Title: Ely Hertzel and Fannie Heilbrun Weil
Dates: 1913-1952
Collection Number: 2018-P-064
Quantity: 14 items
Abstract: Consists of copies of photographs of Weil family members and the places they visited.
Provenance: The State Historical Society of North Dakota received this collection from Martin Eli and Jessie Leo Weil, grandsons of Ely Hertzel and Fannie (Heilbrun) Weil on February 8, 1994.
Property Rights: The State Historical Society of North Dakota owns the property rights to this collection.
Copyrights: Copyrights to materials in this collection remain with the donor, publisher, author, or author's heirs. Researchers should consult the 1976 Copyright Act, Public Law 94-553, Title 17, U.S. Code and an archivist at this repository if clarification of copyright requirements is needed.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection title, collection number, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota in all footnote and bibliographic references.
Transfer: Photographs were separated from MSS 20866 in 2018.
Related Collections:
20866 Ely Hertzel and Fannie Heilbrun Weil Family Collection
SHSND 1993.00148 United States Commissary of Subsistence Department Strong Box Fort Buford DT
Biographical Sketch: Ely Hertzel Weil
Ely Hertzel Weil was born in Emmendingen, Federal Republic of Germany on September 13, 1871 to Hertzel “Hirschel” Henry David and Bertha Weil. The family immigrated to the United States in 1888, settling first in Minnesota. Ely Hertzel Weil married Fannie Heilbrun on October 1, 1901 in Washington (D.C.). Ely was an early Jewish resident of Williston (N.D.). Ely, Fannie and Herbert moved to Williston around 1911. Ely was a traveling salesman with a large territory in North Dakota and Minnesota beginning in 1890, and he is listed as operating a shoe store in Fargo (N.D.) with J. M. Gleason in 1895. The 1911 Williston City Directory shows him as a clothier working at 27 Main Street, Williston (N.D.). He opened the E. H. Weil Clothing House in Williston in 1914. Weil sold fine quality Clothcraft and Kuppenheimer suits, luggage, overcoats, shirts, shoes and other men’s clothing until he lost his lease and retired in September of 1922. After his retirement, Ely Weil served as the Williston City Assessor until at least 1928. Ely and his wife, Fannie Heilbrun Weil (1870-1954) moved to Omaha (Neb.) in 1953, where they died in 1958 and 1954 respectively. They are buried in the Mount Zion Temple Cemetery in St. Paul (Minn.).
Biographical Sketch: Fannie Heilbrun Weil
Fannie Heilbrun was born on December 27, 1875 in Washington (D.C.) to Louis Heilbrun and Sarah Young. Her father was a shoe dealer, and both parents were originally from Prussia. She graduated from high school on June 23, 1892 in Washington, DC. On October 1, 1901 she married Ely Hertzel Weil in Washington (D.C.) and moved to North Dakota where her son Herbert Louis Weil was born.
Biographical Sketch: Herbert Louis Weil
Herbert Louis Weil was born on July 21, 1903 in Wadena (Minn.) to Ely Hertzel and Fannie Pearl Heilbrun Weil. He lived with his family in Williston (N.D.) where he attended and graduated from the local schools. In 1922, Herbert started studying engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (Mich.). Herbert is listed as a member of the Westerners, a club at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (Mich.) composed of students at the University of Michigan and the School of Music from the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering by the Board of Regents of University of Michigan in 1925. He married Esther Arnovitz on September 4, 1927 in Cuyahoga County (Ohio). He was an active member of the Beta Chapter of Iota Alpha at the University of Michigan in 1929 to 1930. The US Census of 1930 shows the Herbert Weil family living in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw (Mich.) where he was working as an engineer doing Highway Research. As an enlisted Army reservist he was assigned to the 310th Engineers on February 2, 1930 in Ann Arbor (Mich.). In 1934, Herbert was again attending the University of Michigan studying engineering. In 1940, the family was living in South Galpin (Mont.) where he was working as an associate engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers. The family moved to Omaha (Neb.) where in 1953 he worked as an engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers, Missouri River division. He died on April 15, 1988 in Omaha (Neb.).
