Frank and Arthur Eisenberg papers

Frank Eisenberg was born on August 6th, 1897 in New York, New York to Emma Rebecca and Jacob Abraham Eisenberg. Jacob was born in 1859 in Plungary, Lithuania, Russia. Rebecca (Goota Bush) was born in Telz, Lithuania, Russia in 1862. Frank’s father and mother married in 1884. In 1890, still in Russia, Rebecca gave birth to Frank’s older sister, Hilda Eisenberg. In 1895 in New York, Frank’s older brother, Meyer Eisenberg, was born. In 1899 in New York, Frank’s younger sister, Dorothy (“Dora”) Eisenberg was born. Frank’s father died in Sag Harbour, New York that same year. Rebecca was remarried to Morris Goldman (b. Russia, 1868) sometime after 1910. By 1915 Frank, Meyer, and Dora were living with their mother and stepfather in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Hilda was living in Sag Harbour with her husband, Herman Weiner, and their children, Arthur and Ethel.

During World War I, Frank joined the Enlisted Reserve Corps. He was called to serve in August of 1917 and began active duty in September. Frank was a member of the American Expeditionary Forces and was stationed in France, often not far from his brother, Meyer. He remained in the service for three years, returning home to Minneapolis in August of 1920. Frank moved back in with his mother and stepfather (who died in 1920) for several years, during which time he worked as a day laborer and briefly attended college, probably at the University of Minnesota.

By 1925 Frank was married to Sara Brooks, who was born in Minnesota in 1898 to Harry and Betty (Broales) Brooks, both Russian immigrants. Sara had three siblings: Albert, Ethel, and Florence. Sara and Frank lived with Harry, Betty, and Ethel at 1714 8th Avenue North in Minneapolis. Harry was a cigar merchant and Ethel a school teacher. On January 16th, 1926, in Minneapolis, Sara gave birth to Arthur Eisenberg. Arthur was Frank and Sara’s only child. The three of them continued to live with Sara’s parents at the same address until at least 1940.

As Arthur was growing up, Frank was employed as a salesman in the film industry. In the 1930s and 1940s, he worked for various agencies, including the United Artists Corporation, Monogram Pictures, and Universal Exchange Inc. Frank stayed mostly in Minneapolis but sometimes took short-term positions in nearby cities such as Fargo, ND.

As a boy, Arthur was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and the Elementary Department of the Minneapolis Talmud Torah. As a teenager, he worked at the Brynwood Theatre. He attended Breck in St. Paul, a military academy at the time. Upon graduating from the high school in the midst of World War II, he immediately enlisted in the Navy, probably on March 3rd, 1944. Art went to boot camp at the U.S. Naval Training Center (Camp Peterson) in Farragut, Idaho. He then attended Pre-Commissioning School aboard the U.S.S. Bergen in Seattle, WA in November and December of 1944. Art and the Bergen were then stationed in San Francisco, where they remained until at least the end of 1945. Art most likely served briefly in the Pacific before being discharged from the military on May 7th, 1946.

After the war, Art returned to Minneapolis where he probably attended, and perhaps graduated from, the University of Minnesota, maybe in the Optometry program. He was most likely married, although not to Elayne Feller, the woman with whom he corresponded regularly during World War II. Arthur Eisenberg died in Minneapolis on January 27th, 1953 from spinal meningitis. He was 27 years old.

In 1939 Frank Eisenberg’s mother, Rebecca Eisenberg Goldman, died in New York, New York. His brother, Meyer, married Faye Feinberg in 1922 and became a meat curer at Feinberg’s Kosher Sausage. He died in Minneapolis in 1951. His younger sister, Dora, married Jacob Joseph (“Jack”) Rosenstein in 1919. Their son, David Samuel Rose, was born in 1921. Dora died in 1978 in Watseka, Illinois.

Sara Brooks Eisenberg’s brother, Albert, and his daughter, Gloria, lived in California during World War II. Her sister, Ethel, lived in Dallas, TX. Her sister, Florence (“Flo”) married Francis (“Fran”) Weiss and lived in Los Angeles. They had three children: Bob, Dan, and Marilyn.

Frank Eisenberg died in December, 1971 in Minneapolis at the age of 74. Sara Eisenberg died in Minneapolis in September 1994.