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Adelstein, Morris E., 1894-1968

 Person

Biography

Morris Adelstein was born in Des Moines, Iowa on June 2, 1894. His parents Meyer and Bailey Adelstein emigrated from Russia in 1890 or 1891. Meyer and Bailey separated and Bailey married a second time, but in 1910 left her second husband and homesteaded land in the Dakota Territory. She moved with her two youngest daughters to Kadoka, South Dakota, where she started a store. Kadoka is near the Rosebud Sioux reservation. Morris and one of sisters remained in Des Moines. In 1916, Morris graduated from Highland Park College in Des Moines with a degree in engineering. Morris joined his mother in Kadoka and was elected as the county engineer for several counties. Morris married Bertha Greenberg on 27 Jan 1924 in Sioux City, Iowa. Bertha Greenberg, daughter of Aaron Greenberg and Julia Miller, was born in 1904 in Russia. In 1924, Morris Adelstein and a banker formed Northwestern Engineering and the company flourished. Northwestern Engineering Company constructed many of the highways in South Dakota, the arch bridge near Wind Cave National Monument, and much of the Ellsworth Air Force Base. In 1947, Morris Adelstein became involved with illegally supplying arms to Palestine before Israel became a state. (See Lavender Hill Mob in Beck Archives Organizations, B118). Morris Adelstein helped create the General Rose Memorial Hospital. He was active in the Children’s Asthma Research Institute, National Jewish Hospital, the Denver Chapter of the United Jewish Appeal, and was on the executive committee of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC). Morris Adelstein died on December 17, 1968 in Denver, Colorado.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Culvert Construction, 1919

 Item
Identifier: B207.01.0001.0001.00001
Abstract Mounted photograph showing a construction crew of fifteen men at a worksite in South Dakota where a concrete culvert pour is about to begin. Forms are fitted with rebar, a concrete mixer with extended trough is at the back, along with a tarped stack of supplies, a gravel pile, two wheelbarrows, a shovel and other tools. Two kegs (probably holding nails for form assembly) are at the right front and back, and two men standing at the left of the photo have shovels. After serving in the Army as...
Dates: 1919

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  • Subject: Design and construction X
  • Subject: South Dakota X
  • Subject: Jewish engineers X
  • Subject: Culverts X
  • Type: Archival Object X