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This is a copy of the agreement between Lena Kopelman and the Fargo Hebrew Congregation.  It was scanned from page 174 of “And Prairie Dogs Weren’t Kosher” by Linda Mack Schloff.  

This is a copy of the letter that the Secretary of State for North Dakota sent to Alex Stern confirming him as a trustee for the North Dakota Agricultural College.  This was scanned from records held in the NDSU archives and the information can be found here.   Heather Brinkman, Digital History 2012

This is a copy of a letter that Alex Stern sent out when he was running for president of  the city commission in Fargo.  This was scanned from the NDSU archives and the information on it can be found here. Heather Brinkman, Digital History 2012

While there is little information on the Fargo Hebrew Congregation, it was the first Orthodox Jewish temple in Fargo. On July 6, 1886 William Giles, Abraham Rubel, and David Mezirow incorporated the temple, however it did not open its doors until 1906 and it took two years to complete the building.  The synagogue was built across from Island Park on First Street. Until it opened, the congregation held services in the

Alexander Stern (June 7, 1857-1934) Alex Stern was born on June 7, 1857 in Giessen, Germany.  He immigrated to the United states in 1871.  Mr. Stern arrived in Fargo in 1882 and opened the city’s first clothing store.  He is the first know Jewish person to land in Fargo.  On July 5, 1885 he married Bertha.  They had three sons: William, Samuel, and Edward. Mr. Stern was a very influential man during the foundin

Lena Bertha Kopelman April 29, 1869 – December 3, 1947   “My mother… [was] a wig maker and maker of hair switches and other hair goods. [She] taught us all how to weave human hair and we became  fairly adept at it, but we could never make our fingers fly like our mother did… Kopelman’s Beauty Shop was one of the very first beauty shops in Fargo… Rose, Dorothy and I helped to make the shop

The Hebrew Ladies Aid Society was founded on August 13, 1904.[1]  It was created in order to help the people of the Jewish community and fulfill the responsibility to the Jewish community.  They helped the community by financing the community businesses, educate the children, and perform other acts of civil service.  Below is Linda Mack Schloff’s recount of their purpose. Rochele Gela Mann recalled the efforts

The first Jewish immigrants into Fargo were part of the middle and upper classes of Germany.  They were formally educated.  The main reason for immigrating to the United States was to escape persecution and violent attacks that their homelands ignored and in some cases encouraged.  After the town started to solidify, many unsuccessful farmers from North Dakota and Minnesota sought refuge in Fargo.  In addition to the

Fargo’s First Christmas Tree   In 1873 the people of Fargo went to church services in Moorhead as a church had not been established.  As the people of Fargo believed that the Christmas tree being planned for in Moorhead was more for the children of that church they decided to have their own.  Two trees were sent for but were stolen mid route.  It was decided that the men from Moorhead that were suspected o

When Bishop Shanley first came to North Dakota, the Catholic diocese was based in Jamestown.  Shanley found Jamestown quite problematic to operate out of due its poor location in respect to travel throughout the diocese, a problem that could be solved by moving to Fargo.  In addition to the transportation issues, Shanley also saw better potential for growth in Fargo, which resulted in the move to Fargo in 1891.  He w