Interview with Anne Edelstein Shapira, July 25, 2016

Interview Summary

Anne Edelstein Shapira was born in Ottawa, Canada in 1914 and her parents were immigrants from Manchester, England. She visited the United States in 1934 and 1936 to see her Aunt Rachel in Louisville. Rachel was married to the eldest Shapira brother and Anne would stay with the Shapira family while she was in Louisville. On Anne's second visit, she was offered a job at Jewish Hospital as a nutritionist. While she worked there, she lived in a house next to Jewish Hospital with several other women. She was in charge of planning meals for all the private patients and buying ingredients for their meals each morning. She worked closely with the head nurse at Jewish Hospital. The head nurse was also one of the women Anne shared the house with. Anne was treated fairly and with respect during her time at the hospital. Anne worked at Jewish Hospital for about two years, and then she married David Shapira in 1938. She met David while she was visiting her aunt and staying with the Shapira family. David Shapira managed two clothing stores in Harrodsburg, Kentucky and eventually opened the Heaven Hill Distillery with his four brothers. The bank came to the five brothers to ask if they would be interested in opening the distillery with another man. The brothers, the man, and the bank all put in money in order to reopen the distillery and the Heaven Hill Distillery was born. The Heaven Hill Distillery specialized in the manufacturing of bourbon. Anne was not very involved in either of David's businesses. She mainly planned parties for the distillery and occasionally worked at the stores on the weekends. She was more active in the community and Jewish organizations. Shapira planned linen showers for Hadassah and put on a seder to teach people how it was done. She was also very active in various fundraising efforts, including raising money for the National Jewish Federation.

Interview Keyword

Jewish Hospital African Americans--Employment. African Americans--Social conditions. Race relations--Kentucky Citizenship. Immigrants Anti-Semitism Antisemitism Discrimination. Dietitians. Hospitals--Employees

Interview LC Subject

Louisville (Ky.) Jewish families. Bardstown (Ky.) Danville (Ky.) Harrodsburg (Ky.) Entrepreneurship Jewish businesspeople Small business--Kentucky Small business--Ownership Jews--Identity. Religion Judaism. Worship (Judaism) Bourbon whiskey Distilleries--Kentucky Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. Whiskey industry--Kentucky Jewish leadership--Kentucky Jewish women--Kentucky

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Interview Usage

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