Call Number:

Print Coll. 89

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

.6 linear feet

Language:

English, Hebrew, and Yiddish

Preferred Citation:

Harold B. Wohl collection of Jewish sheet music, 1902-1965, Print Coll. 89, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1902-1965 (inclusive)

Creator:

Wohl, Harold B.

Form:

Sheet music and Songs

Abstract:

Harold B. Wohl (1930-2020) was a professor of American history at the University of Northern Iowa and a collector of Jewish sheet music. The Harold B. Wohl collection of Jewish sheet music consists of over 200 pieces of Jewish sheet music by 90 composers, dating from 1902 to 1965.

Harold B. Wohl was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn in 1930. He graduated from Stuyvesant Public High School and received both his bachelor's degree and Ph.D. in History at the University of Iowa. After receiving his Ph.D., Wohl started his long tenure as a professor of American history, philosophy of history and colonial America at the University of Northern Iowa. In 1986, Wohl married Jean Lund who was an English professor at the University of Northern Iowa. Together, Harold and Jean frequently traveled to Russia where they taught American history and English. After Wohl retired, he continued to teach for the University of Northern Iowa's and Wartburg College's lifelong learning programs. Harold B. Wohl died in 2020. Wohl and his family were members of the Sons of Jacob Synagogue, which acquired his collection of Jewish sheet music after his death.

Works consulted:

"Harold B. Wohl." Legacy, https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/wcfcourier/name/haroldwohl- obituary?id=7804696. Accessed 1 November 2025.

"Lund, Jean." University of Northern Iowa, https://scua.library.uni.edu/uni-history/ biographies/lund-jean. Accessed 1 November 2025.

The Harold B. Wohl collection of Jewish sheet music consists of over 200 pieces of Jewish sheet music by 90 composers, dating from 1902 to 1965. Most of the sheet music was published in the early 20th century with songs written in English, Yiddish and Hebrew. The collection is alphabetically arranged by composer and, when there are multiple works by a composer, the song titles are arranged aphabetically. Prominent composers in the collection include Joseph Brody, Abraham Ellstein, Solomon Golub, Pinchos Jassinowsky, Henry Lefkowitch, Leo Low, Perlmutter & Wohl, Joseph Rumshinsky, Samuel Secunda, Solomon Small, Illia Trilling, Moshe Wilensky, Artur Wolf and Zavel Zilberts.