Chicago (Ill.)

This collection documents the life and work of Kurt Schwerin. Kurt Schwerin immigrated to the United States in 1938 where he became a librarian and professor of law. Contained are several of his writings, research notes and other papers mainly related to his attempts to organize the immigration of his family, to settle down in the United States and regarding to his function as board member and head of the Chicago Chapter of the Leo Baeck Institute.

Series V of the Leo Baeck Institute Institutional Archives consists of clippings, photographs, A/V materials, and a few other original documents that have been assembled at LBI New York, 1955-1997.

This collection contains a wide array of vital records, documents, correspondence, and clippings, documenting the life of several generations of the Rosenberger family.

Consists of the papers of members of the Mordecai family. Includes those of: Moses Mordecai (1707-1781), a bill of exchange (1771), and letters of administration signed by Elizabeth Mordecai (1744-1804), Isaac Moses, and Barnard Gratz, and inventory of his estate, and the accounts of his administratrix (1781-1782); Jacob Mordecai (1762-1838), a discourse delivered at the consecration of Congregation Beth Shalome (1822), and a notebook manuscript "The Truth of Divine Revelation"; George Washington Mordecai (1801-1871), a stock certificate signed by him as president of the Bank of North Carolina (1863); Alfred Mordecai (1804-1887), four letters on military matters (1838-1859); Alfred Mordecai, Jr. (1840-1920), a commission as captain in the Ordnance Department, signed by President Abraham Lincoln (1864), and a letter of condolence (1870); Rosa Mordecai (1839-1936), three letters to Rosa Mordecai concerning Rebecca Gratz, who apparently served as the model for the Rebecca in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (1898-1905); Laura Mordecai (1837-1927), letters to her sister, Miriam, and brother, Alfred, about the Chicago World's Fair (1892-1893); and Miriam Mordecai (1843-1923), letters to her sister, Laura, about a trip to San Francisco and Seattle for the wedding of their niece (1901), and about her trip to Europe (1907). Also includes a letter of recommendation written by Winfield Scott (1786-1866) on behalf of Capt. Alfred Mordecai, who was on his way to Paris on business.

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.

This collection is primarily made up of correspondence and other records of the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ) that remained in the possession of its president (from 1982-1993), Nate Shapiro, after the organization dissolved in 1993. The AAEJ worked from 1974-1993 to assist Ethiopian Jews immigrate to Israel. The collection also includes Shapiro's personal papers. The Shapiro Papers fall under the broader AAEJ collection.

This collection documents the activities, administration, planning, proceedings, and correspondence of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, 1944-1994. The collection includes correspondence, programs, minutes, proposals, reports, clippings, press releases, and publications.

Manuscripts, materials relating to HansKohn's professional experience, materials relating to his political activities, correspondence, diaries, materials relating to his experience in World War I and as a prisoner of war, personal documents, photos, clippings.

Rabbi Oscar M Lifshutz (1916-1990), served as Army Chaplain during World War II and Korea. This collection contains photocopies documenting his life.

Ruth Sapin Hurwitz was a social worker, teacher, writer, lecturer and proponent of Jewish Cultural heritage and ideas. The Ruth Sapin Hurwitz Photograph Album contains black and white photographs taken by Hurwitz during her time as a student at Wellesley College (1906-1910). The album includes undated handwritten captions and provides a look into women’s college life during the early part of the 20th century. Images capture campus activities such as studying, theatre performances, and social events. Also included are images from Hurwitz trips to Europe and across the United States.

The Rabbi Robert L. Lehman Collection focuses on the development of a rabbi and of his role leading his congregations. The collection includes copious sermons, substantial correspondence, articles, newspaper clippings, notes, congregational and conference publications, photographs, diplomas, and a few objects.

This collection consists of papers of Ray (Rachel) Frank, the first Jewish woman to preach formally from a pulpit in the United States. It contains correspondence relating to her personal life; her activities as an author and lecturer; programs; and printed and manuscript copies of sermons, speeches, and writings by Frank. There is also a scrapbook (1879-1901) of newspaper clippings of articles by and about Frank, reflecting her view on women's suffrage, Judaism, and other topics.

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.

The bulk of the collection contains teaching manuals and aids issued by the Board in a variety of different subjects. Other materials includecatalogs, correspondence, newsletters, publications and songbooks.

The Records of the Forward Association collection consists of the administrative records of the Office of the General Manager of the Forward Association, publisher of the Jewish Daily Forward. The collection contains correspondence, financial materials, minutes, reports, and information related to various anniversary celebrations. These materials serve to illustrate the professional activities of the Forward Association and its General Manager and show the Forward’s importance.

This collection contains the administrative records of the Hebrew Actors’ Union (HAU), the professional union of Yiddish theater performers, which was based in New York City. Materials include correspondence, membership materials, financial records and members’ dues information, meeting minutes, and a great deal of sheet music and play scripts of performances from the Yiddish theater. A majority of these performances were in New York City, but there are also materials from Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Toronto, and Montreal, as well as various locations in Israel and South America.

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.

This collection includes annual reports, correspondence, publications such as the JC review and the Jewish Federation review, member lists, and reports published by the JFMC.

This collection contains the combined records of the Jewish United Fund and the Jewish Welfare Board. Includes minutes and reports from the Board of Directors, correspondence, records from various committees such as the finance and public affairs committees, and records from funded organizations such as the Board of Jewish Education.

Materials in this collection document both the private lives and business activities of the Nathan family, owners of shoe manufacturing companies in Frankfurt am Main and Chicago, through correspondence, documents, business records, and photographs. The collection focuses on Richard Nathan, his wife Anna Nathan née David, and their sons Franz Hermann, Erich, and Walter.

The collection holds the papers of Richard G. Salomon, a historian of eastern European medieval history. The collection contains material documenting his professional life in Germany, his four-month journey to the U.S. in 1936, and his professional life after his emigration. It comprises correspondence, official papers, memoirs as well as articles by and on Richard G. Salomon. Additional elements of the collection are writings by Richard's relatives, e.g. his father Georg Salomon and his son, George Salomon.

Compilation of genealogical material on the Rubel family of Hochspeyer, Kaiserslautern, Germany. The document traces John H. Rubel's father's family from circa 1694 in Germany to the emigration of the family from Germany to Chicago in 1848 and further traces John H. Rubel's direct family from his great-grandfather to his grandchildren. The compilation includes family trees, biographical vignettes, historical excerpts, a few brief memoirs, and related documents. The principal document in the compilation is entitled "Chicago pioneers: a partial genealogy of the Rubel family, 1694-1999."

This collection documents the family history of the siblings Audrey and Geoffrey Eisenmann, whose ancestors lived in Württemberg and Bavaria (Germany) and worked in agriculture, silk trade, and banking. Materials include family trees, photographs, correspondence, and vital documents, and a few business documents.

This collection documents the Stern and Fantl families of Vienna, Austria from the mid-nineteenth century through 1980. Materials include personal correspondence, vital records (birth and marriage certificates), immigration and naturalization records, education records, passports, legal papers, contracts of sale for family property, photographs, poems, and Erwin Stern’s personal account of imprisonment in Dachau.

The collection contains correspondence mostly authored by Stephanie and Franz Pisker, dispatched from Vienna, Austria and the Jewish ghetto in Opole, Poland to their daughter Susan (née Herta) in America, before Franz and Stefanie were killed in the extermination camp of Sobibor. Also included are official documents and letters pertaining to their unsuccessful attempt to immigrate to the United States and the questionnaires by the Austrian Heritage Collection of Susan and her husband John H. Graham.