Babette Wampold Papers

As part of the American Soviet Jewry Movement holdings at the American Jewish Historical Society this collection documents the activities of the Alabama Council to Save Soviet Jewry and its leader Babette Wampold. The collection includes material related to the ACTSSJ and other organizations involved in the effort to free the Refuseniks and consists of articles, essays, correspondence, pamphlets, newsletter, photographs, audio-visual material, and more.

Series I: American Soviet Jewry Movement Organizations, consists of material that documents the activities of a few organizations that comprised the American Soviet Jewry Movement and is broken into two subseries. Sub-Series 1: Alabama Council to Save Soviet Jews, documents the activities of Babette Wampold and the Alabama Council to Save Soviet Jews (ACTSSJ). Such activities include programs to support Soviet Jews through pledges, Adopt a Family, to vigils for human rights. It also includes correspondence with Refuseniks and their family members outside of the Soviet Union, government officials, and scientists. Babette’s essays and editorials on the plight of Refuseniks can be found in this series. Additional material includes a scrapbook further documenting the establishment and activities of the Alabama Council to Save Soviet Jews. Sub-Series 2: Other Organizations, contains material that documents the activities of other American Soviet Jewry Movement organizations that Babette received and includes correspondence between the ACTSSJ and the other councils, their articles, newsletters, mailings, manuals, and booklets.

In Series II: Refusenik Case Histories, the plight of the Refuseniks is documented and includes brief biographical information and various letters and photographs meant for distribution in mailings to raise awareness and provide updates on their status.

Series III: Trip Reports, documents the travel and observations of American activists in the USSR as they attempted to contact Refuseniks and plea for their release.

Series IV, contains the subject files of Babette Wampold and ACTSSJ about various topics and matters pertaining to the overall American Soviet Jewry Movement. These include lists of Refuseniks and American and Soviet officials, newspaper clippings, maps, pamphlets, and Soviet propaganda.

Photographs are kept in Series V. These images, for the most part unidentified, provide snapshots of Refuseniks and activists. The contents of the images include the events of the ACTSSJ, Babette Wampold with various activits and dignitaries including U.S. President Jimmy Carter, in the Wampold home, and U.S. Senator Carl Levin. The series also includes a slide program assembled by the Chicago Action for Soviet Jewry titled Refuseniks: Their Faces, Their Faith. The audio component of this program is contained in the next series.

Series VI: Audio-Visual Material, contains the audio component to the slide program created by the Chicago Action for Soviet Jewry titled Refuseniks: Their Faces, Their Faith. Also included is a telephone interview with Refuseniks Valery and Janna Lerner and the Bussards. The U-Matic videocassette contains unknown material.

Series VII: Ephemera, includes four buttons used to promote awareness of the suffering of Soviet Jews and the efforts related to their release.