Manuscripts (documents)

The bulk of this collection consists of materials docmenting the research of Alexander Altmann on German and German-Jewish history, particularly the philosophy of Moses Mendelssohn.

The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence to Bertha Badt-Strauss from various writers and friends between 1940 and 1969. The letters deal with topics related to emigration/immigration, Judaism, Zionism and publishing opportunities in the United States and Mexico. Included are manuscripts, poems, photographs and clippings of Badt-Strauss's correspondents, as well as some of her own writings.

The collection holds mostly manuscripts of lectures given primarily at institutions of Jewish adult education. They were given by various scholars, lecturing on Judaism; Jewish history; Jewish philosophy; and other topics pertaining to Jewish culture.

The Leo Baeck Institute was founded by representative organizations of Jews from Germany for the purpose of collecting material on and sponsoring research into the history of the Jewish community in Germany and in other German-speaking countries from the Emancipation to its dispersion. The Institute is named in honor of the man who was the last representative figure of German Jewry in Germany during the Nazi period. The Leo Baeck Memorial Lecture is an annual event at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York, when esteemed academics and scholars talk about various aspects of the German-Jewish experience and history, as well as to other, related topics.