MEMOIRIST: DON KEMP
SHERRY BLANTON
INTERVIEWER: SANDRA BERMAN
DATE: AUGUST 11, 2010
LOCATION: ANNISTON, ALABAMA
NUMBER OF PAGES: 22
Transcript (PDF)
BIOGRAPHY
Don Kemp’s parents, Rudolph Alfred Kempenich and Margareta Sybilla Nathan KempEnich, came to Alabama from Emmerich, Germany in 1937. The town was near the border with Holland, and they were able to move money and possessions across the border in preparation for their departure. Their departure was accelerated when the Gestapo began questioning them, and that day in 1937 they left Germany suddenly, crossing the border into Holland and then boarding a ship to the United States.
Don’s father’s family was scattered throughout the world, in Brazil, Palestine, and France. Because many of Don’s mother’s family members were in Alabama by then, his parents made the decision to join them there. His brother Alfred was born in 1939, Don was born in 1942, and his sister Margaret was born in 1947.
Don’s great uncle had become president of a fabrics factory in Anniston, and when Don’s parents first arrived his father worked in the factory doing time and studies work. He then opened a bowling alley and later started another fabrics factory to complement the uncle’s factory. That factory, which he eventually sold, is still in Anniston today.
Don grew up in Anniston, and throughout his childhood, he attended the segregated public schools and Sunday school at the temple. He became bar mitzvah, participated in the North Alabama Federation of Temple Youth, and attended Camp Blue Star, an overnight Jewish summer camp. His parents and another couple built summer homes in the country on a pond, and Don has fond memories of spending summers there.
After graduating from the University of North Carolina, Don returned to Anniston to work in his father’s factory. He was introduced to his wife, Gail Sopkin, when he attended the funeral of the father of a college roommate from Florence, South Carolina. While there, the friend’s mother and Gail’s mother decided Don and Gail should meet, and they later married. Gail passed away in 1988.
Don’s parents were active in the community, participating in Jewish life as well as in civic organizations. They supported and participated in the peaceful desegregation of Anniston. When they became naturalized citizens, they shortened the family name to Kemp at the suggestion of the judge. Don’s father lived to be 89, and his mother was 95 when she died. Although the community has changed and the Jewish community has diminished, Don still lives in Anniston and fondly recalls his family history there.
SCOPE OF INTERVIEW
Don explains why and how his parents came to the United States and settled in Anniston, Alabama. They had been living in Emmerich, Germany, and left in 1937. Don’s mother’s uncle had come to Anniston and, over time, other family members joined him there. Don discusses the livelihoods of his family members in Anniston and describes his experiences growing up in a small Southern community, both as a Jew and during segregation.
The interview includes descriptions of the temple and the Jewish community, the economy of Anniston and the family businesses, segregation and desegregation, and personal stories from his childhood and of his family. Don describes how the Jewish community and the broader community have changed over time. Many white families began sending their children to private schools or moving to surrounding communities. Many young people have moved away, in favor of larger cities, and many of the factories that supported the community are now gone.
KEYWORDS
19 Rabbis
Alabama
Alterman, Rosalie Hirsch
Anniston, Alabama
Anniston, Alabama—Bus burning (1961)
Anniston Army Depot
Annistonian (restaurant)—Anniston, Alabama
Baptisms
Bar mitzvah
Baylinson, David (Rabbi)
Blacks—Relations with Jews
Blanton, Sherry
Bloom, Paul Irving (Rabbi)
B’nai B’rith
Bowling alleys
Brazil
Bynum, Alabama
Camp Blue Star
Caro, Alfred
Caro, Helen
Carpentry trade
Catskill Mountains
Cattle industry and trade
Chelsea Industry—Massachusetts
Civil rights era
Classy Ribbon—Anniston, Alabama
Committee of Unified Leadership
Congregation Beth Israel—Gadsden, Alabama—Bombing (1960)
Desegregation
Elks
Ellis Island, New York
Emmerich, Germany
English language
Florence, Alabama
Florence, South Carolina
Food industry and trade
Fort McClellan—Anniston, Alabama
Fort Worth, Texas
France
Freibaum, Julia
Freibaum, (Levi) Lee
Freibaum, Metha
Freibaum, Solomon
Gadsden, Alabama
Germany
Gestapo
Giershagen, Germany
Gordon, Hyman
Gordon, Selma Hirsch
Hi-Y
Holland
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1942)
Immigration
Integration, schools
Israel/Palestine
Jasper, Alabama
Jewish-Christian relations
Jews, flight
Jews, Persecution
Jews—Relations with blacks
Judaism, Reform
Judaism, Orthodox
Judaism—Customs and practices
Judaism—Fasts and feasts
Kemp, Alfred Max
Kemp, Don
Kemp, Gail Sopkin
Kemp, Margareta Sybilla Nathan
Kemp, Margaret Jean
Kemp, Rudy Alfred
Kempenich, Rudolf Alfred
Kiwanis
Ku Klux Klan
Lions
Magic
Magicians
Nathan, Carl
Nathan, Henrietta (Henny)
Nathan, Henry
Nathan, Sophie Nathan
North American Federation of Temple Youth
Oxford, Alabama
Passover
Pesach
Rabbis
Segregation
Selma-Montgomery March (1965)
Soldiers, United States
Sterne, Myra Hannah
Sunday school
Summer camps
Switzerland
Tape-Craft—Anniston, Alabama
Temple Beth-El—Anniston, Alabama
Temple Beth-El Sisterhood—Anniston, Alabama
Textiles, industry and trade
University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, North Carolina
White supremacist groups
Yarmulke
Yellow star
Youth-Societies and clubs
YKK—Japan
Zippers