In Honor of Presidents’ Week – Archival Resources at the Center

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only President to serve more than two terms, appointed Felix Frankfurter to the Supreme Court in 1939. The American Jewish Historical Society has an archival collection that contains the above interesting note (from the Felix Frankfurter papers, 1916-1958, P-430, Box 1, Folder 1, American Jewish Historical Society).

John F. Kennedy appointed Arthur Goldberg to replace Frankfurter. He was the United States Secretary of Labor when Frankfurter stepped down. The Arthur J. Goldberg papers (P-409) held by the American Jewish Historical Society have speeches given by Goldberg, among other material.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was in office between FDR and JFK, also proposed that a Jew, Lewis Strauss, be part of his cabinet. Although Strauss was not confirmed, his important work as the United States Atomic Energy Commission Commissioner (appointed to that position by Harry S. Truman) lives on today. The American Jewish Historical Society has an extensive 37.75 linear foot collection: The Lewis Lichtenstein Strauss papers. There is an electronic finding aid available online here.

You can learn more about the Presidents’ relationships with the Jews and material here at the Center by clicking here.