Correspondence

The Annual and Mid-Winter National Conventions Records document the proceedings and outcomes of the conventions and conferences attended by Hadassah’s National Board as well as by convention delegates from the various regions of Hadassah. The conventions in particular are where local and regional leaders meet with each other and the National Board and learn about Hadassah’s various projects and committees. This record group also includes annual reports from 1926-2001.

This record group contains materials related to the local units of Hadassah—groups, chapters, regions, and co-ops—as well as Junior Hadassah, a youth organization that functioned as a group within the Hadassah Chapter structure. The record group documents over one hundred years of Hadassah’s growth, and illuminates a century of American Jewish communal life, particularly that of Jewish women, across the United States. The record group reflects the formation, administration and activities of the individual groups, chapters, co-ops and regions, and contains information on local events and programs organized around fundraising, Zionism, Jewish heritage, religion and holidays celebration, the study of Hebrew and Yiddish, women's issues, fashion, health, technology and many other topics.

This record group documents the creation, management, and use of the Hadassah Archives and provides valuable contextual information for researchers, current managers, and future managers of the Hadassah Archives. As an organization, Hadassah created active records of business that were housed in its Central Files department. In the 1950s, Hadassah began the process of creating an official archives, precipitated by a project to locate and compile sources for a biography of Hadassah founder, Henrietta Szold, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of her birth. This record group documents three specific periods of custodianship—the 1980s, 1996-2011, and 2015-2016—and the various archivists who managed and shaped the archives during those years. RG 23 includes born digital, digitized, and paper material.

This record group includes documents created and maintained by the Office of the President, the Office of the Executive Director and the Chair of the Division Coordinators/Directors Committee. Prominent is the Henrietta Szold series, containing correspondence by and to Szold as well as printed materials written by and about her. The files in this record group were created by a national president or executive director, or for their use, or maintained in their office during their years in office. Included are correspondence, minutes, memos, publications, reports and subject files on topics with which these individuals were involved.

Contains manuscript and published material from Zionist, rabbinic, and other national Jewish organizations; and from various local Jewish community organizations relating to fund-raising drives, protest demonstrations, and other activities on behalf of Israel. Also contains copies of letters and telegrams sent by various individuals to American government officials and to Arab leaders; published statements of President Lyndon B. Johnson and various U.S. Congressmen; reactions of private American citizens, both Jewish and non-Jewish; personal letters written from Israel during the crisis; several scholarly studies and clippings from various Yiddish, Anglo-Jewish, and Israeli newspapers pertaining to the conflict; and an extensive collection of material from Dr. Nelson Glueck regarding his experiences during and after the war.

This collection documents the events surrounding Sepharad ’92, an event and an international Jewish committee to commemorate the five-hundredth anniversary of the Jewish expulsion from Spain as part of the Spanish Inquisition. The committee, headquartered in New York City, developed programs that sought to educate the public through a variety of approaches about the expulsion and the relocation of Spain’s Jewish population throughout the world. Such programs included educational curriculum, exhibitions, interfaith gatherings, concerts, and conferences.

The Hadassah Archives documents the activities of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. Founded in 1912, the organization engaged hundreds of thousands of American Jewish women in the Zionist project. Materials include extensive records of its social welfare projects in Palestine and later Israel, such as Youth Aliyah and the Hadassah Medical Organization. Administrative records document the organization's governance, operations, and functions. The collection also includes the papers of Hadassah founder, Henrietta Szold, as well as the organization's national presidents, executive directors, and other important individuals. Additional materials also document Hadassah's organizational activity in the United States such as annual and midwinter conventions and the dozens of active local chapters from all over the United States. Hadassah maintained an active publishing schedule, and the records include hundreds of published newsletters, flyers, and magazines. Other materials include thousands of photographs, extensive audiovisual material, and hundreds of artifacts.

The Hadassah subject file record group is a collection of files of organizations, events, and genre subjects originally arranged alphabetically by Hadassah’s central filing department. These files served and serve as a ready reference source that represents both the direct and indirect involvement of Hadassah in both national and international affairs. This collection includes correspondence, clippings, newsletters, photographs, and other ephemeral documents.

