Leo Hershkowitz Collection of Court Records

This collection consists of court records including affidavits and orders related to cases of divorce, naturalization, business and estate disputes, and petitions for guardianship, among a variety of other lawsuits presumably by Jews based on name or company of those involved in lawsuits. These records describe lawsuits between individuals as well as between individuals and companies or entities (like congregations). For example, there are a handful of lawsuits against railway companies, including the Metropolitan Elevated Railway, the Metropolitan Street Railway Company and the Manhattan Railway Company, located in Box 11, Folder 18; Box 40, Folders 1 and 2; Box 60, Folders 16 and 17; Box 63, Folder 9.

Many of these records are handwritten. All of them were folded, pinned and tied together for decades and are extremely brittle as a result.

This collection is almost entirely court records, excluding one document titled, Name Index to Partially Processed Original Court Documents of New York City Court Records Located in Basement of American Jewish Historical Society, Waltham, MA. This includes the name of the party to case, the opposing party, the date and type of case (ranging from alimony, dissolution of partnership, cruel treatment and fraud, contempt and harassment, among others). This document can be found in Series II, Box 62, Folder 1.