Charities

Collection consists of annual reports for the years 1857, 1859, and 1887. A golden Jubilee program dated January 1905 is also available.

This collection pertains to the family trees of Nathaniel M. Bier and the Wertheimber family. Furthermore the collection is a source for information on Jewish association and clubs in Frankfurt am Main between 1870 and 1939.

The Records of the Board of Delegates of American Israelites (1859-1878) documents the life cycle of the Board of Delegates, a Jewish civil rights organization located in New York City. The Board served in a two-fold function: acting as a central organization for American Jews and working on behalf of Jews abroad. To the latter end, the Delegates collaborated with the Committee of Deputies of British Jews and the French Alliance Israélite Universelle to provide for the relief and aid, civil, and religious rights of Jews throughout the Americas, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, particularly Romania, Ottoman Palestine including Jerusalem, and Morocco.

In the U.S., the Delegates were partially responsible for the appointment of the first Jewish Military Chaplain and surveyed member synagogues concerning the history and size of their congregation, the first organization to systematically record this type of information in the States. The Delegates merged with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) in 1878 and dissolved in 1925. Correspondents include Adolph Crémieux, Sir Moses Montefiore, Benjamin Franklin Peixotto, Isaacs S. Myer, the Rev. Dr. Arnold Fischel, and Maj. General Benjamin Butler. Documents include correspondence, minutes, committee reports, memorials, announcements, surveys, some printed material including clippings, and a 1932 Rabbinical thesis on the Delegates by Allan Tarshish.

Collection contains correspondence relating to the committee's fund-raising efforts throughout the United States to aid survivors of the Russian pogroms, both in Russia, and in the United States, with particular focus on orphaned children. Contains information on the condition of the Jews in Russia and Roumania during and after the pogroms; on the relief and removal activities in Europe, in general, and Russia, in particular; on the self-defense movement and defense fund; immigration procedures and work of the Industrial Removal Office; and some financial and executive committee reports.

The officers of the Committee were Oscar Solomon Straus, chairman, Jacob Henry Schiff, treasurer, and Cyrus Leopold Suizberger, secretary.

Contains printed and manuscript letters, written in English, Yiddish and Hebrew, requesting funds, addressed to Emily Phillips from the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, private individuals and private institutions.

Of special interest are a printed announcement of the investiture of Jacob Saul ben Eliezer Elyasher as Haham Bashi, and a series of letters in which Simon Muhr, acting on Miss Phillips' behalf, undertook to discover, through inquiries of Lazard Freres, France, whether the claims of a petitioner were correct. Includes also a printed New Year's greeting to Miss Phillips signed by a petitioner.

The Freedom Benevolent Society was a mutual aid and fraternal organization founded by Jewish immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1882, on the Lower East Side of New York City. Originally known as the Erster Kaiser Franz Josef Kranken Unterstützungs–Verein, or the First Franz Joseph Sick and Benevolent Society, it was incorporated in 1883. Its main purpose was to provide its members with sick benefits, and relief in times of need, as well as fellowship and entertainment. Eventually it also functioned as a burial society, and maintained cemetery plots. The collection documents the society's activities over more than a century, from 1884 until its initiation of dissolution proceedings, in 1991. It includes membership applications from the early decades of the society's history (1884-1927), anniversary programs spanning fifty years (1932-1982), and a visitors' register for the 1500th meeting, in 1950, as well as account books, meeting notices, and two cemetery plans, one of which relates to the Franz Joseph Ladies Sick and Benevolent Society.

This collection contains correspondence, legal documents, and miscellaneous items concerning the personal lives and business interests of brothers Barnard (1738-1801) and Michael Gratz (1740-1811). It also contains the correspondence of Rebecca Gratz (1781-1869), Michael Gratz's daughter.

Contains two minute books for the years 1871-1892, and 1896-1906, of the activities of the Association. Includes: its constitution, by-laws, and amendments, a member list, a scrapbook of correspondence containing information on charitable disbursements, an 1866 Purim Ball Program (scroll), and miscellaneous documents.

This collection contains a printed copy of a proposal in Hebrew and English, dated 1824 from Solomon Herschell, The Chief Rabbi of England, to form the Hebra Tarumot Hakodesh. Also included are; a printed extract of the constitution and a report of the activities of the Society published in New York in 1846; a printed request for assistance from the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Palestine, Hayyim Abraham Gagin; and manuscript letters in Hebrew and English from Palestine acknowledging receipt of funds. I.B. Kursheedt was the President of the Society in America.

The collection consists of the records of the Herman Muehlstein Foundation from 1947 to 2007. The Herman Muehlstein Foundation was a philanthropic organization that gave generously to educational institutes and agencies that supported Herman Muehlstein’s mission to improve the life and quality of young men and women in need of financial assistance. The Herman Muehlstein Foundation was established in 1947 and closed in 2005. The collection consists of correspondence, meeting minutes, legal papers, and grant proposals.

Materials pertaining to the creation, work, and liquidation of the social service company, the "Isachar Widows and Orphans Benevolent Society".

This collection contains correspondence, press clippings, and other materials relating to Fein's career and activities while editor-in-chief and publisher of Moment magazine.

