MS 202 Hymen Saye Collection 1922-1989

1992-1989

MS 202

The Jewish Museum of Maryland

Accession and Provenance

The Hymen Saye collection was donated to the Jewish Museum of Maryland by Hymen Saye as accession 1991.7.  The collection was processed by Rebecca Louderback in March 2012.

Access to the collection is unrestricted and is available to researchers at the Jewish Museum of Maryland.  Researchers must obtain the written permission of the Jewish Museum of Maryland before publishing quotations from materials in the collection.  Papers may be copied in accordance with the library’s usual procedures.

Hymen Saye teaching at Talmud Torah, 1928. 1991.7.13.

Biographical Sketch

Hymen Saye was born in Baltimore in 1907.  His father Louis Saye, arrived in Baltimore from Latvia, in 1904.  Once he had a job as a tailor and a place to live, Louis sent for his wife and two daughters.  Growing up in a Yiddish only household, Hymen and his sisters spoke English only to each other and outside the home.  Louis Saye would eventually learn English, however Hymen’s mother never made the attempt.

Saye attended public schools # 73 on Aisquith and Orleans and school # 40.  Saye’s father made sure he attended Talmud Torah (later Talmudical Academy) in the evenings,.  Hymen participated in a junior congregation where he was the chazzan on shabbos.  At 14 or 15 he was given a class to teach at Talmud Torah on the condition that he would attend Baltimore Hebrew College (later Baltimore Hebrew University).  By age twenty four he was teaching forty hours a week.

Baltimore Hebrew College faculty. Featured include: Hymen Saye (6th from left), Harry Teback (5th from left), Bill (William) Furie (8th from left), and Leon Rivkin (far right). n.d. 1991.7.17.

While still learning at Baltimore Hebrew College, Hymen attended City College and graduated in 1926. He stayed at City College for five years because he changed his courses from commercial to academic.  He received a teaching degree from Baltimore Hebrew College, which he attended in the evenings.  During the day he attended classes at Johns Hopkins.  In 1931, he became the principle of Chizuk Amuno Congregational School and received his M.A. from Johns Hopkins University.  Hymen retired from Chizuk Amuno in 1971.

Laura S. Saye. 1991.7.36

In 1931 Hymen married Laura Seidman, whom he had met at a picnic when he was about 14 or 15.  She was also interested in education and became a public school teacher after getting her degree at Towson Teacher College(now Towson University).  Early on Laura taught in East Baltimore, but because of her superior performance she was transferred to Mount Washington. She was the first Jewish teacher on the Mt.Washington facility. Laura shared similar interests with her husband, travel, Jewish ceremonial objects, Jewish art, languages, and pro-Israel activities.  Hymen Saye died in 1993.

Sources:

Saye, Hymen. Interviewed by Gertrude Nitzberg , 10 & 16 March 1983.  OH 183, Jewish Museum of Maryland, Baltimore MD.

“Chizuck Amuno School Director Retiring,” The Baltimore Sun, June 28, 1971, B6.

Hymen Saye teaching an Introduction to Hebrew at the College of Jewish Studies, November 1947. 1991.7.30.

Scope and Content

The Hymen Saye Collection contains materials related to his personal life and his education.  This collection contains letters, invitations, programs, a bulletin, a yearbook, a manuscript translation, testimonials, speeches, a membership card and a loan contract. This collection is divided into two series: Series I. Personal Papers, 1922-1989 and Series II, Professional Education, 1922-1985. 

Series I. Personal Papers, 1922-1989 includes letters to and from Hymen and Laura Saye, as well as correspondence from various familial relations and friends.  The series is organized chronologically.

Series II. Professional Education, 1922-1985 consists of materials relating to Hymen’s job as a Jewish educator and professional interests.  The materials have been organized alphabetically by folder.

Hymen Saye at the Institute of Jewish Studies for Adults. He is pointing a bell at “Hebrew Literature,” the class he taught. 1958. 1991.7.29.