Biographical Sketch: Martin Eli Weil
Martin Eli Weil, renowned restoration and preservation architect, died February 22, 2009 of an apparent heart attack at his home in Los Angeles. He was 68.Weil was involved in the restoration of historic properties throughout Southern California, including the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Storer House in the Hollywood Hills and Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Park, Pasadena City Hall, Griffith Observatory, the El Capitan Theatre and the John Russell Pope-designed Henry and Arabella Huntington mausoleum in the gardens of the Huntington Library in San Marino. One of the founders of the Los Angeles Conservancy, Weil served two terms as its president in the 1980s. The conservancy was formed in 1978 in response to the threatened demolition of numerous landmarks, including the Los Angeles Central Library, the Wiltern Theatre and Pan Pacific Auditorium. Weil was an early and active member of the West Adams Heritage Association. He was instrumental in the creation of the Harvard Heights Historic Preservation Overlay Zone in the West Adams neighborhood, where in 1985 he bought, then restored and lived in the only Greene and Greene-designed house in Los Angeles. “Martin was always the go-to guy for all preservation issues or questions or for any restoration problems,” said Ruthann Lehrer, the first executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy. “His contribution was often to make sure people were authentic to the historic character, materials and original integrity of the design … his position and leadership was always to maintain historic authenticity,” Lehrer added. Weil’s particular expertise was color analysis. Most recently, he served as historic color finishes consultant for the 16-story, gargoyle-topped Villa Riviera in Long Beach, a National Historic Landmark built in 1929. Just days before his death, Weil received a Preservation Design Award for his work on Villa Riviera from Long Beach Heritage at a banquet aboard the Queen Mary. It was one of numerous awards he received over the course of his career. Weil’s “depth of knowledge of all aspects of architecture and preservation [were] unmatched in Los Angeles,” said Margaret Bach, an interior designer and a founding member of the L.A. Conservancy. “His technical knowledge was balanced with a big-picture understanding of issues.” Born July 2, 1940, in Glasgow, Mont., to Esther and Herbert Weil, a civil engineer, Weil spent most of his youth in Omaha, Neb. He earned a bachelor’s in art history from the University of Iowa and two master’s degrees — one in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and one in early American culture and decorative arts from the Winterthur program at the University of Delaware. He began his career in Canada, where he served in the 1970s as the chief restoration architect for the Canadian Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. In 1974, he created the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, which annually awards a Martin Eli Weil Prize for the best student essay in architectural history. Friends described Weil as a committed Jew, who while not observant in a traditional manner, felt a strong connection to his family history and Jewish roots. In recent years, he worked tirelessly to build support in the United States for Sim Shalom, the only Progressive Jewish community in Budapest, Hungary. The congregation’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Katalin Kelemen, is the first female rabbi in Hungary and is married to Weil’s brother, Jesse. Along with longtime friend and attorney Harold Tomin and attorney Roger Holt, Weil founded Friends of Sim Shalom, for which he secured nonprofit status in 2008.Weil was “truly committed to the Budapest synagogue [and] was fighting upstream to assist them in any way he could in building an international economic base of support and friendship,” said Rabbi John Rosove of Temple Israel of Hollywood, who serves on the advisory council for Friends of Sim Shalom. “He was an honorable, upstanding person,” Tomin said, “whose vision was much broader than his own being, who considered himself part of the community and worked to better it every day.” Weil is survived by two brothers, Peter (Jane) of Steuben, Maine, and Jesse (Katalin Kelemen) of Budapest; nieces, Alexandra Borns-Weil and Janna Weil; and one grandnephew, Yonah Borns-Weil. A memorial service will be held at 5 p.m. on March 7 at the Gallery Theatre in Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles.
Biographical Sketch: Jesse Leo Weil
Jesse Leo Weil was born in Michigan to Herbert Louis and Esther Arnovitz Weil. He attended and graduated from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in California and was awarded an honor key for extracurricular activities. Jesse was awarded a Bachelor’s of Science in Physics from Caltech in 1952. He went on to obtain his Ph.D. in Experimental Nuclear Physics from Columbia in 1959. He married Esther Elaine Kirkland in Harris (Tex.). He was on the faculty of the University of Kentucky and as an emeritus professor has worked on the fission properties of actinides when bombarded by cold neutrons at the reactor of the KFKI in Budapest, Hungary.
Biographical Sketch: Peter J. Weil
Peter J. Weil was born in Michigan to Herbert Louis and Esther Arnovitz Weil.
He attended the University of Michigan. He married Sarah R. Formosa in Cook
County (Ill.) on April 3, 1956. He works as a sculptor in Maine.
Sources:
Bismarck Tribune, Ancestry.com, U.S. Public Records, U.S. Social Security Index, U.S. Census Records, U.S. Public Records Index, Newspapers.com, Find-A-Grave, Golden Jubilee of Alamo, Appam, Corinth, North Dakota, 1916-1966, Wildrose 50th Anniversary: A History of Wildrose,
North Dakota, 1910-1960, 30529 Pioneer Biographies.
INVENTORY
2018-P-064-00001 Ely Hertzel Weil portrait Williston (N.D.) 1921 Photo by Joseph Ernest Pasonault
2018-P-064-00002 Fannie Heilbrun Weil Williston (N.D.) 1921 Photo by Joseph Ernest Pasonault
2018-P-064-00003 Herbert Louis Weil, High School Graduation portrait Williston (N.D.) 1921 Photo by Joseph Ernest Pasonault
2018-P-064-00004 Ely Hertzel Weil family, Fort Peck (Mont.) August 1942
2018-P-064-00005 Herbert Louis Weil family, Williston (N.D.) August 3-5, 1950
2018-P-064-00006 Fannie and Ely Weil cutting a cake at the celebration of their 50th Wedding Anniversary, Omaha (Neb.) 1951
2018-P-064-00007 Fannie and Ely Weil on 2nd floor landing at 321 3rd Avenue East, Williston (N.D.) October 1952
2018-P-064-00008 Herbert and Ely Weil on 2nd floor landing at 321 3rd Avenue East, Williston (N.D.) October 1952
2018-P-064-00009 Boy Scout Troop #1, Williston (N.D.) 1916
2018-P-064-00010 Boy Scout Troop #1 camping outside Williston (N.D.)1916
2018-P-064-00011 Williston High School Football Champions Williston (N.D.) of 1920 October 30, 1920 Photo by Olson Studio (Williston N.D.)
2018-P-064-00012 First train to Alexander (N.D.) February 22, 1913
2018-P-064-00013 Ely Hertzel Weil in his store Weil's Clothing House Williston (N.D.) 1915-1918
2018-P-064-00014 Ely Hertzel Weil in his City Accessor's Office, Williston (N.D.) 1952
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