Baltimore (Md.)

Photocopy of the Record book of Abraham Selz of Niederstettin, Germany (and later of Baltimore, MD) contains records in Hebrew, Yiddish, and German regarding the circumcisions of over 450 boys in Niederstettin and its surrounding towns. Also includes one folder of background information on Abraham Selz.

This collection primarily consists of letters written to Albert Bamberger from his parents and brother between 1938 and 1941. His mother was able to acquire an affidavit of support for one family member to immigrate to the United States from Germany, in 1938; Albert was chosen and settled in Baltimore. The letters mostly concern the (ultimately failed) emigration attempts of Bamberger's parents and brother. The collection also contains other correspondence as well as materials reflecting Bamberger's efforts to secure his family's immigration into the United States.

Contains a diary (68 pages) kept by Harkavy of his trip to Europe and Canada in the interests of Jewish emigration, 1906-1907, three printed lectures of a course in English given by Harkavy for the Jewish Home University (1926), the manuscript of a Hebrew-English-Yiddish dictionary begun by Harkavy but not completed (1934, 53 p.) and correspondence, including letters to him from Aaron S. Bettelheim (Baltimore, 1889), the Isaac bar Levison Hebrew Literary Society of Baltimore expressing their gratitude for his aid (1889), and Joseph Jacobs concerning an article for the Jewish encyclopedia (1901). Also contains material relating to his wife Bella and her family.

This collection consists of the American Jewish Committee's project to document Jewish participation in the United States Armed Forces during World War I. The bulk of the material consists of questionnaires the AJC sent to servicemen to determine Jewish identity, which contain information on personal identification and details of military service. Responses to the questionnaire come from both Jews and non-Jews. In addition, the collection contains office papers concerning the project and a ledger of manuscripts documenting the distribution of records collected by the Office of Jewish War Records, as well as lists Jews who died or were given military honors.

Contains primarily correspondence and some business and official papers of the Cohen Family of Baltimore and Richmond. Papers center around the following members of the family: Jacob I. Cohen (1784-1822), the firm of Cohen & Isaacs of Richmond, Mrs. Edmund Randolph, Carter Braxton (1794), and James Monroe, Governor of Virginia.

Collection contains the genealogy of the Cone family, a prominent Baltimore family engaged in various commercial pursuits. Herman Cone arrived in Baltimore from Germany in 1845.

Collection contains a listing of 930 marriages performed between 1850-1900 by the Rev. Dr. Henry Hochheimer, rabbi of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation 1849-1859, and Oheb Israel Synagogue, 1859-1892 (emeritus, 1893-98). Listed marrirages were performed in Baltimore, elsewhere in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. It includes an alphabetical index arranged by groom's name, and a typescript transcript of information in the book.

The collection contains family trees of the extended Billstein family in Europe and in the United States.

The collection contains a small section of family papers and personal correspondence. The bulk of the collection consists of materials related to Bayer's professional life and his writings.

This collection contains the legal and personal papers of several generations of the Levy family, including Moses Levy (1665-1728); Moses' sons Nathan Levy (1704-1753), Isaac Levy (1706-1777), Samson Levy (1722-1781), and Benjamin Levy (1726-1802); Samson's sons Moses Levy (1756-1826), Samson Levy, Jr. (1764-1831), and Daniel Levy (1766-1844); Isaac's son Asher Levy (1756-1785); and Benjamin's son Nathan Levy (1759-1846). Materials include business and property records, a letter of renunciation of allegiance to King George III during the American Revolution, correspondence, Continental currency, and wills.

The collection contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, and photographs relating to the activities of Louis E. Shecter, a Baltimore advertising executive, art collector, and former president of the local branch of the American Jewish Congress. It includes several articles written by him, as well as the replies of 10 U.S. Senators, 1 Representative, and 2 Maryland government officials to Shecter's request that they describe their impression of John Fitzgerald Kennedy in a one-sentence statement.

