Balkan Peninsula

Real estate lawyer, judge, newspaper editor, and philanthropist, Myer S. Isaacs was the eldest son of the second English-speaking Rabbi in the United States, the Rev. Dr. Samuel M. Isaacs (1804-1878). The Isaacs Family were founding members of the New York-based Jewish civil rights organization, the Board of Delegates of American Israelites (1859-1878), published the Jewish Messenger (1859-1902), and Myer was the first president of the Baron de Hirsch Fund. This Collection contains documents deriving from Myer and Samuel Issacs, and Myer's brothers Abram (1852 or 53-1920) and Isaac Isaacs (1845-1907). Information concerning Myer's children may also be found, including documents from his son Stanley (1882-1962), Manhattan borough President and New York City Councilman. Includes correspondence, clippings, commencement programs, invitations, souvenir and anniversary programs, election campaign materials, obituaries, funeral programs, and citizenship papers.

The collection documents the work and correspondence of Joy Zacharia Appelbaum and reflects various aspects of her life, personal research and writings in the field of Sephardic Jewish culture and society, mainly as they made their way here in the United States. Collection consists in large part of a large array of newspaper and magazine articles describing Sephardic life in various areas of the world, and especially in the United States. An extensive portion of the collection examines the various customs and traditions found among the Sephardim, including customs for the Jewish Holidays (and especially Passover). The collection also includes a significant quantity of information about the American Sephardi Federation, focusing a great deal on its conventions and activities in the late 1980s to early 1990s. There is also a sizable amount of information about the Sephardic communities in the Ottoman regions of Turkey, Greece, and the Balkans, with a considerable amount of material that focuses on the Quincentennial celebrations held to commemorate the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.