University professor, historian, and scholar Oscar I. Janowsky sought to understand Jewish culture and human rights in light of modern anti-Semitism, imperialism, and pluralistic states. Throughout his robust career he was a professor of history at the City College of New York, he also served as an advisor to League of Nations High Commissioner James G. McDonald, directed and authored major studies in the fields of Jewish community centers and education. The papers in this collection include his correspondence with colleagues and friends, research notes and article drafts, and his unpublished memoirs.

Manuscripts of plays, sketches, radio dramas, stories, articles and autobiographical writings in Russian, Yiddish, English, and German. Family correspondence. Clippings by and about Dymow. Theater programs, contract.

The Otto Mainzer collection documents the life and professional activities of Otto Mainzer, lawyer, writer, and financial consultant; the collection also sheds light on the life of Otto Mainzer’s wife, Ilse Wunsch, a musician and a teacher. The collection includes correspondence, financial, vital, immigration, and legal documents, notes, photographs, printed materials, and writings, by Otto Mainzer and Ilse Wunsch as well as a small number of manuscripts by other authors. The collection is divided into two distinct sections, one pertaining to Otto Mainzer and the other to Ilse Wunsch.

This collection contains a handwritten recipe book in Yiddish and German with entries dating to the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as some of Otto Leib's correspondence and essays from the late 20th century regarding the Jewish experience in Southern Germany and Switzerland.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Abbo Ostrowsky, including correspondence with many important figures from the art world, several of whom had been students of Ostrowsky at the Educational Alliance Art School. There is also information about Ostrowsky’s career as an artist, including some original artwork, exhibition catalogues, and photographs. These materials show Ostrowsky’s significant influence on modern Jewish art and on the success of the Educational Alliance as an institution.

This collection contains correspondence between Abraham Cahan and many important literary and political figures, as well as Yiddish manuscripts sent to Cahan for consideration in the Forward and notes and drafts of Cahan’s own writings. There are also several articles written about Cahan, before and after his death. These materials serve to illustrate both Cahan’s importance in the literary and publishing fields as well as his involvement in the American socialist and labor movements.

This collection contains manuscripts of some of the earliest Yiddish plays, correspondence between playwright, poet, and director Abraham Goldfaden, the father of Yiddish theater, and various actors and writers, as well as some family correspondence, newspaper clippings on Goldfaden and his impact on Yiddish theater, articles by Goldfaden on a variety of topics, and various other theater materials, such as title pages of plays, programs and song sheets. The collection illustrates Goldfaden’s great and ongoing influence on Yiddish theater.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Abraham Liessin, including correspondence with many important literary figures, manuscripts of essays and poems by Liessin from Di Tsukunft(The Future) and from his published works, clippings, receipts, invitations, and other materials relating to Liessin’s family. This collection shows how Di Tsukunft became one of the leading Yiddish literary journsl during hte 25 years of Liessin's editorship.

The papers pertain to Dr. Celia Stopnicka Heller's academic career as a sociologist, as well as to her own personal life. Heller's papers are predominantly in English, but also include items in Polish and Yiddish, as well as German, Spanish, and Hebrew. Includes Series I: "Writings and Publication Projects," 1952-2000; Series II: "Source Materials and Research Notes," 1943-2001; Series III: "Professional Correspondence," 1947-2000; and Series IV: "Biographical and Personal Materials," 1935-2000. Series contain research notes and an outline pertaining to Heller's M.A. thesis, Stoczek: Sociological Study of a Small-Town Jewish Community in Poland. Bound and unbound typescripts of the thesis. Ph.D. dissertation proposal. Publication materials associated with Heller's books: Mexican American Youth: Forgotten Youth at the Crossroads, Structured Social Inequality: A Reader in Comparative Social Stratification, New Converts to the American Dream? Mobility Aspirations of Young Mexican-Americans, Structured Social Inequality: A Reader in Comparative Social Stratification, and On the Edge of Destruction. Published articles. Programs. Flyers. Announcements. Public lectures. Interview transcripts. Student letters of recommendation. Course outlines and university programs. Documents pertaining to the Heller family estate. A published memoir by Heller's sister, Sarah K. Heller, The Journey Home: From Poland to the Promised Land (1993). Heller's childhood elementary and high school records. University diplomas. Resumes. Bibliographies. Correspondence of a personal and professional nature.

Gininger's etymological notes on various Yiddish words. Letters, including from Yudl Mark, Chaim Liberman (Lubavitch librarian), Max Weinreich, Sarah Reisen, Gershon Epstein. Photographs, including Zalmen Reisen, Itsik Manger, Ernest-Henry Levy, Cernauti school groups. Manuscripts of Alexander Harkavi's Der shpanisher lerer. Student examinations, Columbia University, 1971. Published linguistic articles by various scholars. Clippings from the Yiddish press on various writers, especially Itsik Manger. Letters, diary (in German) and poems (in German) by Gininger's wife. Concordance to the Yiddish works of Mendl Lefin Satanover.

