Do You Know a Shuman Family in LA?
I am Joe Manning, an author and historian. Since 2006, I have been conducting a research project to track down and interview descendants of some of the child laborers who were photographed by Lewis Hine in the early 1900s. There are 5,000 of these photos posted on the Library of Congress website. I have been successful for over 200 children. My Lewis Hine Project was the subject of a story on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.
In one of the photographs, taken in 1913 in Dallas, TX, Morris and Louis Shuman are pictured as newsboys. They were Russian-Yiddish immigrants who entered the US about 1903. They eventually settled in Los Angeles. I am trying to find living descendants of this family, and I thought someone might be able to help. Here is what I know so far.
The family appears in the 1930 census in LA. They are parents Max and Rebecca Shuman, and their children, Louis, Morris, Solomon and Freida. Max is listed as a butcher. They had other children including Moses, Sophia and Sarah, who were listed in earlier records. According to California Death Records, Max died in 1940, Moses in 1948, Morris in 1955, and Louis in 1970. I was unable to obtain any of their obituaries, but all died in LA. According to the census and California voter registrations records, these are some of the addresses in LA where members of the family lived:
- 2601 Brooklyn St
- 2116 Bird St
- 1501 Miramar St
- 2143 and 1/2 Brooklyn St
- 418 S Rexford Dr
- 3137 Perlita Ave
Louis was an auto mechanic, and his wife may have been named Ruth.
To see the photo of the Shuman boys, go to this link on my website:
www.sevensteeples.com/dallas1.html
Joe Manning
575 Bridge Rd, Unit 9-1
Florence, MA 01062
413-584-0679
on May 28th, 2010 at 2:10 PM
This is Joe Manning. I have more information on Louis Shuman. I found his obituary. He was survived by his wife, Dorothy, and a son, Joseph Bloom. His last address was 3770 East Ave 40, in LA. Then I found his son’s obituary. Joseph Bloom died in Feb 1975. He worked at Jaybee Offset Printing. He was survived by his wife, Kay, a son, Martin Bloom, a daughter, Lynn, and three grandchildren. So far, I have been unable to locate Martin Bloom and his family.
on May 28th, 2010 at 2:45 PM
More from the requestor Joe Manning:
I just found Louis Shuman’s obituary on a website called NewspaperArchive.com. Amazing! The obit was in the Van Nuys Valley News. His wife was Dorothy. Now I have to find his son, Joseph Bloom.