Rabbi Oscar M Lifshutz (1916-1990), served as Army Chaplain during World War II and Korea. This collection contains photocopies documenting his life.

The collection documents portions of the life of the art dealer and publisher Otto Kallir (originally Otto Nirenstein). It contains papers on his military career from 1914 to 1918 as well as an extensive volume of his war diaries. Enclosed are also the memoirs of various family members documenting family history. Finally there is a small amount of correspondence from Otto Kallir and family members.

Genia Silkes, a teacher in pre-war Poland, dedicated her postwar career to the history of the Holocaust. The testimonies of Polish Holocaust survivors, of which there are 64 from children and 9 from adults, have great historical value. Also included are her research notes, records of her speaking engagements, and personal letters and photographs.

The collection contains papers and artwork of Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert, sculptor and designer of Jewish ceremonial objects. The collection includes clippings and publications about Wolpert's art, correspondence, personal documents, index cards, photographs, negatives, slides, sketches and paper models of objects Wolpert designed. Art work, such as sketches and models as well as photographs of art work constitute the larger part of this collection. The materials span 1927-1992 with the bulk of papers falling between the 1960s-1980s.

This collection contains the papers of Tashrak, the American Yiddish humorist and journalist. It consists primarily of clippings of Tashrak’s columns and about Tashrak, but also contains correspondence, including his correspondence with Sholem Aleichem, and manuscripts created when he adapted his works for performance.

This collection holds the correspondence and papers of the professor Paul Proskauer, his brother Henry (Hans) Proskauer, and to a lesser extent, his parents. Although personal correspondence comprises the bulk of the collection, an additional focus is his and his brother's professional reviews and articles. Further materials include official documents, photo and postcard albums, programs, a diary and newspaper and magazine clippings.

The Perlmann Family Collection consists of papers of members of the Perlmann and related families, including the Spiero and Jolowicz families. It includes genealogy and biographies of these families and also of members of the related Lewald and Simson families. Some material on the city of Königsberg is also present. The collection consists of correspondence, genealogical research, family trees, biographies, articles, newspaper clippings, official documents, a few postcards and photographs, a memorial book and a few pamphlets.

This record group contains personal papers and special collections documenting individuals, both Hadassah members and non-Hadassah members, who were important to Hadassah. Much of the material forming the collections in this record group came from the administrative files of the national office of Hadassah, though some of the material was donated to Hadassah. Key individuals represented within this record group include Hadassah national board members Anna Tulin Elyachar, Bertha S. Schoolman, and Denise Tourover Ezekiel, as well as Jesse Zel Lurie who served as the first professional editor of Hadassah Magazine (originally Hadassah Newsletter) from 1947 to 1980.

The papers of Jewish civic leader Philip Bernstein contain writings and professional papers related to his career with the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, including his participation in the establishment of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and the National Jewish Community Relations Council, and his work with many other Jewish communal organizations, including the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Joint Distribution Committee, the United Jewish Appeal, and the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York.

The collection documents Rabbi Philip Goodman’s involvement with the American Jewish Historical Society, the early years of the Orthodox Union, the Institutional Synagogue in Harlem and its day camp, the Army and Navy commission of the Jewish Welfare Board during World War II, a fraternal club originating in the Uptown Talmud Torah, The Jewish Book Council of America, The Townsend Harris High School and its Hatikvah Society, Yeshiva University, Jewish scouting, and more. The collection contains addresses, articles, bulletins, correspondence, commencement book, guest book, newsclippings, newsletters, photographs, radio broadcast transcripts, souvenir journal, and yearbook.

Contains the 1969, and 1971-1973 issues of The South End, the Wayne State University student paper. Also includes: correspondence, public statements, petitions, and a tape-recording relating to controversies generated by the printing of alleged anti-Zionist/anti-Semitic articles in the newspaper. The correspondence consists for the most part of an exchange of letters between university officials, Jewish community leaders and Leonard N. Simons, a Detroit advertising executive, during the 1969 controversy; and correspondence with Philip Slomovitz, editor of the Detroit Jewish news, in 1972-73. The tape recording is of a February 2, 1969 interview with John Watson, editor of the South End.

The Rahn Family Collection centers on the lives of Alfred and Lilli (née Bechmann) Rahn, but also contains many documents of their parents, siblings, and even more distant family members. It also documents the family members' attempts to receive restitution for their losses. The collection includes a large amount of correspondence, official, personal, and legal documents, photographs and photo albums, financial documentation, manuscripts and fragments of creative and academic writing, family trees and genealogical notes, newspaper clippings, poetry, educational certificates and diplomas, texts of lectures, teaching materials, a few recipes, and other papers.