Collection consists of genealogical data pertaining to the family of Rabbi Mendel Rosenbaum of Zell in Germany, and a publication in his memory. Both items are in German. Also contains photocopies of the autobiography of Abraham Gruenbaum, a descendant of Rabbi Mendel Rosenbaum, in the translator's notes and the epilogue, and a diary of Abraham Gruenbaum's trip to Palestine in 1884/85.

Gruenbaum took an active part in the founding of Agudas Israel.

Contains a letter written by Montefiore to Gershom Kursheedt after Montefiore's return from a trip abroad, expressing his best wishes to Kursheedt, and asking that he come to England for a few months to discuss the final plans for the Judah Touro bequest for Palestine, administered by Montefiore. Also includes a letter by Montefiore to Mr. Kosch of Khebrat Sha'arey Beenah; a letter to Montefiore from Henry A. Henry about Hyman Moses; tributes for Montefiore's 99th and 100th birthdays; and a newsclipping on the Mortara Affair.

Collection consists of typewritten oral history transcripts of executives in the United Jewish Appeal and the Jewish Welfare Federation in Detroit. The interviewees are Herbert A. Friedman (1918- ), fomer Executive Chairman of the UJA; Lawrence H. Rubinstein (1940- ), former Executive Director of the UJA's National Young Leadership Cabinet; and Leonard N. Simons (1904- ), former Campaign Director for the Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit and Detroit Civic Leader. Also includes inventories for oral histories available at the Federation of Jewish Agencies of Greater Philadelphia, and the Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee.

Ms. Brandmark conducted research on early Jewish wills in New York City in order to complete the requirements of an undergraduate course conducted by Leo Hershkowitz at Queens College. Her research includes typed worksheets for each will, statistical charts compiling information in various categories, and lists of death records by synagogue name.

The collection includes an annual report, brochures, photographs, newsclippings, and issues of the resident newsletters Pride Survey and the Judea Journal, and the alumni newsletters The Voice and Rose Nadler Schefer Chapter. Some photographs contain names of those depicted. The collection also contains articles and a publisher's order form for the 1998 release of the book An Orphan Has Many Parents as well as information and newsclippings of a 1933 Rockaway Beach outing that ended in tragedy.

The records include an advisory council handbook, agendas, Board resolutions, by-laws, certificates of incorporation, correspondence, financial records, memorandum, minutes, and project outlines. Of interest is Ehud Barak's involvement in the organization, and the subsequent demand from Yitzhak Rabin's son Yuval to see the organization's legal filings, minutes, and tax forms.

The records of Temple Beth El offer a valuable insight into a small town Southern Jewish community. The community members, composed mainly of German Jews devoted to the Reform movement, participated actively in charity work and mutual benefit societies, and maintained a close relationship with Jewish communities throughout the South. Temple Beth El was one of the first members of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Its history reflects the struggles a small town Jewish community experienced in maintaining their Jewish identity as well as the cooperation and acceptance of their non-Jewish neighbors. A significant part of the collection concerns the activities of women in the Helena Jewish community, who were a tight knit group that conducted extensive charity work. The Sisterhood took an active role as member of the Mississippi-Arkansas Federation of Temple Sisterhoods. The records also include minute books for the B'nai B'rith Esther Lodge. The collection contains correspondence, real estate deeds, financial ledgers, minute meetings, news clippings, a scrapbook, and photographs.

Collection contains records of donations made throughout New York State to assist in the rebuilding of schools and synagogues destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake. Includes the membership lists of the New York Board of Rabbis, Rabbis in New York State, and of congregations in New York State.

This collection contains correspondence dealing with requests for aid from relatives of Americans in Russia and German occupied Europe obtained through the Jewish Colonization Association office in Petrograd and the Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden. Those aiding in the search for relatives in America include the New England Branch of the A.J.R.C., the Philadelphia Branch of the A.J.R.C. (Cyrus Adler), the Buffalo Relief Committee, the Chicago Jewish courier, Chicago Jewish Relief Committee, Cincinnati United Jewish Charities, Hartford Central Jewish War Relief Committee, and the New York Jewish daily forward. Also contains appeal leaflets, the program of a benefit held in Carnegie Hall, addresses by Jacob Billikopf, Herbert H. Lehman, Solomon Schechter, and Felix Warburg and circulars from the Reichsverband Ostmarkenhilfe.

The records in this subgroup belong to the Records of the Central Sephardic Jewish Community of America, and document activities of the Community's Women's Division. The materials include correspondence, minutes of meetings, annual reports, budgets, records related to planning of annual events, publications and clippings, membership lists, financial papers, and photographs. See Guide to the Records of the Central Sephardic Jewish Community of America.

The Grand Street Boys' Association began in 1916 as a reunion of men who had grown up on or near Grand Street in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan and quickly grew into an active club, open to all men (and eventually women) regardless of religion, ethnicity, or social class. The Association promoted welfare projects, acts of fellowship and tolerance, scholarships, youth employment, war efforts, and the elimination of discrimination in sports, among other projects. The collection documents the activities of the Association, as well as the Grand Street Boys' Foundation, its financial arm established in 1945, and its Hobbycraft Program, a charitable program tasked with collecting and redistributing donated items to charitable and nonprofit organizations. Materials include administrative records, financial records, correspondence, minutes, membership records, newsletters, yearbooks, artifacts, and photographs.

