Interview with Eugene Dubow, November 1, 2013

Interview Summary

Eugene DuBow was born and raised in The Bronx in New York City. He speaks about the public schools he attended, and about how the schools redistricted as a result of WWII in case there were air raids in the city. DuBow graduated from high school in January of 1950 and ultimately decided to go to the University of Kentucky. When DuBow moved to Lexington, he had his first experience with segregation on the train ride to Kentucky.

When DuBow arrived at the University of Kentucky he was given a dorm room in Bowman Hall, and he discusses some experiences he had with his Kentuckian roommates and his first college classes. He names some of the Jewish people he met on campus in his first year as well, and how he was introduced to the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. Dubow speaks about the Jewish community in Lexington, Kentucky while he was a student at the University of Kentucky. There are now, and have historically been, two synagogues in Lexington, Kentucky: Temple Adath Israel (Reform) and Ohavay Zion Synagogue (Conservative).

He also speaks on the project founded by Rabbi Maurice Davis called SEEK, Seeking Equal Education in Kentucky, that was part of the initial movement of integration at the University of Kentucky. DuBow speaks about when he and his wife marched on Montgomery with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After the March on Selma, DuBow decided he wanted to return to civil rights work. While pursuing a master's degree from NYU, he met a woman named Carol Stix who connected him to the American Jewish Committee in Westchester, New York. In 1966 he became the director of that chapter of the AJC.

In the late 1970s, DuBow and the AJC worked together with the Catholic Church to set up an organization to help Soviet Jews get out of the Soviet Union. DuBow describes an exchange and relationship he built between the American Jewish Committee and West Germany. After discovering that the United States had diplomatic relations with East Germany, DuBow organized a trip with the State Department and met with the American ambassador there.

Interview Keyword

Jewish heritage Student life American Jewish Committee East Germany Berlin Wall West Germany College students--Social conditions Greek letter societies.

Interview LC Subject

University of Kentucky Jewish leadership Religion and politics Worship (Judaism) King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968 Race discrimination. United States--Race relations. Civil rights movements--United States African Americans--Segregation Lexington (Ky.) Jews--Kentucky--Lexington.

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All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.