This collection contains correspondence, official documents, photographs, and other archival materials pertaining to Ralph Moratz (1931-2016) and to his project to locate fellow survivors of his Kindertransport from Berlin to France in 1939. After arriving in France, Moratz and thirty-nine other boys sought refuge in the Chateau de Quincy, a Jewish Orphanage near Paris. In 1941, Moratz was able to escape occupied France with assistance from the Children's Aid Society OSE and resettle in New York.

Raphael Lemkin, an international lawyer, initiated the use of the term "genocide," and succeeded in persuading the United Nations to adopt the Genocide Convention in 1948. Documents include personal correspondence and artifacts; correspondence, documentation, clippings, and articles regarding the United Nations adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment on the Crime of Genocide treaty; and source material for the unfinished manuscript, History of Genocide. Collection also includes photographs, identity cards, articles, papers, essays, clippings, magazines, research materials, term papers, posters, United Nations materials, and microfilm.

Founded in 1969, the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ) was instrumental in the international effort to promote recognition of the Beta Israel (known among non-Jewish Ethiopians as "Falashas") by Israeli authorities, and to assist Jewish emigration from Ethiopia to Israel. The extensive files of the AAEJ include case work files, research materials and Jewish artifacts collected in Ethiopia by AAEJ workers. In the wake of the successful evacuation of Ethiopian Jewry to Israel in 1993, the AAEJ decided to disband and voted to deposit its records at the American Jewish Historical Society. Included are correspondence, office files, photographs, slides, videotapes, audiocassettes and other materials which pertain to AAEJ's efforts to raise the consciousness of the American Jewish community about this unique Jewish subculture. The organization's papers supplement those of its founder, Graenum Berger, which are also held at the American Jewish Historical Society.

Century Productions produced the one-woman show, "Hannah Senesh: Portrait of a Woman Warrior," written and directed by David Schechter and starring Lori Wilner as Senesh. The script was based on the diaries and poems of the WWII Hungarian-Jewish paratrooper Hannah Senesh, with songs and music composed and arranged by Steven Lutvak with additional music by Schecter and Elizabeth Swados. “Hannah Senesh” ran at the Cherry Hill Theater in New York City from 1984-1985 and traveled throughout the U.S. and Israel until 1987.

Present Tense magazine, which was published by the American Jewish Committee from 1973-1990, published articles on Jewish affairs with an international bent. These papers contain the letters of the magazine’s editor, Murray Polner, photographs collected for publication, and subject files which consist primarily of article proofs and correspondence with contributing authors.

The American Jewish Alternatives to Zionism Collection consists of correspondence, articles, pamphlets, speeches, lectures, and reports issued by the organization lobbying its stance on Jewish anti-Zionism as a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict from 1959 to 1988.

This collection contains histories of the Asylum (1878-1939), Certificate of Incorporation (1878, 1900, 1926), Constitution and By-Laws (1894), Board of Directors Minutes (1921-1953), Annual Reports (1878-1958), Admission and Discharge Records (1899-1960), Women's Auxiliary Minutes (1922-1955), a statistical report (1957), papers re the Asylum's merger with the Jewish Child Care Association (1960), and various Alumni Society Publications and Scrapbooks (1912-1940).

This collection contains files relating to the history, mergers and functions of the Association, By-Laws (1960), Committees' records, President's reports (1949-1952), Executive Director's reports (1949-1952), Treasurer's reports (1945, 1948-1949), annual reports (1972, 1984-1990), and papers re various activities, including Childville, Edenwald, Foster Home Department (including material from the European Jewish Children's Aid Project), Friendly Home for Girls, Girls' Club Group Residence, Pleasantville, Psychiatric Clinic, Social Services Department, Sylvan Stix Workshop, and Vocational Services. Includes also statistical reports (1946-1970), and Studies on the Association (1949-1972), the Manual of Policies and Procedures (1972), and files on child care conferences, property sales, annual dinners, awards and ceremonies, the 75th anniversary celebration, the 150th anniversary celebration, Herman W. Block, the Child Care Alumni Council (1954-1964), the League to Aid Hebrew Infants (1948-1953), studies and papers by Association staff, memos, publications ("P.C.S. World," "Bulletin," "Our Children," "JCCA journal"), promotional material, photographs, and voluminous scrapbooks.

The collection contains the records of the Jewish Defense League (JDL), a militant Zionist organization with a stated goal to protect Jews from all forms of antisemitism. The materials document the origins of the JDL, the organization's mission statement and recruitment strategies and account for its most definitive actions. The collection also reflects the League's turbulent relationship with, and its criticism of the mainstream Jewish agencies, as well as examples of criticism of the League's controversial methods from various sources. The collection prominently covers the JDL's role as a pioneer of the American Soviet Jewry movement. Materials on the 1971 World Conference of Jewish Communities are also included. The documents include the Articles of the Organization, correspondence and press releases, membership and recruitment materials, newsletters, newspaper clippings and ephemera.