This collection contains manuscripts of novels, short stories, poems, essays, lectures, speeches, translations, and other writings, correspondence, photographs, and personal documents and materials of Yiddish writer Chaim Grade and his wife Inna Hecker Grade. The collection helps to illustrate Grade’s literary development and impact on Yiddish literature over time, from his earliest poetic works written in Vilna and the Soviet Union, to his prolific and accomplished prose work composed mainly in the United States. The collection illuminates Inna Grade's intellectual and academic prowess, as well as the integral role that she played in the editorial and logistical aspects of Grade's literary output.

This collection contains correspondence between Chaim Zhitlowsky and many important political figures and organizations, as well as manuscripts and other writings, some written by Zhitlowsky and some written by others. There are also notes and other materials from speeches and lectures that Zhitlowsky gave, financial documents, articles written about Zhitlowsky, newspaper clippings of articles by Zhitlowsky, materials from celebrations held in Zhitlowsky’s honor, photographs, excerpts from his works, and various other assorted items. These materials serve to illustrate both Zhitlowsky’s importance in the Yiddish and Russian literary field and his deep involvement in the American and Russian-Jewish Socialist, Territorialist and Diaspora Nationalism movements.

This collection contains documents relating to David Pinski’s role as a Yiddish writer, playwright, essayist, translator, editor, literary critic, and author of novels, plays, short stories, essays, and poems. There is personal and professional correspondence, manuscripts of novels, plays, poems, essays, and articles, translations of Pinski’s works into English and Russian, lectures made on various occasions, personal documents and photographs, programs, notes, and newspaper clippings. These materials demonstrate Pinski’s important role in Yiddish drama and literature, Jewish community life and Yiddish cultural institutions.

The bulk of the collection consists of extensive card bibliographies relating to the personal lives and careers of hundreds of Jewish writers. There are an estimated 300,000 entries in this bibliography. Clippings of biographical articles about Yiddish writers and of literary reviews. Materials (mainly clippings) for a volume on Vilna which Jeshurin edited and published in 1935. Photographs of personalities active in the Workmen's Circle. Correspondence, including Simon Dubnow, Chaim Grade, Mani Leib, Melech Ravitch, Dov Sadan, Abraham Sutzkever, Uriel Weinreich.

The papers of artist Esther Lurie, including twelve original etchings and drawings based on her experiences in the Kaunas Ghetto. These are titled as follows: “Several Women Portraits;” “Portrait of a Woman;” “Man with Hat” (Mordechai Levtrov); “Self-Portrait” [two artworks]; “Joseph Lurie” (father of artist); “Girl;” “Potato Pickers” [three artworks]; “Man Sitting;” and “Woman Eating.” There is also a copy of Sketches From a Woman’s Labour Camp by the artist, which includes fifteen drawings by Lurie.

Other original works include: 1) a 24” x 28” oil painting of an European interior dating from 1939; 2) a 15” x 20” oil painting of an outdoor scene with a house, 1937; 3) the artist’s proof etching of a woman with a yellow star, undated; 4) an etching, numbered 1/130, titled “Zionist Congress,” undated; 5) and ten engraved copper or silver plates for the imprinting of etchings.

Also included are personal documents and correspondence, notably between Lurie and academics such as Paul Michaelis, as well as Lurie and Eli Weinberg, a Jewish anti-apartheid trade union activist and photographer in South Africa, during the 1930s. The collection includes approximately 20 photos taken by Weinberg, in addition to a copy of Weinberg’s published photo album, Portrait of a People.

The Grigori Gurevitch Papers consist of materials pertaining to his involvement with the revolutionary movement in the Russian Empire and abroad. The bulk of the collection consists of Gurevitch’s manuscripts on politics, history of Kiev, anti-Semitism, Russian political immigrants, and Jewish revolutionaries, notes, and drafts and also includes correspondence, small amount of clippings, receipts, two petitions, and a photograph

Manuscripts of Yiddish plays. Translations of Sloves's plays into French, German and English. Clippings, posters, programs, letters relating to performances of plays around the world. Photographs of performances. Various materials relating to Congress for Jewish Culture, Paris, 1937. Correspondence with individuals including Simone de Beauvoir, Nathaniel Buchwald, Abraham Golomb, Nachman Meisel, Zygmunt Turkow, Arnold Zweig.

This collection contains correspondence between Horace M. Kallen and many important individuals and organizations, as well as manuscripts, notes and other materials for speeches, financial documents, research materials, academic records, and various other assorted items. These materials serve to illustrate Kallen’s important role in philosophy, education, religion, and politics and his deep involvement with consumer rights, environmental controls, Jewish issues, and civil liberties.

