Name: Minnie Freedman d. 7/05/1959 age 85

Family: Husband, Daniel and children, Israel, Mary, Sarah, Jacob, David, Lena and Sam

Minnie came from Vidzh, Lithuania. Her husband was one of several Jewish shopkeepers who owned stores in Hayti, Durham’s African-American neighborhood. According to Jewish Historian Leonard Rogoff, they were the only whites who lived in the neighborhood. Not only did these store owners serve the African-American community, but in turn, they were served. Black businessmen in 1908 founded the Mechanics and Farmers Bank. This became the only bank that extended credit to the Hayti grocers, as anti-Semitism had permeated the banking industry.

Ceevah Sobel, her granddaughter, remembers Minnie and her grandfather when they had moved from Hayti to a large house on Mangum Avenue. Ceevah was young at the time and Minnie was mostly bedridden following a broken hip. Their house was generally the place of holiday celebration for the family as almost all of Minnie and Daniel’s children continued to live in Durham.