| | Abstract: | Sigmund Braverman was a Cleveland, Ohio, architect who designed many synagogues and other buildings throughout Cleveland, Ohio, the United States, and Canada. Born in Austria-Hungary, he came to the United States at age 10 and settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1917. After service in World War I, he came to Cleveland in 1920 and opened an architectural practice. From 1932-1935, he served as assistant, and later acting, Cleveland city architect. In 1948, he formed a partnership with Moses P. Halperin, known as Braverman and Halperin, Architects. Synagogues in Cleveland designed by Braverman included the Young Israel Synagogue, Warrensville Center Synagogue, Temple Emanu El, Temple on the Heights, and Fairmount Temple. His work in Cleveland also included the Orthodox Home for the Aged, Cleveland Hebrew Schools, the Bureau of Jewish Education, and apartment buildings, theaters, shopping centers, schools, and restaurants. He was a member of many professional architectural organizations, and published articles on the subject of synagogue architecture. Libbie L. Braverman was a nationally prominent teacher, author, lecturer, and consultant in the field of Jewish education. They were married in 1924. The collection consists of individual and group portraits of family members. The bulk of the collection consists of architectural views of various stages in the construction of synagogues and other buildings designed by Braverman and Halperin, ca. 1950s. Ohio synagogues pictured include Beth El Synagogue, Akron; Temple Israel, Canton; Anshe Chesed Congregation, Cleveland; B'nai Jeshurun Congregation, Cleveland; Park Synagogue, Cleveland; and Temple B'nai Abraham, Elyria. In particular, the collection contains numerous photographs of the construction, both interior and exterior, of Anshe Chesed Congregation (Fairmount Temple). Other Cleveland buildings pictured include the Brantley Apartments, the Bureau of Jewish Education, the Jewish Community Center, Lee Fabrics, the Orthodox Home for the Aged, the Rothkopf home, and other unidentified Cleveland locations. | |