This collection contains documents relating to Isaac A. Hourwich’s role as an economist, publicist, statistician, lawyer, author, and authority on immigration, as well as his involvement with the labor movement and the formation of the American Jewish Congress. There are reports, minutes of meetings, memoranda, clippings and correspondence, and manuscripts and articles about Jewish labor, Socialism, Russia, Marxism, immigration, and other subjects. These materials demonstrate Hourwich’s important role in American labor, immigration theory, and political and economic theory.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Isaac Nachman Steinberg, a Russian-Jewish political writer, leader of the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party during the 1917 revolution in Russia, People’s Commissar of Justice in the first Bolshevik government, leader of the Jewish Territorialist Movement and of the Freeland League for Jewish Territorial Colonization, and a founding member of the YIVO Institute in Vilna. These materials include Steinberg’s writings, personal correspondence, clippings, journals, meeting announcements, and some photographs. These materials relate mainly to Steinberg’s work with the Freeland League and plans for the large-scale settlement of Jews in various places around the world.

The papers of Cantor Isadore Singer, consisting of liturgical compositions in manuscript form for cantor, choir, or piano as compiled or composed by Cantor Isadore Singer. There are some Yiddish compositions as well. There are also as well as pieces of published liturgical sheet music composed by other composers such as Zavel Zilberts, Cantor Joshua Samuel Weisser, and Max Helfman; and Yiddish sheet music, mostly choral or theatrical compositions, from composers such as Leo Low, Sholom Secunda, Rubin Doctor, and Joseph Rumshisky.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of rabbi, Hebrew scholar, author, and editor Israel Elfenbein. These materials include correspondence with and relating to congregations, Hebrew periodicals, organizations, Elfenbein’s writings, personal correspondence, sermons, clippings, and manuscripts by Elfenbein and by other writers.

All materials relate to Cantor Jacob Goldstein.
Box 1 contains an extensive collection of newspaper clippings, most of them related to Goldstein's cantorial activities, letters of praise and thanks for his performances, business correspondence, and government correspondence related to his legal status in England. Box 2 contains an album of newspaper clippings. Box 3 contains newspaper clippings, a few photographs of Cantor Goldstein, and letters.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Joseph Buloff and Luba Kadison, leading actors of the Vilna Troupe and of the Yiddish and English stage, both in the United States and internationally. Most of the information concerns their theatrical careers, including play manuscripts, drawings and photographs of plays and actors, reviews, flyers, and musical scores. There is also some personal biographical information about Buloff, including his memoirs and audio cassettes of interviews. These materials show the importance and influence of Buloff and Kadison for Yiddish and English theater for over sixty years.

This collection contains the papers of Julian Hirszhaut, a Yiddish journalist and author of several works about the Holocaust in Poland. He collected a great number of historical documents on this topic, including hundreds of eyewitness accounts, which make up an important part of this collection. The materials in this collection relate to Hirszhaut’s important work gathering documents and testimonies of the Holocaust, as well as to his other professional activities as a journalist.

Papers of Julius (Yudl) Levitt, including photographs, albums, and clippings relating to his leadership and involvement with the Forverts and Workmen’s Circle (Abraham Liessen Branch #644) in Los Angeles. Also included is correspondence with contemporaneous Yiddish world leaders such as Abraham Cahan and David Dubinsky. Family photographs include portraits as well as photographs of Levitt’s family with Socialist Party of American leader Norman Thomas.

This collection, which is a sub-group of RG 294 Displaced Persons Camps, consists of the records of Leo W. Schwarz, the Director of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJDC/JDC) for the U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany during the years 1946-1947. The papers pertain to his work with the JDC in Germany and to the history of the Jewish displaced persons in Germany after World War II.

This collection contains materials relating to the musical and theatrical career of Ludwig Satz and includes sheet music, concert programs, a play script, and publicity notices. There are also paintings, printing plates, a walking cane, and a plaster head cast in the Museum collections.

The Marc Ratner Papers consist of materials pertaining to Marc Ratner's political activities as one of the leaders of the SERP (Sotsialisticheskaya Yevreyskaya Rabochaya Partiia, Jewish Socialist Workers' Party, Rus: Социалистическая еврейская рабочая партия) which was a left leaning Zionist revolutionary party. The collection consists of correspondence, circular letters, clippings, minutes of meetings, essays, manuscripts, political resolutions and statements. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence between party members, minutes of meetings and manuscripts.

Maxim Vinawer Papers consist of materials pertaining to Maxim Vinawer’s activities as a political and a communal leader. The collection covers the period between 1915 and 1926. These materials illuminate Vinawer’s participation in Russian politics as one of the leaders of the liberal Constitutional Democratic Party (Kadets), his appointment as a Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Crimean Regional Government in 1919, and his activities as a prominent figure among Zionist and émigré groups in Paris. The collection consists of correspondence, circular letters, memoranda, bulletins, clippings, minutes of meetings, essays, manuscripts, drafts and notes