Oral history interview with Abe Dumas, 1996.

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Dumas, Abe, 1913-1998,. Oral history interview with Abe Dumas, 1996.

Oral history interview with Abe Dumas, 1996.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48844277

The interview records Dumas's recollections of growing up in Bonneau and Charleston, South Carolina, with details of the arrival of the Read (his mother's) and Dumas families in South Carolina in 1896 and 1902 respectively. Originally from Lithuania, Dumas's father Mendel emigrated from Russia with his wife, Esther, to join her brother Frank Read in Berkeley County where Dumas worked as a merchant and mostly as a cotton planter and speculator. The family moved to Charleston where Dumas and his twin brother Joe went to school, worked in a family business, and participated in social activities, encountering only "subtle" antisemitism. Discrimination between Reform and Orthodox communities is noted, and there are mentions of race segregation as well. Dumas notes his family's role as founders of Synagogue Emanu El, the family's dedication to charity, and the growth of the Dumas clothing store, specializing in sporting and hunting clothes and uniforms. Dumas also describes social life and big band music on Folly Beach and the Isle of Palms, South Carolina; his wife, Dottie Shimel; Jewish life on Sullivans Island; interaction of gentiles and Jews in Charleston; and his and his siblings' interactions with George Gershwin on Folly Beach when Gershwin was composing the score for the opera Porgy and Bess.

Sound recording : 1 south cassette.Transcript : 23 p. ; 28 cm.

College of Charleston, Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library