In 1921, Fort Worth’s Congregation Ahavath Sholom introduced the rite of Confirmation, the graduation from religious school that coincides with the Jewish holiday Shavuos when Moses received the Ten Commandments. This picture shows the twelve, 14-year-old girls in the Confirmation class wearing white dresses, holding flowers and certificates rolled up like scrolls. The students are seated in two rows and are identified as: Row 1: Lena Shosid (Cooles), Fannie Herman, unidentified, Hannah Byrens, Bess Lipshitz (Cohen), unidentified Row 2: Sarah Shosid (Bloomberg), unidentified, unidentified, Leah Goldstein (Gerson), unidentified, unidentified An article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram of June 3, 1921, named each confirmand and also listed Dorothy Cohen, Rose Weinstein, Bertha Mosier, Ida Mosier, Edna Lipshy, and Esther Ablon. Each confirmand addressed the congregation. They completed a course of study in Jewish history, religion and literature.

Photograph of the 1928 Ahavath Sholom confirmation class standing on the altar (called a bimah) of the synagogue located downtown in the 800 block of Taylor Street in Fort Worth, Texas. From left to right, the confirmands are: Rebecca Luskey, Cecile Bodzy, Martha Daiches, Mrs. Abraham Bengis (teacher), Rabbi Abraham Bengis, Esther Klimist, Sally Kruger, Sarah Garston. Behind the confirmands is a replica of the Ten Commandments which rests above the curtained ark, which houses the Torah scrolls. In front of the dais is a seven-branched menorah.

Bill for $125 in annual dues for the Ahavath Sholom Congregation, in Fort Worth, Texas. The dues statement is for congregation member, B. Max Mehl.

Photograph of the 1932 Ahavath Sholom confirmation class standing around the altar (called a bimah) of the synagogue located at 823 Taylor Street in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. The members of the photograph, from left to right, are: Top row: Sylvia Engler (Roberts), Jesonda Gilbert (Fox), Sadye May Carshon (Garsek), Bessie Resnick, Lillian Rose Rabinowitz (Rosenthal), Rebecca Laves, Pearl Paul, Gussie Kruger, Dorothy Dworkin (Glazer), Sarah Weisblatt (Kragen), Rhoda Kershner. Bottom row: Jennie Moses (Winkler)(teacher), Rabbi Philip Graubart.

Photograph of the 1940 Ahavath Sholom confirmation class standing around the altar of the synagogue located downtown on Taylor Street in Fort Worth, Texas. From left to right, the members of the photograph are: Front row: Bertha Haller, Gloria Sheinberg (Swann). Back row: Rabbi Philip Graubart, Margie Cohen (Levingston), Dorothy Bergman, Jennie Moses (Winkler)(teacher), Dorothy Cohen, Shirley Garston (Cohen), Annie Kaplan, Betty Daiches (Sher).

Photograph of the 1946 Ahavath Sholom confirmation class standing around the altar (called a bimah) of the synagogue located downtown in the 800 block of Taylor Street in Fort Worth, Texas. From left to right, the members of the photograph are: Front Row: Rabbi Charles Blumenthal. Middle Row: Bessie Rutlader, Roselle Cooles, Ruth Spigel, Mary Sankary, Ruth Hendelman, Marilyn Coughey, Margie Weisblatt, Pearl Sankary. Back Row: Marshall Hillman, Sammy Hoffman, Sherwin Rubin.

Photograph of the 1952 Ahavath Sholom confirmation class standing near the altar (called a bimah) at the synagogue at 1600 W. Myrtle Street, Fort Worth, Texas. There are six young men wearing black robes in the picture and four young women wearing white robes. From left to right, the confirmands pictured are: Front row: Patsy Ansel, Saradel Applebaum (Baker), Diane Solomon (Oberstein), Estaline Tuck (Gilbert). Back row: Burton Rakoover, Tommy Weitzman, Bernard "Bubba" Rubin, Rabbi Isadore Garsek, Jack Lichtman, Marty Bloomberg.

Photograph of the 1961 Ahavath Sholom confirmation class standing around the altar of the synagogue at 1600 W. Myrtle St., Fort Worth, Texas. The women are standing in the front and wearing light-colored robes; the men are standing in the back and wearing dark-colored robes. From left to right, the confirmands pictured are: Front row: Arlene Lois Sonkin, Leslie Faye Kreisberg, Karen Sue Imber, Andrea Bernstein (Deen), Marlene Annette Schwartz, Andrea Ruth Goldberg, Trudy Klimist, Diane Jane Mehl. Second row: Harold Zenick, Helen Susan Hillman, Gail S. Shandelson, Ellen Bari Brachman, Carol Klimist, Sally Ann Schumer, Karen Ann Lerner. Third row: Michael Raskin, Ronald Herzfeld, Lawrence J. Korenman, Edward H. Garsek, Gerald Zenick, Sanford Bogart, Charles Morton Coughey, Tommy Lee Stanley. Back row: Ronald D. Savitz, Herbert Weisblatt, Ben P. Herman, Cantor Phillip Kirshner, Rabbi Isadore Garsek, Ben D. Tobor, Sherwin Coplin, Richard J. Savitz.

