Benjamin M. Roe papers

Collection

Identifier: MS 0139

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Benjamin M. Roe papers (1905-1974) consist of the personal and professional papers of Roe, an immigrant from Russia and Salt Lake City businessman and philanthropist. A limited amount of personal material is in the Benjamin M. Roe collection. Included in this portion are travel itineraries and a brief travel diary from a European trip. Travel memorabilia, including post cards and travel guides, have been filed with the travel diary. Other personal materials such as certificates and gift cards are also included. A file of newspaper clippings concerning Benjamin Roe contains little biographical information but gives a representative view of his community involvement. Newsclippings and other items dealing with Benjamin M. Roe's son Michael and the senior Roe's clothing store, Lord's, are filed with the personal material.

Evidence of Roe's philanthropic activities in the community and the nation is contained in five boxes of correspondence with related materials concerning his monetary and personal contributions. These materials have been alphabetically arranged by organization. There is some correspondence with individual author headings interfiled with the organizations because they were in some way related to Roe's contributions or community activities.

The B'nai Israel Temple records comprise an important part of the collection and a significant addition to Utah Jewish records. There are minutes of monthly meetings from 1926 to 1957, although the file is incomplete; correspondence concerned with temple business; membership lists; and financial reports. The B'nai Israel Cemetery Association account books date from 1905 to 1943 and correspondence and business records to 1957. The Sisterhood monthly minutes are from 1911 to 1944. Other financial records to 1966 are included.

Research material by Leon L. Watters for his book Pioneer Jews of Utah was turned over to Roe to assist in the writing of a history of the Jews in Utah and Idaho. These research materials include biographical sketches of early Utah Jews, notes on the history of the Jews in various occupations, and situations in pioneer Utah and Idaho. The five drafts and revisions of Watters's book are part of this section. In 1966, Juanita Brooks was commissioned by members of the Jewish community, primarily Myrtle Friedman, to write a history of the Utah and Idaho Jews which resulted in the publication in 1973 of the History of the Jews in Utah and Idaho. Correspondence concerning the controversy which developed concerning this volume and research materials for the book are filed together.

The subject file contains materials, arranged alphabetically, about Jewish activities in the state and nation including publications and newsclippings. Also in the box are pamphlets about ZCMI and Utah fraternal orders.

Books in the collection range from a booklet with maps about the movements of the Ninety-first Division in World War I, published in 1944, to The Book of Life in Hebrew and English, published in 1847. Thirteen of the books deal with the Jewish religion and are written in Hebrew, German, English, or a combination of two of these languages.

Research notes and rough draft of the autobiography of Ben Roe, edited by James M. Rock, constitute the last of this collection.

Dates

1905-1974

Creator

Roe, Benjamin M., 1898-1982 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Biographical Sketch

Benjamin Roe was born in 1898 and grew up in a Jewish ghetto in a small village in Russia. His formal education was truncated. In his own words, "I am holding a distinction that many of my friends and associates cannot boast of; insofar as my formal education stopped at the age of fourteen, I have never had the pleasure of finishing any grade or receiving any degree in my entire life. I have never had the pleasure of walking up an aisle with my outstretched hand to receive a certificate indicating a completion of any grade. In spite of that, my hunger for education and books has never subsided."

Roe immigrated to the United States in 1913 at age fifteen without either parent. At age forty he was newly married with no means of support, except his creative mind, and in debt. Since that time his accomplishments have been extraordinary.

His life may be thought to exemplify a Horatio Alger story, except that Ben did it all by himself. He was bankrupt and starting a new business in 1939 and by 1955 he had retired from business. Also, unlike Alger's heroes, his criterion of success was not to own an important business or earn a huge profit, but rather to give of himself to his community. During one of our talks I was lucky to capture on tape Ben's philosophy of life in his own words:

"I believe that every man in his humble way, in accordance with his abilities must help make this a better world to live in for everybody. Developing your own goodness and extracting whatever values your abilities permit is very worthwhile, but you must also bear in mind that if you continue extracting those values and developing that goodness and do not replace it, you will sooner or later go dry. I, as an immigrant who knows the value of freedom, liberty, equality, and opportunity, know better than many people what it means to be deprived of those things. Therefore, I've always tried to pay society back in whatever my abilities and education permitted for all the kindness and goodness and opportunities I was privileged to enjoy. America is the greatest haven in the world for the oppressed. I cannot express it as well as the poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, written--did you know--by Emma Lazarus, a Jew."

Ben is too modest to list all of the activities and organizations that he began or became involved with. When he was given the coveted Chai Award in 1966, however, a partial list was made. It stated that he was a past President of Temple B'nai Israel, former board member of the Jewish Community Center, one of the original organizers of the University of Utah's Model United Nations, past Commander of American Legion Post Number 18, former board member of the United Jewish Council, Chairman of the American Jewish Tercentenary for Utah 1654-1954. He served as Past Chairman of the Israel Bond Committee and the United Jewish Appeal. He was awarded the Purple Heart during his service in the Army in World War I.

He was also President of the 91st Division Association and board member of the Utah Citizens Organization for Civil Rights, the Utah Association for the United Nations, Intermountain Chapter Hemophelia Foundation, University of Utah Judaica Library Board, History Committee of Jews in Utah and Idaho, and the National Committee on American and Israel Public Affairs. In addition, he was treasurer of the American Civil Liberties Union, Regional Vice President of the Z.O.A. [Zionist Organization of America], Shriner-Mason 32nd Degree, and Trustee of Youth Tobacco Advisory Council. He was also a board member of the American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Metropolitan Salt Lake Services for the Aging, and, in addition to being a board member, an organizer of the Jewish Community Center, Friends of the University of Utah Libraries, and the Alberta Henry Education Foundation.

The above biography was written by James M. Rock, associate professor of economics, University of Utah.

Extent

8.5 Linear Feet (20 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Benjamin M. Roe papers (1905-1974) consist of the personal and professional papers of Roe, an immigrant from Russia and Salt Lake City businessman and philanthropist. Included are a travel diary, news clippings, correspondence, B'nai Israel Temple records, histories of Utah Jews, subject files, publications, and other materials.

Arrangement

Organized in the following series: I. Personal material. I. Organizations. III. B'nai Israel Temple. IV. Pioneer Jews of Utah. V. History of Jews in Utah and Idaho. VI. Miscellanea; thereunder arranged alphabetically by topic or correspondent.