At the June 26 book launch: (l to r) Barbara Gordon, JHSGH
immediate past president; Estelle Kafer, executive director; Susan Juster Viner, researcher and project chair; Joan Walden, editor; Louise Kaufman, JHSGH president

WEST HARTFORD – In an evening filled with reminiscences and nostalgia, more than 250 people gathered at The Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford on Wednesday, June 26, to celebrate the launch of a new book published by the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford (JHSGH). Revisiting Our Neighborhoods: Stories from Hartford’s Past is the Society’s second anthology containing stories and poems about growing up in Hartford during the first several decades of the twentieth century. “These recollections capture a bygone era. Residents in the South End, Parkville, the West End, and the North End all shared a sense of community within their individual neighborhoods,” said Estelle Kafer, JHSGH executive director.  “Many people recalled playing games in the street, shopping at the corner store, going to the local park, and taking a bus to downtown.”

Edited by Joan Walden of West Hartford, and researched and coordinated by Susan Viner of Windsor, the new publication includes 141 vignettes about school, sports, friendship, family businesses, life-cycle events, joys, and tragedies, highlighted by vintage photographs from the Society’s archives.

“The book’s contributors recalled a time before shopping malls, carpools, and the Internet. Life wasn’t necessarily easy, and few people were well-to-do, but they were rich with shared experiences and what became lifelong bonds,” Walden said.

“Revisiting Our Neighborhoods” is available for purchase from the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford, 333 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford, CT (www.jhsgh.org).