Julia’s
Clothier
c.1945-c.1970
Darlington, SC
FAMILIES: Leff
Julia Gordon Leff Kent (1914-2015) was one of six children born in Georgia to Russian immigrants Samuel (1884-1949) and Esther Solomon Gordon (1887-1948). Julia grew up in her father’s grocery store and by the late 1930s was working as the manager of Warner’s Dress Shop in Florence, South Carolina. Around 1940, she married a fellow store manager, Al Leff (1912-1980), and by 1950, both Al and Julia were listed in the census as self-employed and working in men’s and women’s retail respectively. By then, Julia was operating her own dress shop, aptly named Julia’s, in Darlington. She retired in the 1970s and moved to Florida where she met and married her second husband, Alexander “Alex” Kent.
Main Image: Obituary for Julia Gordon Leff Kent. Reprinted from the South Florida Sun Sentinel, August 31, 2015.
Above Image: Detail of paper bag from Julia’s. Courtesy of Darlington County Historical Commission & Museum, Darlington, SC