Text of the presidential address given at the Texas Surgical Society meeting held in Fort Worth on October 16, 1932. It discusses the early history of surgery in Texas, including the development of the specialty, early surgical procedures, the first medical associations and organizations, and discussions of notable Texas surgeons.

Handwritten list of the thirty one members of the Ahavath Sholom Congregation in 1895 in Fort Worth, Texas. The front of the document lists the members of the congregation, and the back of the document lists the officers. When the list was created, Ahavath Sholom was the only synagogue in Fort Worth.

Photograph of the Ahavath Sholom Congregation Sunday School students. They are standing on the front steps outside the synagogue in the 800 block of Taylor Street in Fort Worth, Texas. From left to right, top to bottom, the students in the photograph are: Row 1: Betty Carshon, Rachel Kruger, Dora Laves, Lena Rovinsky, Udys Weinstein, Lily Dworkin, Joe Ray Schwartzberg. Row 2: Charlie Anton, Milton Mehl, Arthur Rosenbaum, Charlotte Ray, Lily Levine, Molly Finger, Freda Hurwitz, Rae Carshon, Mary Bliss, Sylvia Shosid. Row 3: Alex Victor, William Hurwitz, Irving Kershman, Julius Scolnic, Mary Resnick, Sophia Blum, Mary Herman, Ida Berg, Beatrice Frankrich, Reva Nebrat, Gertrude Ellis, Raymond Dan. Row 4: Sidney Deutch, David Tuck, Rubin Anton, Norma Resnick, Lily Alpert, Rose Chicotsky, Hannah Chicotsky, Anna Gordon, Martha Daiches. Row 5: Nathan Frankel, Abe Goldstein, Abe Shosid, Paul Herman, Johanna Winer, Sadie Rovinsky, Sarah Garston, Irving Rosenthal. Row 6: Sidney Marks, Minnie Snofsky, Esther Klimist, Rebecca Lutsky, David Bernstein, Max Perlman, Sarah Kruger, Rosalie Bliss. Row 7: Morris Schwartz, Grace Dworkin, Lola Bozokofsky, Hyman Jacobson, Cecil Bozokofsky, Helen Kassover, Sonia Gulila, Sam Weisblatt, Florence Kassover, Patricia Jacobson.

Photograph of the Ahavath Sholom Congregation's third synagogue, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and Myrtle Street in Fort Worth, Texas. The $400,000 building, designed by architect Charles O. Chromaster and built by Rambo Construction Co., was completed in the Fall of 1952.The congregation remained at that location until December 1980.

Photograph of the Ahavath Sholom Congregation's second synagogue, located in the 800 block Taylor Street, Fort Worth, Texas. The synagogue, constructed in 1906 at a cost of $15,000, was a two-story brick building with stained-glass windows, a sanctuary with a balcony for women, and basement classrooms. The Hebrew phrase above the door translates to: "1906 Ahavath Sholom." The congregation worshiped in this synagogue from 1906 to 1951. The building was torn down to create a parking lot.

Congregation Ahavath Sholom's fourth synagogue, designed by architect Martin Growald, constructed by contractor Perry McCord and completed in December 1980. The $3.5 million synagogue was located on 12 acres at the corner of Hulen Street and Briarhaven Road. The photograph is taken at night time, and there are lights shining on the building's white stone facade. The words "Congregation Ahavath Sholom" and the congregation's logo are on the exterior of the building.

Photograph of the Ahavath Sholom Congregation's fourth synagogue under construction. In the image, only the frame of the synagogue has gone up and there is a crane parked to the right of the building. Construction on the synagogue began in 1979 at the corner of Hulen Street and Briarhaven Road, in Fort Worth, Texas.

Photograph, taken in 2000, of the "bimah" or altar in the main sanctuary at Beth-El Congregation, 207 W. Broadway, Fort Worth. The building was constructed in 1920, rebuilt in 1948 after a fire gutted the interior, and remodeled in 1981. The 1948 rebuilding and redesign were by the Hungarian-American interior designer Erno Fabry. His design ideas include the stone wall behind the altar, built with reddish Colorado travertine, the ark (which contained the Torahs) framed with gray-veined cremo-Italian marble, as well as the gate with its Art Deco design, and the copper-colored menorahs flanking the ark. In 1981, architect-designer John Mike Cohen of St. Louis oversaw a major remodeling of the sanctuary with peach carpet, chairs, and fiberglass lights resembling a flock of dove.