This record group contains meeting minutes, correspondence and reports of the Hadassah Council in Israel (originally the Hadassah Emergency Services and the Hadassah Council in Palestine), the Hadassah Youth Services (originally the Palestine Council of Hadassah) and the Hadassah Youth Services (HYS) successor organizations, Hadassah Vocational Education Services (HVES) and Hadassah Israel Education Services (HIES). The records represent the activities of Hadassah's representatives in Palestine/Israel, from 1927 to the 1990s. The Hadassah Youth Services focused on providing services to underserved youth in Palestine/Israel, most notably with their school luncheon and Guggenheimer playground programs. After HYS changed its working name to HVES in 1952, it began to focus on vocational education projects in Israel. Legally, however, the name of the organization in Israel remained Hadassah Youth Services. The Hadassah Council in Israel acted as an advisor and liaison between Hadassah's American offices and Hadassah's Israel projects, including the Hadassah Medical Organization, Youth Aliyah, and Hadassah Youth Services.

The Hadassah Medical Organization Records in the Hadassah Archives document Hadassah's work in providing health care resources in Palestine/Israel since 1918. The activities documented revolve around the development of the Hadassah Hospital; health centers; dental centers; occupational and rehabilitative services; medical, nursing, dental, and pharmacy schools; as well as numerous educative and preventive projects, especially those aimed at infant care. The documents also reflect the history of the Yishuv (Jewish settlement in Palestine) and the establishment of the State of Israel. The record group contains articles, clippings, correspondence, financial records, fundraising material, minutes, personal accounts, press releases, publicity material, reports, and statistical reports.

The records document the Histadruth Ivrit's early history to the present, representing a significant portion of its work in spreading the Hebrew language in the United States in the second half of the twentieth-century. The records include substantial amount of material regarding the organization's history, administration, public events, publications, and reports. Some information of the early history of the Histadruth Ivrit could be found in the records kept by the writer Daniel Persky. Persky collected personal and professional records that include correspondence with friends, readers, and writers; a partial collection of the drafts of his own publications, and a collection of photographs and newspaper clippings. The functions and activities of the Histadruth Ivrit are documented through Board of Trustees and Board meetings agendas and minutes; various programs for events, conventions, conferences, and celebrations; documents related to fundraising; public relations, press releases and brochures; correspondence with different individuals, organizations, and foundations; Histadruth Ivrit's publications among them the newspaper Hadoar and Tov Lichtov; a large collection of photographs, and scrapbooks. The records of the Histadruth Ivrit represent the large majority of the organization's activities dating from the 1980s to the present. Records for the earlier years of activities are fragmented and incomplete. The records related to the life of Daniel Persky are also partial and copies of many of his publications are missing. This collection included brochures, correspondence, financial records, flyers, grant applications, invitations, lists, minutes, news clipping, orders, periodicals, photographs, press releases, reports, and scrapbooks.

The Jewish National Fund records reflect the non-profit organization’s afforestation efforts in Israel in funding partnership with Hadassah. Included in this collection are personnel records, membership lists, and convention summaries, as well as correspondence, project documentation, and publications such as press releases, and magazines.

Lt. Col. Rachel Diane (Rae) Landy was a nursing pioneer in the development of health services in Palestine under the auspices of Hadassah from 1913-1915, and served as a U.S. Army nurse in World War I through World War II. The collection documents hospital care in Palestine and the history of Hadassah; career women in the early 20th century, particularly military personnel and profession innovators; and the Cleveland, Ohio Jewish community, school system, and George Crile U.S. Army Hospital. Documents include correspondence, reminiscences, legal documents, newspaper and magazine clippings, and photographs.

The Mamie Levitt Family Papers reflect the professional and personal activities of Mamie Levitt and her active role in the Oklahoma City Jewish Community. She was a member of Young Judea and later became President of the Oklahoma City chapter of Hadassah, President of the Ladies Hebrew Benevolent Society, and Vice President of the local PTA. She eventually went on to serve on the board of the regional Southwest chapter of Hadassah from 1948-1951.

