Assimilation (Sociology)

This is the collection of Arthur A. Goren, a historian and professor of American Jewish history at the Hebrew University and Columbia University. This collection consists of his research material and professional files from his academic pursuits and career as a professor, primarily at Columbia University. Included in the collection are copies of articles and photocopies of archival material used for research, drafts of speeches and manuscripts, handwritten and typed research notes, correspondence, clippings, photographs, and teaching and course material such as syllabi, readings, notes, and bibliographies.

The collection contains correspondence among members of the Ehrenberg and Rosenzweig families, including let-ters from Franz Rosenzweig, Adam Rosenzweig, Philipp and Richard Ehrenberg, as well as with other parties, including Rudolph von Jhering, Betty Mauthner, Claire von Gluemer, Jacob Freudenthal and, in copies only, Leopold and Adelheid Zunz and Heinrich Heine. Also included are engagement contracts, marriage banns, school curricula and certificates, character refer-ences, eulogies, family histories, and other documents concerning family members. This material also reflects much of the history of the Samsonschule in Wolfenbuettel of which members of the Ehrenberg family were principals.

Original correspondence consists of one letter each to Peter Pringsheim (1912); Joseph Koeth (1928); and A. Sommerfeld; as well as six letters to Ernst Stern (1907-1908). A handwritten 1933 letter from Fritz Haber to Chaim Weizmann in Mannern, Switzerland (6 pages) is available as a photocopy only. Also included is a typescript by Hans Schaeffer on Jews in Breslau (photocopy), Die soziale, politische und religioese Stellung der juedischen Familien in Breslau um die Jahrhundertwende 1900. The typescript is part of a letter by Hans Schaeffer to Johannes Jaenicke, also in the collection.

Fritz Haber’s correspondence with Richard Willstaetter (all photocopies), 89 letters, 15 postal cards, 2 telegrams, 1910-1934

The Papers of Graenum Berger (1908-1999) document Berger's involvement with Ethiopian Jewry and his efforts to bring about their rescue from Ethiopia through his organization, the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ). The Papers also contain materials regarding Berger's other interests-his writings, his travels throughout the world, his community affiliations, his career as a Jewish social work executive, his commitment to Jewish causes, and his commitment to Israel. Also included are personal and biographical materials from his many long-term friendships and associations; correspondence, minutes, reports, clippings, manuscripts, research materials, journal articles, photographs, and publications.

This collection focuses on Anna Laqueur (nee Levy) (1850-1932), who became a matriach of the extended Laqueur-Levi family. Her spirited correspondence with her husband Siegfried Laqueur, a successful entrepreneuer, with her sons, her brother, her sisters, with an ever growing number of nephews and nieces, as well as her family's correspondence with her, reached an astounding volume. While it was possible to trace the lineage of the Laqueur family it required an extraordinary amount of patience and some guessing to establish the family relationships of the Levy clan, who like the Laqueur family originated from small towns in Silesia and who by virtue of hardwork and a well- focused business acumen achieved economic security. Their histories reflected in their correspondences and diaries are an example of the rise of German Jews from Eastern provinces from modest beginnings to a comfortable bourgeoisie. According to the grade of their assimilation it is not surprising that the second and third generation felt no longer restrained to marry outside the Jewish faith. Measured by the volume and intensity of the correspondence between the mother and sons Walter and Ernst, who both were to become physicians, it can be concluded that they were quite attached to each other. Unfortunately the bulk of the correspondence between Ernst and his mother is in shorthand. Anna, besides being the center of the Laqueur family, had wide ranging interests: poetry (mostly offered on festive occasions), correspondence with intellectuals (Geiger, Ludwig) and active involvement in social welfare and charities. She also travelled frequently. In short, she led a very active life, a true "mater familiae".

Articles

Original correspondence from Rahel Varnjagen as well as from her husband Karl August. Annotated handwritten transcripts of lost correspondence from and to Rahel Varnhagen, prepared before WW II. Also included are commentaries and essays.

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.

This collection contains papers of the ancestors of Franz Rosenzweig. Included are vital certificates, marriage and engagement contracts, school papers, military papers, letters, poems, photos, and clippings concerning members of the Rosenzweig, Ehrenberg, and Eisenberg families. There is also correspondence of Adam Rosenzweig, including letters from Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg and Leopold Zunz.

Vital documents, letters of protection and municipal citizenship, autograph albums, wills and testaments, marriage contracts, memoirs, obituaries, and clippings concerning members of the Valentin family, the family business, the freight-movers Jacob & Valentin, and related families, including the Abraham, Behrend, Loewen, and Mannheimer families; noteworthy documents include memoirs of the banker Samuel Liepmann Loewen, 1824, and records of the Prussian minter and medalist Jacob Abraham, 1753, as well as photocopies of records of his son, the minter Abraham Abramson.

This collection contains papers of several generations of the Veit and Simon families, including passports, letters of protection, contracts, wills, official and financial documents, and a few photographs. Some of the prominent individuals featured in this collection include Moses Mendelssohn, Dorothea Schlegel, and Meyer Amschel Rothschild.

The collection contains photocopies and microfilm reels with items from the Leopold Zunz Archives at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel.