Geiger, Abraham, 1810-1874

The collection contains original autographs as well as photocopied correspondence by Rabbi Abraham Geiger. Also included are a family tree of the Geiger family and a photograph.

This Collection consists primarily of English, German, Hebrew, and French language correspondence concerning Reform Judaism, Zionism; the founding of the American Jewish Historical Society; the Jewish Publication Society; B'nai B'rith; the legal position of Jews in England and the United States with particular reference to the Naturalization Acts; the religious and social life and the history of Jews in Russia and Poland; Bible readings in public schools; the study of Jesus in Jewish Sabbath Schools; anti-slavery issues in the Fremont Campaign in 1856; and other correspondence pertaining to his numerous activities.

The collection contains handwritten letters by a variety of prominent rabbis and Jewish thinkers, including Jacob Bernays, Philipp Bloch, Zacharias Frankel, Abraham Geiger, Heinrich Graetz, Ludwig Philippson, and Gabriel Riesser, all regarding applications and recommendations for positions at the Jewish teacher training school of the Marks-Haindorf-Stiftung in Münster. Two brief letters by Alexander Haindorf, the founder of the Marks-Haindorf-Stiftung, are administrative in nature. Also included is a passport issued to Hermann Steinthal by King Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia.

The collection contains certificates, diplomas, notes, correspondence, and other miscellaneous materials relating to Adolf Cohn.

Lectures; sermons; clippings; photos; correspondence.

The first folder contains a two part typescript by Salomon Samuel, a reflection on the period of Jewish emancipation (5600-5700, i.e. circa 1840 to 1938) titled "5600-5700. Rueckblick auf ein Jahrhundert juedischer Weltenaera". In the first part (27 pp.) Samuel describes the historical events from the so called "Damascus affair" (1840) to the Évian Conference (1938), in the second part titled "Religioese und geistesgeschichtliche Entwicklung" (179 pp.) the Jewish religious and intellectual developments in the Era of emancipation.

The second folder contains a photocopied typescript titled "Einfuehrung", the introduction to Samuel's "Ein Lehrbuch juedischer Religion" (published in 1930) and a biographical article by Samuel's son Jochanan Samuel (1901-1976) titled "Rabbiner Dr. Salomon Samuel" published in: Muenster am Hellweg. 6/9 (June, 1978). pp. 81-88.