Rabbi Sidney A. Wolf
Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, on December 8, 1906, Sidney Wolf spent his childhood developing his skills as a pianist. In high school, he conceived the idea of using his musical talent to enhance a career as a rabbi. He studied Music at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and German at the University of Cincinnati, and received his ordination from Cincinnati's Hebrew Union College in 1932. That same year, he accepted a three month trial as rabbi for the new Temple Beth El in Corpus Christi. The trial turned into a forty-year career for Rabbi Wolf, who retired from the pulpit in 1972. During his tenure at Temple Beth El, Rabbi Wolf became known for his interfaith work and, in the era of Jim Crow segregation, for his support of integration of public facilities, such as the public golf course and at Temple Beth El. Beginning with Pastor Sidney Smith in 1950, the rabbi regularly invited African American pastors and choirs to worship, preach and sing at the temple. With Episcopal Rev. William Munds, he organized the country's earliest interfaith services; they preached from each other's pulpits on alternate Thanksgivings. In addition to serving his congregation and on many charitable boards, Rabbi Wolf shared his love of music with his community. In 1945, after years of effort, he helped organize the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra, which he promoted tirelessly. Shortly after their son's birth in 1936, his wife, Sarah Phillips, died. Rabbi Wolf remarried in 1938 to Bertha "Bebe" Rosenthal, also an accomplished musician. A daughter was added to their family in 1940. Before his death in 1983, Rabbi Wolf received numerous local and national honors for his humanitarian work. (2014)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A trained pianist ordained in 1932, Rabbi Sidney A. Wolf came to Corpus Christi's Temple Beth El for a three-month trial that became a forty-year career. In the Jim Crow years he championed integration and interfaith worship—regularly inviting African American pastors and choirs to his pulpit and trading Thanksgiving sermons with an Episcopal rector—and in 1945 he helped found the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra.
Why it matters
His ministry shows how faith leaders in the segregated South worked across racial and religious lines to build a more inclusive civic life.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
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