Beth Israel Congregation

Notable Locals, Volume 1

Linda Reimer , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Notable Locals is, as noted on the library’s website “An ongoing exhibition at the library about people from the Corning area who have made an impact locally, regionally and across the world.”

This get-the-word-out-about-neat-people-who-have-lived-locally-in-the-past project consists of a display in the library (near the microfilm machines), a handout featuring information on the nine people (also included as PDF within this post); and a blog post that spotlights the nine people and/or groups.

The Notable Locals display will be updated, and a new information PDF and blog post created for nine new people/groups bi-annually.  

And here are our first group of Notable Locals, listed in alphabetical order:

The Beth Israel Congregation of Corning

Young members of the Beth Israel Congregation are shown in a 1950s era photo, from The Evening Leader

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Chief Cornplanter (1752 – 1836)

Chief & Diplomat of the Seneca People
 

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Charles Corwin (1883 – 1954)

Choirmaster, organist, music educator, founder of The Corning Philharmonic Symphony and co-founder of Corning-Pained Post Civic Music

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Isabel Walker Drake (1856 – 1936)

Early photographer who captured snapshots of local life in late 1800s & early 1900s

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Dr. Lucy Maltby (1900 – 1984) 

Educator, home economist & founder of the Corning Glass Works Economic Division & Test Kitchen; shown here, forth from the left in the back row, with her 1917 North Side High senior class.
 

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Rev. Robert F. McNamara (1910 – 2009)

Corning native, historian, theologian and co-founder of the Corning-Painted Post Historical Society

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Col. William Murrell (1845 – 1932)

Union Army soldier, state legislator, newspaper editor & education advocate who came to the region later in life becoming a State Commander of the local chapter of the Civil War veterans group the G.A.R.  and worked on educating the local African American community. 

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Margaret Higgins Sanger (1879 – 1966)

Corning-born women’s health & birth control advocate, founder of Planned Parenthood
 

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James “Deacon” White (1847 – 1939) 

Caton native, baseball pioneer, catcher, third baseman and member of the baseball hall of fame
 
 
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And here is the entire Notable Locals, Volume 1 PDF:

Notable Locals Display Newsletter No 1 Updated 2 5 2025Download

Have a great day!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

Special Local History Post: On The History Of The Jewish Community In Corning

Linda Reimer , , , , ,

Hi everyone, we are most fortunate at the library, to have received a neat research paper for our collection that offers a look at the history of both the local Jewish community and the related Beth Israel Congregation of Corning.

The paper, titled A History of the Beth Israel Congregation of Corning, New York, was written by local historian Austin Reid, who gave us the following description of his work, specifically for this special local history post:

“This work highlights key milestones in Beth Israel’s history, including the establishment of the congregation, the changing community members, and the contributions made by Beth Israel’s members to Corning’s civic life. This history also explores the challenges faced by Corning’s Jewish community, such as sustaining membership and adapting to changing demographics over the decades. While Beth Israel disbanded by 2000, as of 2024, a Jewish presence remains in Corning. Though modest in size, Corning’s Jewish community has made significant contributions to the history of Steuben County.” — Austin David Reid

While we were discussing his paper, Mr. Reid mentioned that he was inspired to investigate the history of the Beth Israel Congregation by an article he found online titled What it’s like to be a Jewish teenager in a small town right now by Leila Ianovici; and I’ve included a link to that article here: https://www.jta.org/2023/12/18/united-states/what-its-like-to-be-a-jewish-teenager-in-a-small-town-right-now

A copy of Mr. Reid’s research paper will shortly be added to our local history collection.

And in the meantime, Mr. Reid has graciously agreed to allow us to offer public access to his paper, which you can read here:

A History of the Beth Israel Congregation of Corning, New YorkDownload

A big thank you goes out to Mr. Reid for thinking of the library in donating a copy of his research! (Thank you, Mr. Reid!!)

Have a great day everyone,

Linda Reimer, SSCL