Jews, Russian

Collection contains a Russian passport for Hillel Kampawitz and his family; a naturalization certificate for Hillel Kamp; a ketubah for John Kamp, Hillel's son and his wife Anna Fae Kalish; and a 1915 census record for the Kamp family who resided in Brooklyn, N.Y.

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 collection consists of clippings from West-German, Swiss, and US newspapers, as well as some correspondence, published materials and ephemera, describing various aspects of Jews in Germany after the Holocaust.

Collection contains copies of articles, cemetery plans, census records, and photographs relating to the Woodbine agricultural colony in Woodbine, N.J.

The Laura Rubin Family papers are comprised of four generations of family photographs and certificates of marriage, birth, and death for members of the Rubin-Simpson family of Brooklyn, New York and the Simpson-Bernstein family of Schenectady, New York.

Collection contains a typescript of memoirs (some sections in several drafts) covering the period until 1907, describing Lisan's youth in Russia, his journey to America, his early years in Philadelphia, and his travels throughout Pennsylvania. The memoirs also relate in some detail Lisan's Zionist activities in Russia and America, and his reaction to world Jewish events.

Materials include: correspondence covering the years 1902-1969 dealing with Lisan's Zionist activities, announcements (1909-1910) of the Maccabean Zionist Society in Philadelphia, receipts and a Land Certificate from the American Zion Commonwealth, and a share certificate from the Jewish Colonial Trust.

The Papers of Max J. Kohler (1871-1934) document his life's work as lawyer, historian, writer, researcher, and defender of Jewish and immigrant rights. Correspondents include many of Kohler's contemporaries in the field of history and immigration law including Cyrus Adler; William Taft; John Bassett Moore; Mortimer Schiff; David Hunter Miller; Baron and Baroness de Hirsch; the Straus Family including Oscar Straus; Luigi Luzzatti; Leon Huhner; and Julian Mack. Subjects include U.S. immigration law, American-Jewish history, Col. Alfred Dreyfus, Haym Salomon, Ellis Island, Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler, the publication God in Freedom, international treaties, and the Peace Conference of 1919.

The Michaelson family papers include early family correspondence, documents, and ephemera; genealogical research conducted by Ms. Appleby, Anna's granddaughter; copies of New York City marriage certificates kept by Louis/Lewis B. Michaelson, Rabbi, between 1906-1907; and Anna Michaelson's copies of original birth records that she kept as midwife in the Lower East Side in New York City between 1892-1916. The collection is valuable for researchers interested in the Lower East Side between 1890-1920, Russian immigration to the United States, acculturation of immigrant families to America, midwives, the Jewish communities in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Trenton, New Jersey, the Boys Institute in the Lower East Side, and the National Committee for Relief of Sufferers by Russian Massacres. In addition, this collection is rich in genealogy material, for researchers interested in the Michaelson family, births in the Lower East Side between 1892-1916, and marriages in New York City between 1907-1909. The collection contains correspondence, a family tree, birth certificates, memo pads, marriage certificates, meeting minutes, photographs, and a prescription pad.

Dr. Salomon P. Ratner , the youngest of ten children, was born to M'Shulum Frivel and Bashe Leah in Pinsk, Russia. His parents served on the estate of another Jew, Zalman Pulman. Salomon attended Yeshiva in Slutzk, later leaving the Yeshiva to obtain a secular education. He immigrated to New York with his parents in 1902 where they were aided by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and reunited with several of his syblings. While working as a clerk in a pharmacy, Salomon attended the New York College of Dentistry. He married Leah Altshule in September 1910 and opened a practice on Broome and Eldridge Street.

This collection consists of an organizational charter, rules and procedures, conference materials for claims against Germany, general miscellaneous correspondence, reports from Plenary Sessions, memorandum and reports concerning the World Council on Jewish Education and general information regarding the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. Of particular interest to researchers will be the memorandum on Polish and Soviet Jewry.