Benjamin Rigberg was born in 1912 in the Jewish agricultural colony of Woodbine, New Jersey. His family moved to Philadelphia when Benjamin was five, and he grew up and attended school there. He received his BS from Temple University, his MA from the University of Illinois at Urbana, and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1946. Rigberg's studies in Jewish History and the Hebrew language included a year and a half at Gratz Hebrew College from 1929 to 1931, and a year and a half at the Jewish Theological Seminary from 1983 to 1985.

His wife, Katherine Rigberg, accepted a teaching position at Whitman College in 1998-99, and he discovered the existence of a small Jewish community. His interests in the history of the community led him to begin work on the Oral History Project of Congregation Beth Israel.

The materials in this collection document the history of the Jewish community in Walla Walla and the creation of the Congregation Beth Israel.