R.I. writer, Jewish historian and teacher Geraldine Foster dies at 95

The Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association lost one of its eminent historians when Geraldine Foster, 95, passed away recently. The first woman president of the association, Jerry was the daughter of Beryl Segal, one of the organization’s founders. Her son, Harold Foster, is the current RIJHA president.

The history of the Jews in Rhode Island ran deep in Jerry’s veins. Her father, a pharmacist at The Miriam Hospital, passionately believed that the history of the culture and religion of the state’s Jews should be preserved. RIJHA was chartered in 1951 and is the oldest state or local Jewish historical society in continuous operation in the United States. The Chaya and Beryl Segal Archives hold more than 5,000 photographs and documents.

It was not surprising that Jerry, an English teacher and chairwoman of the English Department at Nathan Bishop Middle School, in Providence, followed in her father’s footsteps and became fascinated with Jewish history. And she loved to write, a talent she put to good use when she researched and wrote extensively about the history of the Jews in Rhode Island.

Along with the many articles she wrote for the R.I. Jewish Historical Notes and The Jewish Voice, she co-edited and wrote chapters for “The Jews of Rhode Island, 1658-1958.”

Jerry’s close friend, Anne Sherman, who for many years was the office manager for RIJHA, said that Jerry’s greatest accomplishment was writing for the Notes. Jerry and Eleanor Horvitz wrote many of the important stories about Providence’s Jewish communities, synagogues and businesses, many of which no longer exist. Scholars and researchers of local Jewish history continue to find these articles useful.

In “The Jews of Rhode Island,” Jerry and Horvitz wrote chapters on “Jewish Farmers in Rhode Island” and “Summers Along Upper Narragansett Bay, 1910-1938.”

In the chapter on farmers, they began: “As we look at the history of the Jews in Rhode Island, the words farm and farmer seldom appear.”

Many of the Jews who came to Rhode Island around the turn of the last century, from Russia and other Eastern European countries, had been farmers when they were forced out of their traditional occupations, so it seemed natural that they would have farms in Rhode Island. The farms have mostly disappeared, but this chapter reminds readers of Jews’ connection to the land.

“Summers Along Upper Narragansett Bay” contains the memories of the Jews who formed summer colonies in such places as Oakland Beach, Conimicut Point, and Shawomet Beach, all in Warwick. They were not in Newport and Narragansett, where the wealthy hobnobbed, but they gave Jews newly arrived in Rhode Island a place to swim, explore and connect with other Jewish immigrants.

Anne Sherman said that Jerry was always there for her.

“After my mother died, Jerry called me every morning at 8:45. After I wrote an article, I would say to Jerry, ‘Fix it. I do not know how to write.’ Jerry answered all my Jewish questions.”

Sherman added, “She was my walking Jewish encyclopedia.”

Indeed, Jerry was that for so many in the Rhode Island Jewish community and beyond.

Read Geraldine Foster’s obituary on page 30.

LINDA LOTRIDGE LEVIN is a professor emerita of journalism at the University of Rhode Island and the first vice president of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association.