Friedman, Lee M. (Lee Max), 1871-1957

The records of the American Jewish Historical Society, the oldest national ethnic historical organization in the United States, include correspondence of officers and staff as well as inter-office memos, multiple versions of the constitution and by-laws of the society, meeting minutes of administrative branches and committees, membership and financial records, reports, exhibit materials, records relating to the society’s library and archival holdings, press releases and newspaper clippings, and publications and newsletters created by the society. There are also materials from various programs, such as meetings and conferences, tours, lectures, awards and dinners, films, and educational programs.

Originally from England, the Franks family were colonial merchants who settled in New York City in the 1700s. This collection documents parts of their life through correspondence, legal documents, and financial records. The correspondence is primarily written by Abigail Franks in New York to her son, Naphtali, in England. Also included in the collection are the notes and correspondence of Dr. Leo Hershkowitz, who co-edited a book on the letters of the family entitled the Lee Max Friedman Collection of American Jewish Colonial Correspondence: Letters of the Franks Family (1733-1748), written with Isadore S. Meyer in 1968.

Collection consists of research notes, transcriptions, photostats, correspondence, and similar materials compiled by Friedman during the course of his research on the Franks family of London, New York, and Philadelphia.

Isidore Meyer was an editor (1940-1968), librarian (1940-1962) and archivist (1940-1968) at the American Jewish Historical Society and a rabbi at the Jewish Center of Bay Shore, Long Island (1937-1943). Also a historian, Meyer wrote and spoke on the use, study and impact of Hebrew language and texts during the colonial period in the United States. The collection documents his AJHS career, historical writing and research, rabbinical work, teaching experience and general professional activities. Materials include correspondence, manuscripts, notes, photostats, clippings, printed materials, photographs, slides and negatives.

Collection contains Friedman's graduation diploma from Roxbury Latin School (1890), a framed pass admitting Friedman to Distinguished Strangers' Gallery of the House of Commons (1946), Memorial exercises for Friedman held at the Boston Public Library (1957), a tribute to Friedman by Fanny Goldstein of the Boston Public Library (1957), a Republican ticket listing Friedman as a delegate to Congress (1906), and various newsclippings regarding Friedman's campaign for Tenth District Congressman (undated, 1906).