Anatomy class
The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
Henry J. Goldstein (1904-1998) grew up in East Liberty. He graduated from Schenley High School at age 16 and the University of Pittsburgh School of Dentistry at age 20. Soon after graduation he started a private practice in East Liberty, which he maintained for nearly 50 years. He spent several years in the Army Dental Corps during World War II.
Goldstein was the fifth of six children. He never married. In his later years he lived with his siblings Eli, Jean and Lillian, who also had not married. His sister Lillian Goldstein taught in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, finishing out her career as a Spanish teacher at Taylor Allderdice High School, where she was known as Senorita Goldstein. His sister Sadye Goldstein married Samuel Adler. Their daughter Natalie Adler married Judge Lawrence Kaplan.
Throughout his life, Goldstein was active in many organizations, particularly B’nai B’rith. After joining the Judge Josiah Cohen Lodge No. 1320 in 1951, he signed up some 1,100 members to the organization. In 1975, after retiring from dentistry, Goldstein recruited 260 charter members for the Dr. Eli Goldstein Lodge No. 2973, named for his brother. By the late 1990s, the lodge, whose motto was “Be Benevolent” and whose password was “Share,” boasted more than 1,000 members. Over the years, its trustees and board members included Judge Lawrence Kaplan and Harold Ruttenberg.
Goldstein was also active in the Freemasons, the American Legion Squirrel Hill Post and Rodef Shalom Congregation. He helped fund a chapel at UPMC Shadyside and a scholarship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. Individually, or with his sisters, he created other endowments and made numerous contributions to the community. As they grew older, Goldstein and his sisters traveled across the country and around the world. At home, he was a longtime member of the Schenley Park Golf Club.
