By Poorvi Bellur
Part 2: Justine Wise Polier
Read Introduction;
Part 1 on Shad Polier
The daughter of AJC founder and prominent
rabbi Stephen S Wise, Justine Wise Polier rose to become one of the foremost
fighters for social justice and equality in legislation.
Justine Wise Polier (American Jewish…
By Poorvi Bellur
Part 1: Shad Polier
Read Introduction
“The AJC began developing its program of using
legislation and litigation to protect human rights in 1944 and 1945. At that
time many respectable “liberal” organizations told us not to get involved in
these projects. We ignored them and went ahead. We did so not…
By
Poorvi Bellur
Conducted
over the course of Black History Month 2017, this research project is
structured around primary sources from the archives and the personal
collections of each of these individuals and their correspondences with other
important leaders of the Civil Rights movement. This study focuses on the
umbrella organization of the American Jewish Congress and profiles…
By Moriah Amit, Senior
Reference Services Librarian, Genealogy Coordinator
Although the notion that our immigrant ancestors’ names were changed by clerks at Ellis Island has been debunked time and again by noted scholars in Jewish genealogy (see References below), this myth remains pervasive in the stories that American Jews tell about their family history. The truth, that most of our immigrant ancestors chose…