Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

The David H. Steinberg Streetcar Manuscripts Collection. Accession #2013.9.18, Roanoke Public Libraries, Roanoke, VA

Acquisition Information

This collection was donated by David H. Steinberg.

Bibliographical Note

Rabbi David H. Steinberg created “Traction in the Magic City” to document the history of streetcars in Roanoke, VA. Rabbi Steinberg was born and raised in Chattanooga, TN. He worked as a teacher, then as the owner of Steinberg’s deli in Chattanooga before he became a train conductor for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo in 1972. His interest in trains and transportation led to the creation of this collection. Rabbi Steinberg was only able to document the streetcar history up until 1911 due to poor eyesight and lack of time to finish upon moving to Brooklyn, NY in 1983 to be with the Hasidic Jewish community. In 1984, he married his wife Chava and eventually had a daughter. In NY, he worked at 47th Street Photo until it went bankrupt. He went onto work at Edison Litho and Printing Corp.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of 1 box containing 6 folders. Included in the box are a typed 318 page manuscript, photocopies of trolley photographs, and correspondence about the collection. The manuscript compilation was begun November 8, 1983. The donation was received at the Virginia Room on December 29, 1999.

Arrangement

Documents are arranged by document type.

Adjunct Descriptive Data