Brotmanville
About
Like Norma, Brotmanville was an expansion of the original Alliance Colony. After emigrating to the United States from Galicia, Abraham Brotman, born in September of 1870, started a coat factory in Brooklyn, New York. Inspired to spread his success to other Jewish settlers, he moved his family and his business to Alliance in 1892 and completed construction of the three-story factory in 1898. 1 Because of this act of generosity and community-building, the town was eventually named after him:
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“The record shows that Abraham Brotman was a pioneer who connected to his people. He wanted to help other immigrants by giving them a means to earn a living and pay off their debts. He built modest homes and established a nurturing community where Jewish immigrants like himself could learn the language and ways of their new country amidst their rich cultural heritage. Some 60 families, including Abraham and Minnie Brotman and their 11 children, relied on the clothing factory.”2
The Brotmanville Synagogue.
In an article titled, “The Last of the Jewish Farm Girls,” Lillian Greenblatt Braun, of Brotmanville, was profiled. The piece presents a touching picture of community life:
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“For fun, the children of Brotmanville played baseball in summer and skated on cranberry bogs in the winter. Mrs. Braun liked to ride the family's white mare, Nellie, and dive from the bridge into the tea-dark waters of the Maurice River.”3
The deep community connections forged by Abraham’s sense of social responsibility are evident in the lasting impact of his own descendants. According to Judge Stanley Brotman, Abraham’s grandson:
"I learned from him that you have to give something of yourself to people. For my grandfather, it wasn’t a matter of dollars and cents. It was doing something for his people."4
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Sources:
1. Tom Kinsella, Growing American: The Alliance Agricultural Colony in South Jersey-A History (Galloway, NJ: South Jersey Culture and History Center, 2021), 8.
2. “Our People of the Century, Abraham Brotman: Early Industrialist Knew His Workers Were The Key,” Cumberland County, NJ, http://www.co.cumberland.nj.us/Abraham-Brotman.
3. Andy Newman, “The Last of the Jewish Farm Girls,” New York Times, June 22, 2005.
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4. “Our People of the Century, Abraham Brotman,” Cumberland County, NJ.
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The Brotmanville Synagogue.