This collection contains Marvin Lowenthal's correspondence, journals, diaries, documents, photographs, memorabilia, and printed materials relating to his life, writings, Zionist activities, and relief work on behalf of German Jewry. Includes material on his youth, school work, and college years, as well as autobiographical writings and family correspondence containing information on Horace Kallen and early 20th century Zionist activities. Of particular note is his later correspondence with Jacob Billikopf, Jerome Frank, Horace M. Kallen, Elmer Rice, Eugene C. Taylor, and Stephen S. Wise.

The Hadassah Microfilm Collection consists of 16mm and 35mm reels containing images of various Hadassah publications, administrative documents, and personal archival material. Content includes on-site photographs, membership and organizational documents, regional chapter lists and histories, items relating to Hadassah’s Zionist political history, and a near-complete run of Hadassah Newsletter/Magazine. Other than the newsletter/magazine run, all images are unique within the collection.

The Name File record group is a collection of documents representing various individuals, corporations, and non-profit groups who were affiliated with Hadassah. These files were originally arranged alphabetically by the organization's central filing department as a ready reference source on leaders, doctors, speakers, donors, and religious figures associated with Hadassah's many projects. This collection includes correspondence, clippings, newsletters, and other ephemeral documents.

The collection documents the National Jewish Welfare Board's (JWB) evolution from an organization founded in 1917 to provide support for soldiers in times of war to an agency involved in all aspects of Jewish life both in the United States and abroad. In 1990 JWB recreated itself as the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America.

The Hadassah Oral Histories consist of audio cassette recordings and typed transcripts of oral history interviews as well as related correspondence and research documents. Interviewees include notable members of Hadassah’s National Board, the Honorary Council, Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO), Youth Aliyah, Machon Szold, and Hebrew University, among others. Discussions cover such topics as Hadassah roles and achievements, Jewish upbringings, education, and family.

This collection contains correspondence between Horace M. Kallen and many important individuals and organizations, as well as manuscripts, notes and other materials for speeches, financial documents, research materials, academic records, and various other assorted items. These materials serve to illustrate Kallen’s important role in philosophy, education, religion, and politics and his deep involvement with consumer rights, environmental controls, Jewish issues, and civil liberties.

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 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.

Spanning from its inception and incorporation in 1925 to its culmination in 2002, the Queens Jewish Center collection highlights this congregation's wide-range of religiously oriented and secular educational activities, ceremonies, developments, events, and programs. Predominant in this collection are the reports, bulletins, financial, legal and property records, and meeting minutes. In addition, books, clippings, correspondence, pamphlets, programs, publications, negatives photographs are also contained with in this collections.

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.

This collection contains the papers of Samuel J. Citron, dramatist and educator.

Young Judaea is the oldest Zionist youth organization in the United States, established as a national organization in 1909 by the Federation of American Zionists. It was supported by Hadassah, including direct financial sponsorship from 1967-2011. The major aims of Young Judaea throughout its history have been to advance the cause of Zionism, to further the mental, moral, and physical development of Jewish youth, and to promote Jewish culture and ideals in accordance with Jewish traditions. Young Judaea has remained non-partisan and non-denominational, embracing and recruiting Jewish youth from all backgrounds.

The Youth Aliyah Records in the Hadassah Archives document Hadassah's work with multiple international organizations to rescue Jewish children from continental Europe to Palestine from 1933-1945. The collection also documents Hadassah's involvement with Youth Aliyah since 1946 in providing residential, educational, vocational, rehabilitative and therapeutic care for displaced and at-risk youth from around the world.

The material in this record group was culled from Hadassah's Central Files in Israel in the early 1980s to document Hadassah's role in Zionist history. Originally formed from a Zionist women's study group, the first Hadassah chapter in New York had a strong relationship with the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA; then known as the Federation of American Zionists). The material in this record group documents Hadassah's relationship to the ZOA and to other Zionist organizations in the United States, Europe, and Palestine/Israel, particularly in the years leading up to Israeli statehood in 1948. Other subjects addressed in this record group include the founding of Hadassah; World War II, particularly relating to Jewish emigration and refugees; the founding of the United Nations and the debate over recognition of a Jewish state; the partition of Palestine; and Arab-Jewish relations. Included are articles, clippings, convention resolutions, correspondence, diary extracts, memorandums, minutes, press releases, printed ephemera, publications, reports, and speeches.