Ramsay Leimenstoll

Yiddish Book Center (Allie)

Ramsay Leimenstoll was interviewed by Emma Morgenstern on February 28, 2011 at the Yiddish Book Center. Ramsay begins her interview with a quick overview of her family’s history describing her mother as a 7th generation German and her father a 5th generation Scott. She considers herself American, and explains how she was raised in the Presbyterian church in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ramsay describes live in Greensboro rather different from what many perceive of as the South. Her community had a good art scene and was quite diverse, an aspect that Ramsay explains was crucial to her own interests. Growing up, Ramsay was always interested in Jewish culture, and spends a portion of her interview explaining the deep rooted Jewish community in Greensboro, a city founded by Jews and Quakers. Ramsay then goes on to describe how she ended up at Smith College studying comparative literature and Jewish studies. Much of Ramsay’s interview focuses on her time abroad in Paris, and the numerous internships she has had as a Smith undergraduate. Ramsey divulges her intense passion for languages which eventually leads to her explaining her interest in Yiddish. Ramsay discusses her Smith advisor, Justin Cammy, as well as the experience studying during the January Term at the National Yiddish Book Center as she details her Yiddish learning process. Ramsay intersperses much of her interview with recollections of her work in Paris and her hopes to work in Turkey. Her interview ends discussing her surprise to find out how many different opinions were held on Yiddish language acquisition and culture; a topic she had never thought about so thoroughly. To learn more about the Wexler Oral History Project, visit: http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/tell-your-story To cite this interview: Ramsay Leimenstoll Oral History Interview, interviewed by Emma Morgenstern, Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project, Karmazin Recording Studio, Yiddish Book Center, February 28, 2011. http://archive.org/details/RamsayLeimenstall ( [date accessed] )