Photograph of husband and wife rural school teachers standing in front of a school building. Their 44 students are lined up in between them. There are partial views of five windows. Class names are as follows. First row (bottom front): Junior Lasater, Ernest Allmon, unidentified first name Wilson, unidentified first name Whitaker, unidentified first name Whitaker, Billie Lasater. Second row (first middle): Woodrow Wilson, Leonard Wilson, J.C. Shirley, Woody Singleton, Noble Lee Rust, J.C. Thompson, unidentified first name Rust, Harold Easley, Ray Rust, J.G. Harris. Third row (second middle): Margarete Harris, unidentified, Edith Hall, Onedia Hall, Pauline Graham, unidentified first name Brown, Sarah Jane Waldrop, Lois Browder, Virginia Reynolds, Dorothy Bledsoe, unidentified first name Harris, Alice Brown. Fourth row (top): Mr. Clark, Mattie Bonner, Bill Waldrop, Marie Haney, Bill Robinson, Agnes Lasater, Louise Butler, Louise Lasater, Stella Brown, Georgia Rust. Fifth row (top back): Earl Singleton, J.W. Hearn, Olin Wilson, George Brown, Ed Davis, Mrs. Clark, Tennie Thompson.

Photograph of a building surrounded by shrubbery. The building was built in 1916 and was the Avondale School when built. At the time of the photograph the building had become the private home of Hardy Tadlock and his family.

Photograph of an Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA) Banquet in the ballroom of Fort Worth's Hebrew Institute in the 800 block Taylor Street. The banquet room contains a stage and a piano in the background of the photograph. Members are seated at long tables. From left to right, the members of the photograph are: Cooks (back left, standing): Joe Zenick, Manny Solomon, P.D. Mallin, Sidney Cohen, "Uncle" Lou Cohen. Head Banquet Table (along the stage in the back, to the right of the cooks): Mary Frances Ginsberg, Robert Lidell, Ann Lidell, Rabbi Isadore Garsek, Sadye Mae Garsek, Rabbi Prero, R.D. Moses, Idelle Engelberg, Reuben Daiches, Mrs. Reuben Daiches, Mickey Goldman, Charlotte Max Goldman, unidentified, Adelene Zeff. Members seated at the foreground tables are listed from bottom right to back left. Table 1, row 1: Hy Glickman, Rose Glickman, Ada Robinson, M.Y. Robinson, Mr. Schwartz, Mrs. Schwartz, Mary Sankary, Ann Cohen, Ben Cohen, Selma Tiras, Miss Sankary, unidentified woman, Max Gilbert. Table 1, row 2: Goldie Tills, Joe Tills, Mrs. Kruger, Mr. Kruger, Herb Berkowitz, Adele Natkin, Sue Louis, Gloria Holtzman, Herbert Cooles, Mr. Gilbert, Charlie Levinson, Sam Anton, Bess Levinson, Sarah Anton. Table 2, row 1: Joe Siegel, Leon Tiras, Joe …

Photograph of the teenagers at a 1956 B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO) district convention n Montgomery, Alabama. The conclave was at Huntingdon College. The male wing of the organization is called Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA), and the female wing is called B'nai B'rith Girls (BBG). Text at the bottom of the photograph says, "BBYO District 7 Convention, Huntington College June 5-10, 1956 Montgomery, Ala."

Photographic postcard of Harry Mildren Barkley Sr. and Walter Cleveland "Dutch" Dobbs standing in front of a painted railroad car backdrop. Mr. Barkley is standing on the left, and Mr. Dobbs is standing on the right.

Photograph of Beth-El's Building Committee. Four of the committee members are seated around a wooden table, the other four members are standing behind them. Handwritten notes on the back of the photograph say "Briarhaven Planning Committee" "from Len S. Construction book" and list the persons in the photo from left to right. Front row: Lynny Sankary, [Committee Chairman] Irwin Krauss, Judith Cohen, Billy Rosenthal Back row: Ken Baum, Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger, Dr. Ira Hollander, Shelden Anisman.

Photograph of Beth-El's Building Committee. The committee members are standing around a wooden table looking at the building plans. Handwritten notes on the back of the photograph say "Briarhaven Planning Committee" "from Len S. Construction book" and list the persons in the photo from left to right. Clockwise from left: David Stanford (architect), [Committee Chairman] Irwin Krauss, Ken Baum, Lynny Sankary, Sheldon Anisman, Jane Manning & Bob Wagnon (designers), Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger, Judith Cohen.

Photograph of Temple Beth-El, the first house of worship for Beth-El, Fort Worth's Reform Jewish congregation. It was a two-story, neo-classical synagogue constructed of wood and stucco. Above the columned entrance was a wooden Star of David, beneath which were the Hebrew words "Y'he Or," meaning "Let There Be Light." Handwritten notes on the back of the photograph say, "Beth-El Congregation's 1st synagogue; built 1908 @ 5th & Taylor Streets. Photo from The Jewish Monitor, 1915. Greek Revival Style, The Hebrew Lettering says: 'Let there be light.'"