi Jewish institution dating back to the 1850s, and later he joined the Club's Board. As a member for some 40 years, Camhi has written numerous articles for their monthly publication "The Concordian."
The parents of Sam Camhi immigrated to the United States from Turkey in 1906. Ladino was the principal language spoken at home and while in Chicago the Camhis were part of a small Spanish-Judeo community. Growing up in a Sephardic family and community, Sam Camhi developed an interest and devotion to the study of Mediterraneon and history and Sephardim. He also developed a particular love for music from his father's mandolin playing in Camhi's youth. Sam Camhi was married for 37 years and later in life befriended a woman of Sephardic heritage from Aden, whose Jewish community is considered by some to be the oldest surviving community of Judaism. Many of these details of Camhi's personal life appear in his research and records found throughout this collection.
From the guide to the The Papers of Sam Camhi, 1930-2008, bulk 1960-2008, (American Sephardi Federation)
