The Cornerstone: Recent Episodes
Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives
The Cornerstone is a podcast connecting Jewish historical sites in Western Pennsylvania to historic materials in the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives.
Each episode investigates one spot in the region. It might be a synagogue, a schoolhouse, a work of public art, a gravestone, or something as subtle as a painted-over mezuzah. The story of each spot is told through documents, photographs and oral histories, all of which can be studied in greater depth with interactive StoryMaps.
The Cornerstone is made possible through a grant from the SteelTree Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
A co-working space in Uptown started its life as an Elk’s Lodge. But for a decade it was the home to the hardworking boys of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association.
A domed church in the Hill District was once the hard-earned pride of Congregation Kether Torah, a small Jewish congregation hailing from the Volinia province of Russia.
The Blakey Program Center in the Hill District started its life as the Hebrew Institute, a pioneering effort to bring modern pedagogical ideas to traditional Jewish education.
A social service agency in Uptown was once the Merchant’s Savings & Trust Company, a leading financial institution for Jewish businesses and organizations in the Hill District.
A gravestone in the Workmen's Circle No. 45 cemetery tells the story of a beloved Jewish humanitarian in the Hill District in the early decades of the 20th century.