The records chronicle the ideology behind the Reconstructionist movement, the founding and activities of the Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, and its growth and transformation from an ideology and movement into an established American Jewish denomination, Reconstructionist Judaism. The records also document two seminal figures in Reconstructionist Judaism, Mordecai Menahem Kaplan and Ira Eisenstein. Included in the collection are the administrative records of the Foundation (minutes, financial records, bylaws), publications produced by the Foundation including manuscript submissions for the influential publication The Reconstructionist, correspondence, sermons, prayer books produced by the Foundation, syllabi, sheet music, photographs, and speeches, among other material. In the correspondence are letters from Martin Buber, J. Edgar Hoover, and Albert Schweitzer.

Founded in 1970 as a constituent organization of the North American Jewish Students’ Appeal, the Jewish Student Press Service (JSPS) served as a provider of student-written feature articles and news distributor for the Jewish student and young adult publishers in North America and Israel. This collection documents the activities of the JSPS from its founding to 1987 and includes correspondence, meeting minutes, flyers, and unpublished articles. The majority of the collection is made up of mailing packets, later known as Jewish Press Features.

The collection documents the advocacy on behalf of the Soviet Jewry of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, a non-profit organization concerned with Jewish social justice and legislative activity in Washington, D.C.

The collection includes correspondence; poetry and manuscript drafts; official, educational and military documents; sermons; newspaper clippings; family trees; notes; and a few photographs.

This collection consists of Richard M. Sheirich’s materials pertaining to his research on Richard Beer-Hofmann’s private correspondence and works. In addition to the original papers, correspondence, notes, and photos of Richard Beer-Hofmann and his family that Richard M. Sheirich gathered, the collection contains Sheirich’s correspondence with Richard Beer-Hofmann’s daughter Miriam Beer-Hofmann Lens, his and other scholars’ works on Beer-Hofmann, several photocopies of the original Beer-Hofmann papers, and Sheirich’s notes.

This collection contains the documents of diplomat Richard Straus, his wife Elaine, and his son Alan in addition to documentation on his extended family members, especially including members of the Straus, Heimberger, and Niedermann families. The most prominent topics in the collection relate to Richard Straus's role as diplomat, family members' emigration and Holocaust experiences, and Alan Straus's early life, although material relating to family members' lives in Germany prior to the 1930s is also present. The collection includes extensive personal family correspondence and photographs; official, educational, and professional documents; family members' writings as well as articles about them; childhood and educational memorabilia; and documentation related to the deaths of family members.

The collection contains personal papers of the American Soviet Jewry movement activist Robert Mednick. Serving as a worldwide managing partner in a prominent Chicago-based holding company Arthur Andersen LLP, Mednick used his professional connections in big business and in the United States and European governments to obtain exit visas for over twenty Soviet Jewish Refusenik families. The collection consists primarily of Mednick's correspondence with the Refuseniks, other Soviet Jewry movement activists, American and foreign government officials, and international business leaders, including American corporate moguls and philanthropists Armand Hammer and Guilford Glazer, and British historian Sir Martin Gilbert. Also included are reports on Mednick's trip to the Soviet Union, presentations on Soviet Jewry and his Congressional Testimony on Soviet interference with mail.

Robert Raphael Geis (1906-1972) was a rabbi, educator, and Jewish theologian. He identified strongly with German liberal Judaism, but his keen interest in Jewish studies brought him close to leaders of conservative Judaism as well. Before the Second World War Robert Raphael Geis worked as a rabbi for the youth and Religion teacher in Munich and Mannheim, and as a rabbi in Kassel, Germany. After the war he served as a rabbi in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany. In the early 1960s, Raphael Robert Geis became engaged in the dialog of Protestant and Jewish theologians. The Robert Raphael Geis collection consists mainly of correspondence and writings. There are only a few personal documents. The writings consist of newspaper articles, reviews of books on Jewish topics and sermons for major Jewish holidays. The correspondence has two main foci: the periods before and after the Second World War. The first period is characterized by letters written by various leading figures of Jewish communities in Germany and is concerned with employment opportunities for young rabbis, as well as insights into inner workings of congregations. A large amount of letters from this period also come from Robert Raphael Geis' students. The correspondence written after the war centers on theological matters and the workings of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der "Juden und Christen" (Working Group of "Jews and Christians").

This collection documents the life and activities of dancer and activist Ronya Schwaab. The collection contains material related to her activities advocating for Soviet Jews, lecturing on various topics, her trips abroad, and writing reviews for numerous books. It also includes correspondence with family, friends, and various officials in both the public and non-profit spheres of politics and business. The collection contains numerous photographs and certificates that further document her activities and accomplishments.