The collection contains research material for Marion Freyer Wolff’s book Mother of a Thousand, about the doll maker Edith Samuel. The collection, donated by the author, includes personal letters from Edith to Marion (1930’s-1964) and photographs, mainly showing Edith’s artwork. The content of the collection also contains material about Marion herself, about her parents, Leo and Eva Freyer née Lichtenstein, and other extended family members. Included are papers and correspondence of the Freyer/ Lichtenstein family and genealogy information.

Contains manuscript listings of 910 circumcisions performed in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, and the District of Columbia from 1836-1862. Among the entries, which include 47 geographic locations, are 739 for Baltimore, 51 for Washington, D.C., 19 for Alexandria, VA, 12 for Frederick, MD, 11 for Hanover, PA, and 10 for Hagerstown, MD. Also includes an article about the book from 1889, and a letter from 1831 from Michael Samuel Rosenberg to the Jewish community of Baltimore, certifying that the meat being shipped to them was kosher. The letter was found pinned in back of the record book.

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.

Collection consists of a single autograph book with signatures, quotes, etc. from friends and relations of a young girl, including an inscription of Morris S. Lazaron--later a prominent reform rabbi.

The Baron de Hirsch Fund Records document the organization's involvement in the planning of agricultural communities across the United States and to some extent in South America; the founding and administrative dealings of agricultural and trade schools; the establishment of the Jewish Agricultural Society; and the business records of the Fund itself. In addition, the collection documents the protection offered to immigrants through port work, relief, temporary aid, promotion of suburban industrial enterprises and removal from urban centers through the Industrial Removal Office, land settlement, agricultural training, and trade and general education. In this respect, the collection is of major interest for Jewish genealogists as it documents a number of individual immigrants. In addition, the collection contains documentation on the administration and organization of the fund, documentation on Jewish farming colonies such as the Jewish Agricultural Society, Woodbine Colony and Agricultural School, and documentation on the Baron de Hirsch Trade School. In addition, the collection contains blueprints and photographs of facilities.

This collection contains programs and papers read at the Annual Meetings of 1915-1916, the resolution passed at a special meeting in 1915 regarding the founding the School for Jewish Communal Work, the pension plan proposals, and correspondence regarding the Summer School for Social Work held jointly with the Jewish Chautauqua Society. Includes correspondence with the American Jewish Committee, National Americanization Committee, National Conference of Jewish Charities, New York City Board of Education, and the U.S. Dept. of Labor Immigration Bureau relating to the work of the association. Contains also the correspondence of Cyrus Adler, Ludwig Bernstein, Louis d. Brandeis, Lee K. Frankel, Israel Friedlander, Oscar Leonard, Louis Levin, Irving Lipsitch, Minnie F. Low, Louis Marshall, Belle Moskowitz, Milton Reizenstein, H.L. Sabsovich, Philip Seman, and Morris D. Waldman.

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.

This collection consists largely of printed materials, especially postcards and stationery, many of which Adler appears to have collected during a journey to Europe in 1929-1931. Also present is correspondence and travel permits.

The Sonneborn Family Collection is comprised of the genealogical and biographical research of Charles Behrend Sonneborn on the Sonneborn and related families, especially the Behrend family. Included are copies of his writings, family trees, various research material and photographs of family gravestones.

The collection contains documentation of the Sonneborn family, particularly Leo Sonneborn and his wife Settie; Siegmund Sonneborn; as well as photographs of Line Speyer née Sonneborn’s family.

This collection contains manuscripts and printed copies of letters and memorials presented by the Jewish community of the United States (including those passed by a convention of Delegates of Israelites held in Baltimore and the Jewish community of Charleston, South Carolina) to President James Buchanan in 1857, protesting the infringement of American Jewish rights in The Treaty signed with The Swiss Confederation in 1850. Also included is a copy of The Treaty and newspaper clippings relating to the protest.

Contains two manuscript letters to Florence N. Levy of New York about social life in Baltimore (1904), and one dealing with Miss Levy's contribution to a forthcoming American Jewish year book (1906); and a manuscript letter to Mrs. David W. Amram thanking her for her praise of the article, "Elements of the Jewish Population," which appeared in "The Russian Jew in the United States" (1905).