The Industrial Removal Office was created as part of the Jewish Agricultural Society to assimilate immigrants into American society, both economically and culturally. It worked to employ all Jewish immigrants. The collection contains administrative and financial records, immigrants' removal records, and correspondence. A database has been constructed to search for persons removed by the Industrial Removal Office.

The records consist of a 1946 bulletin from Temple Emanu-El (Birmingham, Ala.), memorandum from the national NCJW Social Legislation Committee concerning health legislation (1947), Section meeting minutes for May 1949, correspondence lobbying for the Displaced Persons Act, information on voting in the 1950 and 1952 Democratic primaries, a newsletter issued by the United Fund of Birmingham for its 1956 campaign drive, and a 1977 survey of the needs of the older Jewish population of Birmingham.

The records of the National Council of Jewish Women, New York Section document the organization's community service, advocacy, and supportive administrative, fundraising, membership, and public relations activities from the Section's early years to the present. Included is a large amount of material from the National Organization in relation to the New York Section. This material is dated from 1896 to 1999 and consists of administrative, events, and advocacy matters. The New York Section's community services files include its work on aging, child care, consumer telephone referrals, counseling support, crime prevention, the disabled, domestic violence, early child education, feminism, homelessness, hunger, immigrants, Israel, Jewish education and promotion, literacy, probation, the sick, summer recreation for children and the elderly, and war relief. The Section's advocacy files consist of lobbying efforts for the rights of children, the disabled, the elderly, families, the homeless, immigrants, Israel, and women. The collection is primarily in English, with some Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Greek, Spanish, Chinese, and Italian. Among the types of material are audio tapes, blueprints, correspondence, minutes, photographs, publications, scrapbooks, and scripts.

The Robison Family Fapers reflect various activities of Adolf C. and Ann Green Robison in civic organizations, Jewish communal life, Jewish national and international affairs, and individually in the arts. The collection contains information on the origins of the United Nations; and on aid to Israel before, during, and after the War of Independence. The materials include correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports, financial documents, newspaper clippings, photographs, diaries, scrapbooks, musical scores, and play scripts.

Collection primarily consists of labels and stamps from various political or religious Jewish organizations. Additional material includes two Judaica catalogs, correspondence, pamphlets, and stock certificates. Of interest is a map showing places of Jewish interest, circa. 1900. Six stamps portray the work of Arthur Szyk.

The children and descendants of Isaac Mendes and Rachel Levy Seixas included individuals who had a great impact on communal affairs and colonial Jewish life in New York, Philadelphia, Newport, and Richmond. Though this collection does not preserve the total volume of papers produced by every family member, the documents contained herein demonstrate the importance of the family in both Jewish and secular life in late 17th and early 18th century North America.

The collection is valuable to researchers studying the Seixas family; civic, mercantile, and religious contributions of Jews in the colonial era; Jewish communities in New York, Philadelphia, Newport, and Richmond; the importance of religion to Colonial Jews; Jewish participation in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and World War I; Jewish converts to Christianity; Jews as masons; and Congregation Shearith Israel of New York.

Prominent individuals in this collection include: Ephraim Hart, Grace Seixas Judah, Mrs. Jesse Judah, Israel Baer Kursheedt, Sarah Seixas Kursheedt, Hayman Levy, Nicholas Low, Isaac Moses, Naphtali Taylor Phillips, Benjamin Mendes Seixas, David G. Seixas, Gershom Mendes Seixas, Isaac Benjamin Seixas, Isaac M. Seixas, Jacob B. Seixas, Joshua Seixas, and Moses Mendes Seixas.

The collection includes: account records, books, circumcision instructions and register, correspondence, drawings, estate papers, a eulogy, family trees, legal documents, petitions, photographs, prayer books, a sermon, and shipping records.

This collection is arranged into four series: Series I: Family Papers; Series II: Moses Seixas (1744-1809); Series III: Gershom Mendes Seixas (1746-1816) and descendants; and Series IV: Benjamin Mendes Seixas (1748-1817) and descendants.

The Society was named after "Papa" Seligman Solomon (1822-1884), a German Jewish immigrant who accumulated wealth in New York real estate. Retiring at age 38, Solomon devoted his time to works of charity, particularly in the care of orphans at the Hebrew Orphans Asylum (HOA) in New York. When Solomon died, a group of alumni from the HOA formed the Society to carry on Solomon's work. The group perpetuated Solomon's memory, helped orphans, and performed charitable works. Members included Louis Freund, Max Kaufman, Charles Herman, Edward Lauterbach, and bandleader Edwin Franko Goldman. The Society eventually merged with another group of alumni, The Academy Alumni, to form the HOA Association in 1956. The collection includes correspondence from Jewish World War I soldiers as well as other correspondence, Society member lists, photographs, a Souvenir Journal, and minutes.