The Yiddish Book Center's

Wexler Oral History Project

A growing collection of in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories about the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture offer a rich and complex chronicle of Jewish identity.

Her Daughter at Weinreich's Desk

Watch now:

Adrienne Cooper z"l talks about her daughter, Klezmer musician Sarah Gordon, growing up in the Yiddish world and her early exposure to Yiddish culture. She describes her daughter at the age of four sitting at Max Weinreich's desk in YIVO, pretending to work.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Adrienne Cooper.

This excerpt is in English.

Adrienne Cooper was born in Oakland, California in 1946. Adrienne died in 2011.

This interview is part of the Yiddish and the Arts: musicians, actors, and artists series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

"A Thin Thread": Song-Teaching Project in Former Soviet Union

6 min 27 sec

Adrienne Cooper's Advice to Future Generations

4 min 43 sec

Creation of KlezKamp

3 min 34 sec

Generations of Yiddish Song

3 min 26 sec

Growing up in the Oakland Jewish Community

1 min 30 sec

Studying Yiddish

2 min 45 sec

"I Sunk into the YIVO"

2 min 17 sec

Teaching the Klezmatics

1 min 48 sec

"It was really the source of my Jewish literacy." (Religious Education)

1 min 32 sec

KlezKamp provides model of "living Jewish Culture"

3 min 21 sec

Adrienne Cooper Finds a Mentor

1 min 29 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

Themes: